French IV

Class is conducted entirely in French. It is enhanced through the daily use of SmartBoard technology in all its aspects. Communication skills in all four language areas—speaking, listening, reading, and writing—are strongly developed. After analyzing the mechanism of comic and comedy according to Aristotle, the class studies the play and comedy Le dîner de cons by Francis Véber, with the help of the movie and AP guided worksheets. Then, students analyze the movie Les choristes by Christophe Barratier with AP guided worksheets and study the songs by Bruno Coulais and Jean-Philippe Rameau. Other movies that are discussed and studied with AP guided worksheets include Médecin de campagne by Thomas Lilti and Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis by Dany Boon. All movies are shown in French with French subtitles. Students are asked to write and correct short essays. After analyzing peasants' and city life in 16th century France, students study the trial of Martin Guerre with the help of the entire script and the movie Le retour de Martin Guerre by Daniel Vigne and Natalie Zemon-Davis. Works by painters like Matsys, Georges De La Tour, Daumier, Ingres, Delacroix, Géricault, Renoir, Manet, Monet, Van Gogh, Degas, and Seurat are discussed. Grammar is studied on a regular basis and is taught using a wide variety of activities, such as articles from the French newspaper Le Monde, conversations, skits, cartoons, comic books, short excerpts of films, songs, paintings, games, Internet exercises, and multimedia lessons. The course helps students to acquire the necessary tools to conduct an in-depth analysis of the readings, paintings, and movies.

Prerequisite: French III