[see extra credit option below!] You can get all this information in a printable format in this Final Exam handout

This class has been about a subject that many people – even historians – may not think about too much: The French Atlantic. The Spanish, Dutch or Portuguese Atlantic, or especially the British Atlantic are more traditional subjects.
At the end of the semester, you should have a better idea of why the French Atlantic is an important topic in world history. So the final exam question is a big, wide one: “Why study the French Atlantic?”
Directions: you should think of this more as an essay or paper than an exam. You can use any resource you want, though the entire exam needs to be in your own words. See the syllabus to remind yourself of my stern policy about plagiarism. The essay should be about 1,500 words long, which is about 5 double-spaced pages. I’m not grading on length, but if you write less than, say 1,200 words, you probably aren’t thinking carefully about the question. It is due to me on or before noon, Friday May 15, via the WebCT dropbox. It is worth 250 points or 25 percent of the semester grade
Grading Grid – this is how I will grade your essay

• Has a thesis statement that answers the question?    10
• Describes what the French Atlantic is/was?    10
  Is well organized?     10
• Uses examples from Greer’s Jesuit Relations?    10
  Has a title that reflects the thesis statement?    10
• Uses examples from Greer’s The People of New France?    10
  Writing is clear?    10
• Uses examples from Harms, The Diligent?    10
• Uses examples from Dubois, Avengers?    10
• Uses examples from Price, The Convict?    10

Notes:
1.    A thesis statement answers the question set by the exam. For this essay, which asks “Why study the French Atlantic?” a possible thesis statement would be:  “The French Atlantic reveals the true nature of Europe’s colonization of the Americas.” The following is NOT a thesis statement:  “This paper will examine why the French Atlantic is important.”
2.    Most of the time you do not know what your thesis statement will be when you start to write.  This is because writing is a form of thinking and writing helps you answer hard questions, like this one. Often you will only realize your answer to the question as you are writing the last sentence of the exam. However DO NOT just leave that sentence there. Move it to the first paragraph and make sure that the rest of the paper supports that sentence.
3.    You NEED a title. This will be the very last thing you write – after you discover your thesis, you can write a title that reflects that thesis.

Extra Credit – Map the French Atlantic Using Google Earth

Worth 50 points or a full two letter grades extra on this exam
10 placemarks/polygons/paths – your choice
10 descriptions of about 50 words each
Needs to include places in France, Africa, North American mainland, Caribbean – your choice!!

A good alternative for our class is the “Assignment” tool on WebCT. I just set up assignment up-load boxes for the rest of our assignments, including the final exam. You upload the file there and then I upload the gradedversion is you can see my comments.

Department of Modern Languages holds symposium on cultural constructions

News Release — 20 April 2009

ARLINGTON – The University of Texas at Arlington Department of Modern Languages stages a symposium on “Cultural Constructions III: Connections” from 8:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. Friday, April 24.  The symposium will be held in Room 200, Trimble Hall, 700 S. West St.

The “Connections” theme is broadly defined …

The keynote lecture by Associate Professor John Garrigus is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. and is titled “Poisons, Powders, and Guns: Slaves Strike Back in Saint Domingue (1758) and Jamaica (1760).” Garrigus’ lecture is sponsored by the Mustaque Ahmed Festival of Ideas, a program designed to enhance interaction between presenter and audiences.  Another highlight is the OneBook panel discussion from 10:30 a.m. until noon, moderated by Associate Professor Christopher Conway.

Our first reading assignment takes us up through the preface up to page 119. Here it is,  the book guide to the first half of Price.

If you’d like to know more about Rich and Sally Price and their work and life in Diamant, Martinique, you can go to their website.

Here’s a picture of the “Diamond” rock that their village is named after.

Nothing changes for this week of April 20-24, but the last GE assignment and the book quiz on the first 1/2 of  Price has been moved BACK to Monday, May 4. Don’t worry, this last GE assignment will be much simpler than, say, the GE assignment on the Harms and Dubois books.

The quiz on the 2nd 1/2 of  Price is still in the same place: on the last day of class, Friday May 8. Note that Wednesday May 6 is a review session for the final exam.

The take-home final exam is due AFTER the day that UTA scheduled our regular class final. They say we should take it on Monday May 11.  I want to give you more time so I’m asking you to turn it in on or before noon May 15. I would like to get it no later than noon since grades are due shortly thereafter.

Ask me in class or email if you have any questions!

Day    CLASS TOPICS     Assignments Due
M, 4/20    The Impact of the Haitian Revolution
W, 4/22    Discussion of Dubois, pp. 152-306    Book Quiz on Dubois
F, 4/24    The French Antilles and the End of the Slavery
M, 4/27    The Antilles in a New French Empire    Dubois GE assignment due
W, 4/29    DVD: Sugar Shack Alley    (Martinique: Euzhan Palcy, 1983)
F, 5/2    DVD: Sugar Shack Alley
M, 5/4    Price GE assignment due; plus Book quiz and discussion of Price, pp.1-111
W, 5/6    Review for Final Exam
F, 5/8    Discussion of Price, pp.112-218    Book quiz on Price, part 2
F, 5/15   Take-home Final Exam due [LATER than our officially scheduled final exam]

I’ve uploaded the Dubois Google Earth assignment. I hope it will help you get more out of this book!

The map I want you to import into Google Earth is an archival map that you can download . Click on the image of the map below to get the file.

Watch for the Google Earth guide, coming up.