How and why have divisions persisted in the project of defining the French “nation” during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries?

For this class, you will be taking two, out-of-class exams that will ostensibly be argumentative essays responding to different prompts. The purpose of the exams is to assess your ability (1) to explain how the concept of the French “nation” was created and transformed over the last two centuries, (2) to effectively employ primary and secondary sources as evidence in an historical arguments, and (3) to demonstrate that you sufficiently completed the assigned readings and participated in class sessions.

Exam essays should be 2000-2500 words in length. Essays must include a proper introduction, a fully formed argument (with a specific thesis) grounded in the analysis of evidence, a conclusion that clearly highlights the main points of the essay, and a works cited list. You must use and cite all the various types of materials that you have been presented in this class (e.g. primary sources, books, articles, lectures). Do not do outside research for these exams. The exams are designed for you to respond in a compelling way using only the materials from the course.

Here are the prompts for the two exams:

Exam #2
Though the founders of the Third Republic claimed to have brought unity and consensus to France, the reality is that conflicts remained at the heart of French political, social, and cultural life. How and why have divisions persisted in the project of defining the French “nation” during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries?

In addition to formulating responses to these prompts, you must also abide by the following guidelines:

1. Course Materials: Part of the purpose of this assignment is to ensure that you have completed the readings and understood the material presented in class. It is imperative that you show your mastery of the material by working in specific examples, anecdotes, and evidence from these sources. You must include evidence from primary sources, class lectures, monographs (a.k.a. the books that you’re reading for class), and journal articles. More specifically, you must use examples from numerous primary sources, numerous lectures, all of the books that you read for that unit of the class, and at least two articles.

2. Citations: Whenever you use a source, you must cite it. Citations must be included in footnotes and correctly formatted according to the Chicago Manual of Style. If you do not know how to cite something using the Chicago Manual of Style, consult this quick guide. I have also provided examples of citations from course materials below. Remember to cite every specific example that you pull from another source.

3. Works Cited: At the end of the exam, you must include a works cited page that lists all of the sources that you used in the paper. You must organize and format the works cited list according to the Chicago Manual of Style (again, see above for more information).

Writing: Your exam is a formal, argumentative essay, so you must use formal English with correct grammar. It cannot include typos or significant grammatical mistakes. Although the main purpose of this assignment is not to test your writing ability, strong written communication is a prerequisite for effective argumentative writing.