Essay optionsEssay option: Mark the box for which option you are writing about: A [ ] B [ ] C [ ] Essay Option A: Rethinking AssumptionsHow has this class caused you to reconsider your understanding or position on an important subject? What assumptions that you had before this class did you find challenged by the readings, lectures, and conversations in this course? How do you see these issues differently now than you did at the start of the semester? Issues that you might focus on include the following: the importance of France and its empire to modern history, the relationship between democracy and overseas empire (in the French case or beyond), the relationship between ideals of universal inclusion and hierarchies of exclusion (in the French case or beyond), the history of racism, antisemitism, and other ideologies of exclusion (in the French case or beyond), the impact of Word Wars I and II on broader society, ways that gender, class, race, or religion shape opportunities and challenges in representative democracies, the respective places of Jews, Muslims, or other minorities in modern France and its empire, and the comparison between
American and French democracy with respect to these or other issues (you can, for instance, discuss the way that learning about France has helped you rethink the American context). Your essay could focus on a single issue or up to three separate ones.. Essay Option B: Reading the News DifferentlyHaving completed this course, are you reading some news stories differently? If so, how? Begin your essay by answering this question in a broader way (you may focus there on a specific issue that you have been reading differently in the news in light of the class). Then analyze carefully the below recent editorial from the popular American daily The Wall Street Journal. How do you think the editorials author makes or reinforces certain assumptions about France and its history? What sorts of experiences or perspectives is s/he considering and highlighting that are important? What sorts of experiences or perspectives is s/he neglecting? How does s/he depict by mention or omission the French state and its historical relationship with the Islamic world and Muslims living under its sovereignty? How does s/he depict explicitly or not the current position of Muslims living in France? Does s/he have a sense of a longer history of inclusion, exclusion, and empire in France? What about divisions between the Left and the Right? What about larger issues historically or at present in the daily life and identity of Muslims in France? What is missing here? How do you see parts of the history we have learned either strengthening or contradicting the central points of the article? These specific questions should help guide your answer but you do not need to respond to all of them. The overall idea is to give a detailed set of perspectives from our class that show how you read deeper assumptions and histories beneath the surface of the article, and how your knowledge from the class gives you critical perspective on this typical American press story about France today. https://www.wsj.com/articles/emmanuel-macron-and-the-woke-11613604823Essay Option C: Designing a Creative Product to Share What Youve LearnedImagine that you are creating either a photo essay, graphic novel, or museum on the history of Jews in France and the Francophone world over the past millennium. What points or episodes in that history would you think it most essential to communicate? What do you think you have learned in this class that you would want your friends, family, roommates, or co-workers to know as the most essential takeaways? How would you seek to communicate these to them? Describe either the entire photo essay/graphic novel/museum or a key section. Be as precise as possible: what images would be included? What texts would provide important sources? What narrative or narratives is your creative product meant to craft? How would it address controversial issues like the French Revolution and its long-term impact; the tension between universalist ideals and claims on the one hand and deeply unequal laws on the other; or the simultaneous existence of France as a democratic nation-state and an overseas empire with millions of unequal subjects; the choices of the French people during World War II and the Holocaust; or the process of decolonization and the ongoing struggle of French society to come to terms with its colonial past. How would you paint a historically accurate, balanced picture of French history since 1789 that was neither entirely critical nor overly laudatory? In the course of your essay, beyond the larger source requirements described in the directions, you must closely analyze at least 3 texts that we have read and place those texts into context. You also should include at least 6 images from either our readings or the lecture powerpoints and explain how you would include them in the photo essay, graphic novel, or museum. If you choose a graphic novel, you would of course be rendering these images in a more artistic fashion, but you should American and French democracy with respect to these or other issues (you can, for instance, discuss the way that learning about France has helped you rethink the American context). Your essay could focus on a single issue or up to three separate ones.. Essay Option B: Reading the News DifferentlyHaving completed this course, are you reading some news stories differently? If so, how? Begin your essay by answering this question in a broader way (you may focus there on a specific issue that you have been reading differently in the news in light of the class). Then analyze carefully the below recent editorial from the popular American daily The Wall Street Journal. How do you think the editorials author makes or reinforces certain assumptions about France and its history? What sorts of experiences or perspectives is s/he considering and highlighting that are important? What sorts of experiences or perspectives is s/he neglecting? How does s/he depict by mention or omission the French state and its historical relationship with the Islamic world and Muslims living under its sovereignty? How does s/he depict explicitly or not the current position of Muslims living in France? Does s/he have a sense of a longer history of inclusion, exclusion, and empire in France? What about divisions between the Left and the Right? What about larger issues historically or at present in the daily life and identity of Muslims in France? What is missing here? How do you see parts of the history we have learned either strengthening or contradicting the central points of the article? These specific questions should help guide your answer but you do not need to respond to all of them. The overall idea is to give a detailed set of perspectives from our class that show how you read deeper assumptions and histories beneath the surface of the article, and how your knowledge from the class gives you critical perspective on this typical American press story about France today. https://www.wsj.com/articles/emmanuel-macron-and-the-woke-11613604823Essay Option C: Designing a Creative Product to Share What Youve LearnedImagine that you are creating either a photo essay, graphic novel, or museum on the history of Jews in France and the Francophone world over the past millennium. What points or episodes in that history would you think it most essential to communicate? What do you think you have learned in this class that you would want your friends, family, roommates, or co-workers to know as the most essential takeaways? How would you seek to communicate these to them? Describe either the entire photo essay/graphic novel/museum or a key section. Be as precise as possible: what images would be included? What texts would provide important sources? What narrative or narratives is your creative product meant to craft? How would it address controversial issues like the French Revolution and its long-term impact; the tension between universalist ideals and claims on the one hand and deeply unequal laws on the other; or the simultaneous existence of France as a democratic nation-state and an overseas empire with millions of unequal subjects; the choices of the French people during World War II and the Holocaust; or the process of decolonization and the ongoing struggle of French society to come to terms with its colonial past. How would you paint a historically accurate, balanced picture of French history since 1789 that was neither entirely critical nor overly laudatory? In the course of your essay, beyond the larger source requirements described in the directions, you must closely analyze at least 3 texts that we have read and place those texts into context. You also should include at least 6 images from either our readings or the lecture powerpoints and explain how you would include them in the photo essay, graphic novel, or museum. If you choose a graphic novel, you would of course be rendering these images in a more artistic fashion, but you should
still identify the images youd be including. If youre citing lecture powerpoints, indicate lecture name and date, and then comma, pptx number (so, for instance, In-class lecture, April 21, pptx 5).
