In this final blog assignment, you will review and respond to French-American related interest stories which have been posted on the course Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/FYSFreedomFries or any other articles that you have found through your research. Post your review on the Issues of Interest blog, which can be accessed from the course webpage.
In addition to providing the link to the article and its title, include a brief summary of the story as well as a few sentences describing its relevancy to issues discussed in class.
Please look closely at posts which have already been contributed to the Issues of Interest blog; you may not post a response to an article already used by a classmate. Each response should be different and unique! As always, adhere to the standards for formal, academic writing at the college level.
Your grade will be determined by the following criteria:
1) Title of article and link provided (1 pt)
2) Relevancy to course material/discussion (5 pts)
3) Summary of the article (5 pts) 2) Relevancy to course material/discussion (5 pts)
4) Critical reflection on the source (4 pts)
Alyssa Crile
ReplyDelete“How to Dress Like a French Person”
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-dress-like-a-french-person-2014-11?utm_content=bufferc38d3&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
The article I read was about French fashion, French style, and how to dress like the French. It shared seven fundamental pieces you need to dress like a French person. These pieces are beautiful shoes, an elegant watch, a nice suit or blazer, proper manners and eloquent speaking, quality accessories, quality clothing over brand clothing, and having a style that suits you.
This article was interesting but stereotypes the French by stating “The fact that they are always complaining and have strange tastes regarding food is not the subject here” in the very first paragraph of the article. This source also just an opinion piece; it isn’t credible at all because it has social media sharing, plenty of advertisements, and a comments section.
This article is relevant to our class because we have discussed French fashion as well as the stereotypes mentioned by the writers of this article. While it is true that the French dress much less casually than most people do in the US, the stereotypes bring this article down.
Erik Hark
ReplyDeleteDecember 3, 2014
Issues of interest number 5
“New York where French school is free and fought over”
http://www.france24.com/en/20141128-new-york-french-public-school-free-bilingual-education/
For my fifth issue of interest blog I choose to write about French schooling. This article was mostly about American parents and if they wanted to send their children to school to speak French the best place to send them would be New York. The kicker to all of this is, is that the schooling is free and there are now ten public schools for student to go to get a degree in French and speak it fluently just like they speak fluent English. Through out my reading I discovered something very interesting. The article said that, “Learning to speak two languages also develops the brain’s ability to solve internal conflict, to multitask, and recently has been shown to delay the onset of Alzheimers.” That pretty unbelievable and it also make me really wonder why people of America do not do this as often with their children. That being said the next point brought up in the article is about how its more of the parents decision to make their childes bilingual rather than the children decision to pursue being bilingual. This article is relevant to our discussions in class because we have been talking a lot about liberal arts colleges and how one of the biggest things in learning another language and trying to learn about other cultures besides the one we always live in. I really enjoyed this article because it talked a lot about us as Americans and why we should learn other languages and it was interesting to compare the things that we have learned in this class throughout the semester.
Jim Scales
ReplyDelete“France falls out of love with the car”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/09/france-car-ownership-sales-downturn
This article talks about the recent trend in France of carpooling and ride sharing. It also discusses another trend of people buying cars less and less in France. They are often now viewed as a burden and economically irresponsible. This change initially happened with the economic downturn in 2007 where car sales in all of Europe fell by 25%. This trend has not bounced back appropriately with the recovering economy and many believe it will not. In France the average age at which people buy their first new car is close to 55. This is an incredibly high age. The French, as stated in this article, also shun those who make too much show of their wealth and flashy cars.
This article is very interesting to show a trend in France that is in response to the fairly recent economic misfortune all of Europe has faced. The French are taking a more responsible approach to cars and transportation as a whole. I think it is a great movement and a very smart response to the issues that they have faced in both fatalities and even environmental issues faced. This article also ties in by making mention of the French shunning those who show their wealth by buying cars. A sentiment of humbleness when it comes to money as we have discussed in this class.
Angel Burciaga
ReplyDelete“The unusual reason there were so many sheep at the Eiffel Tower this week”
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/11/28/the-unusual-reason-there-were-so-many-sheep-at-the-eiffel-tower-this-week/
This article was a very interesting and bizarre. Last week in Paris, visitors saw a very unusual sight which was the Eiffel Tower surrounded by hundreds of sheep. I thought this was relevant to the class because here in America, protests seem to be the only thing that is happening. I find it funny that in France, a protest that has national news cover it is a protest on tougher measures against wolf attacks on their farms. The governments “anti-farmer environmental policies” bans farmers from shooting the wolves when their sheep are being attacked. Wolves were eradicated from France in the early 1900’s but returned in the 1990’s and became listed as a protected species. There is a Ferus organization that work to protect the wolves.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.lemonde.fr/arts/article/2014/12/01/les-anooki-prennent-d-assaut-l-opera-de-lyon_4532233_1655012.html
ReplyDeleteFor this final Issues of Interest, I viewed an article titled "Les Anooki prennent d’assaut l’Opéra de Lyon," or "The Annooki take over the Opéra de Lyon," an article which discussed the Festival of Lights in France, an annual holiday festival that is used to express gratitude towards Mary, the mother of Jesus. While it took a little bit of searching on Le Monde's website, I felt that this article was important to contribute because it does show that French news has a lighter side, as journalists still cover more fun events like the Fête de Lumières in Lyon. In class we have spent a lot of time discussing French versus American news, and this was a good example of a similarity between the two rather than the differences we usually point out. The website the article originated from, Le Monde, is a nationally respected French newspaper similar to The Chicago Tribune.
