Assessment

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Coursework                                         = 60% 

Best of Two Essays x 1,800- 2,000wds             = 35% 

 Task Sheets                              = 15%

Group Oral Presentation                     = 10%

 

Final Exam                                         = 40%   

 

COURSEWORK & FINAL EXAM : DETAIL

 

Task Sheets:

Best Five  (Minimum 5 out of 9) Task Sheets               = 15%

 

The aim of the task sheets is to prepare and focus discussion for Thursday class and to encourage and reward regular, active and competent contributions to the class.

For weeks 3-11 of the course, there will be a graded task sheet posted on Cecil. Task sheets will comprise 2 ¨C 4 questions relating to specific aspects of the film and or lecture and course-book reading. These are to be downloaded and MUST be prepared electronically before Thursday¡¯s class. Task sheets must be completed (by hand) during class and submitted at the end of the hour.

This is not an essay-writing exercise: write comprehensible notes, NOT full sentences. Ensure your hand-writing is neat and legible.

In order to facilitate the marking process, DO NOT EXCEED THE TOTAL NUMBER OF PAGES ON THE ORIGINAL COPY.

Task sheets will NOT be accepted late or without attendance at class EXCEPT on presentation of a medical certificate.

Each task sheet submitted will be graded out of 20 (+ worth 3% of total course-work grade).  The best five will count towards course work. Final grades only will appear on Cecil.

NB Students submitting fewer than five task sheets will NOT be eligible to receive a grade for this component of the course. In other words, students who do not submit AT LEAST FIVE task sheets will receive a 0 for the Task Sheet grade.

 

Task sheets will be graded according to the following criteria:

Preparation*

Contribution of individual ideas to Class Discussion

Correction ¨M completion of Task Sheet using ideas from the class

You will lose marks if your final answers are incorrect or irrelevant and if you fail to follow any of the above guidelines.

Week 2 will serve as a practice session.

 

French 339: You may submit Task Sheets for any film¨M topic. Except when making a group oral presentation, electronic preparation of task sheets MUST be done individually. Students submitting identical or near-identical task sheets (other than for the oral presentation) will be assumed guilty of plagiarism and the work of all involved will not be graded. More than one instance of plagiarism will result in an automatic 0 grade for the Task Sheet component of the course.

 

Essays

Best of Two Essays x 1,800- 2,000wds             = 35% 

 

 

You are not obliged to hand in both essay assignments however you are strongly advised to do so. It is especially recommended that you complete the first. This way, if you are not satisfied with your grade, you can try to improve it by completing the second assignment, paying particular attention to feedback from the first. NB. You may NOT submit an essay assignment for the same film or topic as the oral presentation. 

1st assignment:-         Due:  Week VII Thursday 13^th April

Topics ¨M Weeks:      2 - 5 ie. 20s Avant-garde to Poetic Realism

 

2nd assignment:-        Due:  Week XI: Friday 26^th May

 

Topics:        6 - 8 ie Occupation - Film Noir  
 

Required Research for Essay assignments: students must make full use of lecture and class notes, departmental course-books and course file. In addition, it is expected students will make a search of Voyager and Library Databases (MLA, Expanded Academic etc.) to access appropriate material. If you make use of web-based material, be aware that such information may not always be 100% reliable. More detailed information will be given out with the first essay.

 

Group Oral Presentation       = 10%

 

Sign up in groups of 2-3, sign-up sheet available from week 2: French stage 3 board opposite Arts 607-609. Limit of one presentation per class stream, per week.

Deadline for sign up: Friday week 7. 

 

A 20-30 minute group presentation of one or more Task Sheet points, illustrated by a close reading of an extract from the film, to be made in discussion class, the week the film is studied.

Task sheet points to be covered in the oral presentation are marked with an asterisk. Do NOT attempt to cover other points. These will be discussed with the rest of the group. However you may like to complete the entire task sheet and submit it at the end of class.

NB. You may NOT submit an essay assignment for the same film or topic as the oral presentation.

 

GUIDELINES

Don¡¯t discuss the entire film and don¡¯t begin with background information. Keep to the Task sheet questions.

Try to speak (using notes if you wish) rather than read from a text. If you do read, your delivery should be clear, not too fast, and should hold your audience¡¯s interest.

Your presentation must not go over the 30 minute maximum. We need to leave time for class feedback and remaining points.

Note on Grading. Though I do not expect much variation in grades within each group, and while I recognise (and certainly hope) that all group members may have had input into what others say during the presentation, you will be graded individually. Please share presentation time as evenly as possible. You will gain marks by speaking (from notes if you wish) rather than reading straight from a text.

French majors: You will be graded on fluency and (accurate, stimulating, relevant) comprehensible content, not primarily on grammatical accuracy. While certain linguistic features &/or errors may be pointed out to you during or following your presentation, these remarks are generally intended as learning tools and will not necessarily affect your grade.

All Students: I strongly advise you to discuss your presentation with me briefly, as a group, as early as possible, preferably a week in advance of your presentation.

 

Oral Presentation Assessment Criteria

You will gain points for following guidelines (above) and for doing the following:

1)    Task sheet points ¨M questions discussed competently, concisely and thoroughly

2)    Extract = well chosen and analyzed in support of 1) All major salient features (thematic, narrative, cinematographic) covered

3)    Analysis tied in well with lecture, and film as a whole

4)    Good use made of course-book reading & supplementary research

5)    Original observations

6)    Elicits comments or raises interesting points that encourage comments from the class

7)    Responds competently to queries from class and lecturer

8)    Well-prepared, clear, confident, lively presentation

9)    Straight to the point, respecting time frames

    Excellent team-work, even role distribution

 

Final Exam                                         =  40%                                     

3hrs Open book:

All students must answer TWO questions. ONE from EACH section.

 

Section A : 20% of total course grade (Choice of 3 Comparative Questions on Two films)

Section B : 20% of total course grade (Choice of 3 Comparative Questions on Two films)

 

All films (weeks 1-11) will be covered by at least one question. There will be at least one question specifically dealing with the New Wave.

You may write on any films ¨M topics except the film ¨M topic that counted for your essay grade. You may not use the same film to answer more than one question. Failure to comply will result in a 0 grade for the examination. Note also that you will lose marks if you repeat the same points in answer to more than one question.

 

French major and minor students must answer ALL questions in French.