Removing Extremism in France

You will be submitting a report on a news article pertaining either to current events in France or a francophone area of the world, or to one of the topics studied so far. FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTION CAREFULLY.

Project 1 For this assignment, you will post a news story about current events in France, a French-speaking region of the world, or a topic that relates to what we have been studying (prehistoric times, the Middle Ages, the Vikings, the Norman Conquest, the Renaissance). Each posting will include: 1. A summary of the article with a link to the article itself. (Please give the complete URL!) 2. Why you chose this story. 3. Discussion a. If the article is about current events in France or a French-speaking country or region: What insight did you gain into French (or francophone) culture or society? Did anything remind you of some event in the past that we have studied? (Perhaps it did not—but if it did, then explain what.) b. If the article is about a topic studied (such as the Vikings) rather than a current event: How does the article expand on what you have already learned? Does it support or contradict anything you have studied for this class? 4. Your own reaction, analysis, or opinion. 5. Separately: A comment on one other student’s posting (more, if you are inspired). Please choose a fairly substantial article, rather than a short and superficial one. Make sure that it is reasonably recent (within a month or two). Submit your work to the Discussions thread (Project 1— In the News) so that others can read it. Please either type directly into the text box or copy and paste work completed in a word processing program. This is easier for everyone, rather than having to download and open an attachment. Due date: Tuesday, February 25. Earlier postings most welcome! RUBRIC Your work will be evaluated on a 100-point scale, according to the following: Summary and link: 10 points • 9-10: Excellent; good summary plus a link (a good paragraph) • 7-8: Fair to good; may lack details, or a link • 5-6: Poor; barely adequate • 0-4: Missing or inadequate Why you chose this story: 5 points • 5: Clear explanation. • 3-4: Adequate explanation but may lack some clarity. • 1-2: Poor explanation; not clear. • 0: Missing or very unclear. Discussion: 50 points • 45-50: Excellent; full discussion with at least two concrete examples • 40-44: Good, but may be missing an example, or may be a somewhat vague • 35-39: Fair; some details and/or examples are lacking. Discussion is vague and lacks focus. • 30-34: Poor; barely adequate. • 0-29: Missing or inadequate. Your own reaction/interpretation: 25 points • 23-25: Excellent discussion (a good paragraph) • 20-22: Good, but may lack some detail • 18-19: Fair; general reaction is stated, but reasons for it are lacking. • 15-17: Poor; barely adequate • 0-14: Missing or inadequate Grammar/Vocabulary/Spelling/Punctuation: 5 points • 4-5: Very few errors, mostly minor (such as obvious typos). • 2-3: Errors are frequent. • 1-2: Errors impede comprehension. Comments on one other article: 5 points • 5: Substantial comment, very insightful. • 3-4: Comment shows understanding but may be fairly superficial. • 1-2: Cursory comment without elaboration. • 0: No comment made. What does your professor expect in terms of length? • It is not so much length per se—some people say a lot with few words, others say little with many words. o Your professor hates padding to stretch something to a specified length, which is why she resists giving concrete length requirements, but in general, about two pages (double spaced) for the entire assignment should suffice. • The length will also depend on the complexity of the article. • A “good” paragraph fully explains whatever it is you need to explain. It is neither too terse nor too wordy. • Most of the discussion postings are “good” paragraphs (often more than one)—use that as a guideline! Where to find news stories: • Course Resources has a folder with links to sites that have news on France and the Francophone world. You are not, however, limited to these sites. • Articles from sources like encyclopedias and Wikipedia are not suitable. And finally… • Do not hesitate to contact me with questions and/or clarifications!