http://www.frenchtoday.com/blog/expect-typical-french-wedding
ReplyDeleteThis article tells of the traditional steps of a French wedding. The first topic mentioned was the invitations. They are very similar to American style invitations, but the only key aspect from the French side was that you do not have to rsvp unless you are invited to the formal meal. Just as in America, the bride’s family paid for the wedding, but presently this activity has changed. The article stated that both sets of parents give some money and the couple takes care of the rest. In France, there are no bridesmaids or best men, and it stated that there are no French words for these terms. There are flower girls and boys and they carry out the various jobs in the wedding. Holding the train of the bride, sprinkling flowers, and holding the rings are jobs given to children. The bride in France will wear white or off white just as in America. The article summed up that Americans do not dress in classic ways for a wedding like French people do. The French do not wear anything that is low cut or clingy. In France, there is separation of Church and State so a couple that gets married in the Church will not be recognized as married by the State. Therefore, the couple will get “married” twice. French and American people love to dance, eat, and drink just as Americans do so that pretty much is the same. I found this article interesting because in class we talked about civil unions and church weddings. This article broke every aspect down so you could easily spot the similarities and differences.
http://www.france24.com/en/20141128-new-york-french-public-school-free-bilingual-education/
ReplyDeleteThis article discusses about that in New York, there are 10 public schools that will help teach your kids French fluently as English without paying a cent. They also not only learn the language, but also learn subjects in the language as well, such as math and reading. Not only is French thought at these schools, but you can also learn Spanish, Italian, and Mandarin among many others. The article also goes into talking about the good presence of learning a second language, such as slowing down the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. What else is good about the program is that it still promotes the freedom of an American school while teaching the language to kids. Another thing about the program is that they take their time to learn the language so that it can stay in the child’s brain so they remember it for a longer time. This relates back to class by showing that Americans are not against spreading other languages they just want to do it in their own way.
Article Title- New 11-Country Survey of People 65 and Older Finds Those in U.S. Are Sickest and Most Likely to Have Problems Paying Medical Bills, Getting Needed Health Care
ReplyDeletehttp://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/press-releases/2014/nov/11-country-survey-of-people-65-and-older
This article discusses results of a survey on health and healthcare in 11 countries. In many categories, the United States had the highest percentages. These categories include: the most 65-and-older adults with the most trouble paying for health care costs and skipping needed health-care due to costs, highest rate of adults who used emergency department in last two years, and most people who had at least one problem with care coordination in the past two years. They also had the lowest percentage of adults who could get a same- or next day doctor’s appointment due to a sickness, at just 57%. France had much better results in the survey, with 83% being able to get a same-day doctor’s appointment due to a sickness, only 7% reporting having a care coordination problem with their doctor, and only 3% of older adults reporting having missed their needed health care due to costs. This article relates to our class discussions about the differences in health care costs, availability, and quality between France and the United States. It also relates to our discussions about statistics that show the US is one of the most unhealthy countries in the world, mainly due to our dietary habits. It shows many of the flaws in the US health care system that we talked about. The source seemed somewhat reliable, but because it was a survey it is hard to accept it as reliable evidence. It may reveal overarching facts, but it does not specify specific percentages in each of the eleven countries.
Link - http://www.france24.com/en/20141204-eu-strasbourg-court-orders-france-pay-somali-pirates-thousands-compensation/
ReplyDeleteTitle - EU court orders France to pay thousands to Somali pirates
For the final issues of interest blog I chose to look at a topic about France being ordered by the EU court to pay the Somali pirates thousands. “France was ordered to pay between €5,000 and €2,000 ($6,100 and $2,500) to each pirate for "moral damages", plus amounts varying from €3,000 to €9,000 ($3,700 and $11,200) to cover legal costs.” The only reason that the French were in the wrong is because they arrested the pirates 4,000 miles from actual French territory. Another reason that they were in the wrong is because they apprehended the pirates 48 hours before they saw an actual judge. Recently attacks from the Somali pirates has taken a sharp decline. At their peak in January 2011 Somali pirates held 736 hostages, some onshore and others aboard their vessels, as well as 32 seized boats. The Somali authorities went on to note that they were incapable to take care of the pirates because they needed international help.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/14/world/europe/brushing-off-a-french-stigma-that-doggie-bags-are-for-beggars-.html?_r=0
ReplyDeleteIn this New York Times article, the topic of to-go bags, also known as doggie bags, in French restaurants is discussed. The use of doggie bags tends to be very rare in France right now but it was more widely used in the mid 20th century. Now, in the south-central region of France, and specifically Lyon, a campaign is being run to promote and increase the use of doggie bags. Unfortunately there is a rather negative stigma surrounding the topic that is present throughout the class divisions. Members of the working class consider leaving any left on one’s plate to be extremely wasteful while to the bourgeoisie, it is a sign of wealth to simply leave unfinished food because they are rich enough to not need it. Reading this article was very interesting because here in the U.S. to-go bags are everywhere and it really isn’t even thought about because it is so natural that waiters often specifically ask “do you want a box for that?” when taking the plates. I think this article easily demonstrates some of the snobbier and high class stereotypes of the French but I also think it is cool how they are making a solid effort to remove this stigma from their society.
http://www.answers.com/article/1185531/15-odd-things-about-america-that-americans-dont-realize
ReplyDeleteIn this article it mainly gives examples and some events that some Americans may not notice we do in our daily living. One of the events that most Americans do that most foreign countries don't is that they get to chose how much of a tip the make or we like to have a lot of flags we have flags for countries we visit, or from countries we like. Another big thing Americans have that most french countries don't have is portion sizes are so much bigger then other countries they almost double the portion sizes in America. This article focused on some topics that we have reviewed in class. Some of the topics being covered in this article we covered in class for instance some traditions that have stuck around with us after many years like singing the nation them. The topics go from food to how we manage our money. This article was really unique because it had a lot of activities that Americans do that we may not realize we have done.