FRNCH 117
Studies in 17th-Century French Culture and Literature
Description: Lecture, three hours. Enforced requisite: course 5. Taught in French. Study of 17th-century French culture and literature, including theater, philosophers, moralists, novelists, and cultural, political, social, religious, and courtly aspects. May be repeated for credit with topic change. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2017 - This class is taught entirely in French. You do need the texts and should have them during class, but you don't need to buy them most of them are available online or at the UCLA libraries both in French and in English. There were three assignments. The first paper was actually two papers and each were about 1-2 pages and about different, but related topics. The second paper was a similar situation, but the two papers were each 2-3 pages long. The first and second papers needed to be turned in on TurnItIn and in class. The final paper was due the last day of finals week and only needed to be turned in online. The final paper consisted of only one paper that was 5-8 pages long. The workload was not bad though there was a fair amount of reading. The reading was very interesting (particularly in the second half of the class when Molière's plays were introduced). The number one part of this class was participation. Professor Melzer does not judge your French and actually seems to be more impressed with you when your French is not particularly good, but you attempt to participate. She is incredibly encouraging and very willing to help if you ask for it. She repeats stuff a lot in class to help everyone understand better. Ask questions when you don't understand and she will explain again. She smiles a lot, she's very kind hearted, and she seems to really enjoy teaching. Each class is much more of a discussion than a lecture and she really wants a lot of participation. It is a nice class if you like literature and discussion. It is a perfect, encouraging place to practice your French conversation skills.
Fall 2017 - This class is taught entirely in French. You do need the texts and should have them during class, but you don't need to buy them most of them are available online or at the UCLA libraries both in French and in English. There were three assignments. The first paper was actually two papers and each were about 1-2 pages and about different, but related topics. The second paper was a similar situation, but the two papers were each 2-3 pages long. The first and second papers needed to be turned in on TurnItIn and in class. The final paper was due the last day of finals week and only needed to be turned in online. The final paper consisted of only one paper that was 5-8 pages long. The workload was not bad though there was a fair amount of reading. The reading was very interesting (particularly in the second half of the class when Molière's plays were introduced). The number one part of this class was participation. Professor Melzer does not judge your French and actually seems to be more impressed with you when your French is not particularly good, but you attempt to participate. She is incredibly encouraging and very willing to help if you ask for it. She repeats stuff a lot in class to help everyone understand better. Ask questions when you don't understand and she will explain again. She smiles a lot, she's very kind hearted, and she seems to really enjoy teaching. Each class is much more of a discussion than a lecture and she really wants a lot of participation. It is a nice class if you like literature and discussion. It is a perfect, encouraging place to practice your French conversation skills.
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Most Helpful Review
Highly recommended. Prof. Stefanovska is an excellent professor. Her lectures are interesting, interactive and have great depth. She teaches students how to do a close reading of the text. The amount of reading for each class is reasonable. There is a mid-term, final, essay, oral presentation and class participation. If you do the reading before each class and take notes you will be well prepared. Prof. Stefanovska is encouraging and open to helping students during office hours.
Highly recommended. Prof. Stefanovska is an excellent professor. Her lectures are interesting, interactive and have great depth. She teaches students how to do a close reading of the text. The amount of reading for each class is reasonable. There is a mid-term, final, essay, oral presentation and class participation. If you do the reading before each class and take notes you will be well prepared. Prof. Stefanovska is encouraging and open to helping students during office hours.
Most Helpful Review
I took Werner for 17th Cent French Lit. I agree with the previous person, Professor Werner is patronizing, inflexible, an unreasonably tough grader, and expects you to be a fluent or native French speaker. He is not forgiving at all and comes off as incredibly arbitrary, in his teaching style and his grading. He is quirky, and I don't think is necessarily a negative trait. In fact, quirky professors are sometimes the most fun, interesting, or charming. Some of Professor Werner's quirks are funny and entertaining, but they certainly do not make up for his unwarranted toughness and unbending nature. If you don't come up with exactly what he wants to hear, it's not right. He tears apart your accent and makes fun of you for it. The one plus side to this course was that it was relatively light in work. The reading was minimal and there were only 3 short papers. This is probably one of the only French classes you will find that does not grade you on participation and where you could get away with not speaking a word the entire quarter. But, keep in mind, even though there's only 3 short papers, he grades them ridiculously hard, like you won't get an A, so don't expect it.
I took Werner for 17th Cent French Lit. I agree with the previous person, Professor Werner is patronizing, inflexible, an unreasonably tough grader, and expects you to be a fluent or native French speaker. He is not forgiving at all and comes off as incredibly arbitrary, in his teaching style and his grading. He is quirky, and I don't think is necessarily a negative trait. In fact, quirky professors are sometimes the most fun, interesting, or charming. Some of Professor Werner's quirks are funny and entertaining, but they certainly do not make up for his unwarranted toughness and unbending nature. If you don't come up with exactly what he wants to hear, it's not right. He tears apart your accent and makes fun of you for it. The one plus side to this course was that it was relatively light in work. The reading was minimal and there were only 3 short papers. This is probably one of the only French classes you will find that does not grade you on participation and where you could get away with not speaking a word the entire quarter. But, keep in mind, even though there's only 3 short papers, he grades them ridiculously hard, like you won't get an A, so don't expect it.
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