Intellectual substance
This textbook has a unique place in French instruction, to my knowledge, because of its deep focus on developing writing abilities, using the strategies of writing instruction that we see less often in this discipline. The chapters and atelier sections are beautifully formatted, which is just a surface example of the deeper holistic overall approach and its thoughtful parts and careful design. Overall, the selection of readings, the questions asked, the connections to students’ intellectual lives give this textbook real intellectual, conceptual, and academic substance.
-Dr. Christiane Donahue, Institute for Writing and Rhetoric, Dartmouth College
Establishing confidence in students
Arganbright’s textbook adeptly maintains a high level of intellectual rigor while attracting students through interdisciplinary subjects of most interest to them. This book promises to make a significant contribution to French programs because of this delicate balance that Arganbright has achieved, providing a challenging advanced writing textbook that also establishes confidence in our students. His instructions in the textbook often read like a conversation with the students, telling them to be confident in what they have achieved so far and letting them know in advance what they will be tackling next. Entirely in French, his prose is encouraging, guiding, and extremely well written.
-Dr. Eileen McEwan, Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, Muhlenberg College
A sound pedagogical sequence
The book contains many activities sensitizing students to rhetorical tools and their impact and effectiveness, aimed at making students better readers. It also teaches them how to use these tools in their own writing so that they will be better writers. Arganbright has created a very sound pedagogical sequence of activities around each text, from pre-reading activities activating students schemes and preparing them for the reading, to post-reading exercises, going from basic comprehension questions to more complex evaluation of the author’s intentions and use of rhetorical strategies. All the activities help students refine their skills, better understand the subtlety of the language and grasp the implicit meanings of a text. This is very useful to train students to become readers of literature, as meaning often requires careful decoding.
-Dr. Sylvie VanBaelen, Department of Modern Languages, Literatures & Cultures, Butler University
Engaging with today’s world
This textbook functions well on many different levels. It proposes fascinating thematic units that encourage students to engage with important dimensions and tensions of today’s world. It presents texts that allow students to investigate the francophone world, and the points of view of French and francophone authors. While engaging with these compelling subjects and texts, students discover tools that can make for successful reading and writing. Professor Arganbright explains and demonstrates techniques that will benefit all students, while also making sure to provide ample challenges for even the most ambitious of our students. Along the way, Le Creuset des Savoirs provides countless activities that allow students to experiment with the techniques that they are learning.
-Dr Harry Gamble, Department of French and Francophone Studies, College of Wooster
A liberal arts approach
A tenet of the liberal arts is the in-depth study, questioning, and evaluation of shared human concerns. In his textbook Le Creuset des savoirs, Arganbright approaches this by choosing thoughtful and challenging texts that treat meaningful issues, by directing students to question the text and establish a dialogue with the text, and by suggesting multiple ways to articulate individual responses to the text.
-Dr. Simonetta Cochis, Foreign Languages Program, Transylvania University