UMUC Europe - Expatriate Writers in Paris: 1890-WWI

Metro is fastest way around Paris, and we’ll be using it every day. The metro runs from 5:30 a.m. to 1:15 a.m. Un carnet (book of ten tickets) is 10,40 Euros. Cheaper is a Carte Orange Hebdomadaire. (Hebdomadaire means weekly) 16,80 Euros from Monday through Sunday on buses and metro. You need a passport size picture of yourself to put on the card. Both can be purchased most metro stations. You can pay in cash (Euros) or use a credit card. Good idea to get tickets or Carte Orange on Saturday when you arrive. Remember: the carte is valid from Monday through the following Sunday.

The Carte Visite for 27,50 Euros is good for five days on metro, buses, and the RER (fast metro train) to and from airport. The price also includes museums, but NOT the major ones like the Louvre or Musee D’Orsay. Your best bet is the Carte Orange.

Our hotel is on Etoile-Nation (line 1); the stop is Glaciere. From metro walk down Blvd. St. Jacques, turn left on rue Ferrus, then right on rue Cabanis. (See map on the Fiap website: www.fiap.asso.fr/plan-d-acces.html)
Click on the map for a detailed view of the hotel area.

Directions from Airport

If you come from the airport (Charles-de-Gaulle, also called Roissy, or from Orly) you can take the following into Paris:

Roissybus to Opera metro (45-60 minutes) 8,90 Euros
Orlybus to place Denfert-Rochereau (30 minutes) 6,30 Euros

Then take the metro to the FIAP.

First Meeting:

On Saturday evening we will meet in the lobby of the FIAP for a general orientation at 6:00 p.m. All lectures will take place at the FIAP, classrooms to be announced on Saturday. You will receive some Xeroxed readings in Paris on the first day.

If you’re booked at the FIAP, you’ll be placed in a double or triple room depending on number of people and proportion of male/female. If you want to stay longer, or arrive earlier, please let the hotel know immediately. Our reservation is for Saturday 3 Jan. through Saturday 10 Jan. According to Let’s Go: The Budget Guide to Europe 2002, the Fiap’s “comfortable well-furnished rooms all with toilet and shower, are impeccably maintained.” Students in the past have found the rooms rather plain compared to American hotel rooms, no T.V., thick towels, or shampoo provided. The Fiap keeps costs down by providing towels every other day. You can buy extra sundries at the front desk.

Readings

As soon as you receive the books, read them in the following order:

In Paris Tales, please read the first five stories (pp.13-66).
In The Portable Oscar Wilde: Introduction, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Salome, and James The American
at the orientation on Saturday, you’ll also receive a photocopied packet with some brief readings to be discussed in class during the week

Grading Information and Criteria

Three quizzes (short answers)	30 points
Walks and Discussion	10 points
Literary Salon	15 points
Upper Level Project (ENGL 389E)	15 points
Final Examination (ENGL 289E)	45 points
Final Examination (ENGL 389E)	30 points

Project Descriptions

Quizzes

You’ll take two in-class quizzes based on our readings and discussions—short answers and identification. Each quiz will be 30-40 minutes. You will complete a third quiz in the city, exploring one of the neighborhoods which relates to our course.

Walks and class discussion

Our class discussions are an important part of the course; you will be expected to participate: be prepared to discuss the readings; annotate your texts as you read so you have passages to refer to when necessary. Walks are required; you are expected to “absorb” the sites and places we visit as part of the course. This is why we are in Paris!

Literary Salon

In the 1890s literary salons in Paris were lively and intense! Sometimes they were the only way a foreigner could meet the French. Our salon will recreate the atmosphere of the 1890s (in an 1890s restaurant which has been declared a national monument), so come prepared to discuss your “life” and “work” in Paris; bring a prop (it doesn’t have to be elaborate—a hat, jacket, scarf) to transform yourself. We’ll circulate a sign up sheet for the salon on Tuesday morning. In case someone else signs up for same character, you need to have a second choice prepared.

The Final Examination is Saturday at 9:00 a.m. sharp; you’ll write short essays. The essay questions will reflect the week’s discussions, previous quizzes, and the readings. Be sure your travel plans begin after the exam, You’ll be done by 12:30-1:00 p.m.

Upper-Level Project

UL students will present to the class, then turn in a project on Saturday. As a substitute for a traditional term paper required in an eight week class, the project should reflect an aspect of the course in Paris, also giving UL students the chance to experience being an expatriate artist/writer working in the city at the turn of the century.
The project can take several different forms: dramatic, artistic, or literary, as long as it reflects the themes of the course and the creative equivalent of a term paper. Some successful past projects in this course included:

a series of symbolist poems in the manner of Rimbaud and Verlaine
a paper mâché bust of Oscar Wilde
a one act play written and performed by three students, called “As the Left Bank Turns”
an original ballet (dance & choreography by a student associated with the Berlin ballet) of a scene from Henry James’ novel The Ambassadors
an original map of literary 1890s’ haunts in Paris with comments by authors we’ve read, and contemporary reflections on those haunts, how they’ve changed
a journal of the life of an 1890s’ figure; it included an autobiographical sketch, a sample of her work (she was a painter in Montmartre), and descriptions of places she went, people she met (and a vivid description of a literary salon—guess whose?!)
a short story in the style of Wharton, James, or Wilde

These are examples (although I don't expect a ballet!) of what you might imagine. Paris WILL inspire you! However, before you come, as you are doing your reading, you might also do some preliminary research on the period—and think of anything you might need to bring (drawing paper, pens, notebook). Lectures will also provide you with historical background, a small library of works will be available to you in Paris, and we’ll be happy to discuss projects with you—and help!—throughout the week.

Academic Policies:

Plagiarism will result in an academic F in the course.

Paris Notes:

Paris can be very cold (and beautiful!) in January. The weather changes quickly from bright sun to rain, so come prepared. We will do extensive walking rain or shine), so bring comfortable shoes, but remember Paris is an elegant city.

Paris is also expensive. You’ll eat well at the FIAP and remember breakfast and lunch or dinner are included in your hotel fee. When you eat out, cafes are cheaper than restaurants and serve a “plat du jour”—a hot dish that changes each day and is usually the best buy—as well as sandwiches, salads, and omelets. If you just want a coffee or a drink, you’ll save 20% by standing at the bar rather than sitting at a table!

A fun cheap restaurant for dinner is Chartier’s: 3, rue Faubourg-Montmartre.
Metro: Les Grandes Boulevards (formerly: Montmartre)
They stop serving at 9:00 p.m., but once seated, you can stay much later.

Additional Fees

The literary salon and a visit to the Gustave Moreau Museum are included in the room package of $485.
Related to the themes in our course are paintings, so you’ll want to visit the Musee d’Orsay and the Louvre (half price after 3 p.m., discount under 25 yrs, bring an ID) neither of which we’ll visit as a group.
For up-to-date prices on the Internet see http://www.paris-tourisme.com/museums.

I look forward to seeing you in Paris on Saturday evening.

Pauline Fry

Last updated: 6 November 2008

Expatriate Writers in Paris: 1890-WWI ENGL 289E/389E

More Information

Transportation