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Guide > Core: The Modules > ASSIGNMENTS

ASSIGMENTS SUGGESTIONS

Introduction

The Cultura Project lends itself well to oral and written assignments. We suggest a few:

Essays

It is a good idea to have students write two major essays throughout the semester in order to allow them to synthesize their newly found knowledge.

Mid-semester essay (or after students have worked on the questionnaires):

Ask them to:

• pick a theme/topic/notion that seems to them central to French culture (from having worked with the materials so far)
• say in what contexts it is to be found and whether it may be contradicted in other contexts.
• formulate an hypothesis as to the importance of that notion in French culture. Students need to review the materials studied so far: answers to the questionnaires, forums, data, etc. . .

End of semester essay

Have students write about what they have learned by using Cultura:

• about French culture
• about their own culture
• has their perspective changed? in what way? They need to be specific

End of semester Projects

It is a good idea to have students work in teams on projects at the end of the semester, so that they can hone their newly found skills on other types of materials. Students need to be encouraged to highlight parallels or differences between these new materials and those they have analyzed so far.

Here are some suggestions.

1. Students can compare another French film and its remake (the list appears in the FILM module).

2. Students can go to the NEWSSTAND and

• either compare the special issue of L'Express entitled Les Français and the special issue of Time Magazine: America, entitled The Inside Story
• compare headlines, for a day or a week, of both Le Monde and the New York Times: what is talked about? not talked about? what is the focus? etc..
• select a story covered by both a French and American newspapers and compare them: what is mentioned? not mentioned? is there an imbedded point of view?
• compare French and American newspaper and magazine forums: see what topics are debated; what points of view are presented; compare how the French and American may react to a same topic; analyze the style of discourse, etc..
• compare the Web sites of the French Embassy in Washington DC and the American Embassy in Paris: what information they present; how they present it, etc..

3. Students can compare advertisements in comparable magazines: Elle and Vogue for instance, or even between the French version and the American version of Elle.

4. Students can also select their own topic of comparison and explore a theme that is related to a field they are specializing in.

Carnet de bord

This "diary' can be filled by students every day or every week. The goal is for them to keep a regular log of what they have learnt and discovered. Students should also be encouraged to reflect upon their own process of discovery.