Guide
Guide > Core: The Modules > LIBRARY - ACTIVITIES

LIBRARY - ACTIVITIES

This module contains only a few texts. However, it will gradually be augmented as we receive new rights to others.

There are two basic ways of working with this module, depending on the amount of time you plan to spend on it

• either you assign a category of readings (history, literature, etc..)
• or students choose to work on the category of their choice
  

Here are a few different types of activities:

• Activities dealing with primary texts:
  Assign students French and American readings that focus on similar topics (ex: the American Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence versus La Déclaration des Droits de l'Homme).
  Have students read both the French and the American documents and come up with observations: in what way are they similar and where do they differ (what is emphasized in one document but not in the other?; what is mentioned in one but never mentioned in the other? etc. . .)
  In the case of historical or even literary texts, make sure students are aware of the date and time when these passages were written: what could have informed the authors' viewpoints? What, if anything was going on politically at the time between the US and France? Was there any international issue (political or economic) on which the two countries were in disagreement, etc. . .
  
  
• Activities dealing with mediated texts (where the author himself or herself makes the comparisons) (Examples of general activities):

  Have students read the texts. Ask them:

  • if they found certain passages which either explained, illuminated or contradicted a fact, a notion or concept they had discovered before.
  • if they can connect those passages to any fact, notion, or concept in particular which they had found in any of the modules so far.
  • if they discovered new facts or information. Which?
  
  
  In class, have students share their findings. Elicit a discussion.