Blatt has a good reputation in the French department, and for good reason. He researches and works in French all the time, so he's a lovely speaker and will gently correct you when you make mistakes—he's very polite about it, just wants to help you. Because he has researched so many random fields, he often gets very excited about something and goes off on a little tangent, slipping into English if he gets really worked up! But he's just that kind of professor who loves his subject! Blatt is especially good with literature, which makes him a terrific professor for FREN 3043 where he basically picks 6 or so novels that we all read together over the course of the semester. Just be careful because this entire course is based on reading in French every single week. Grade comes from participation, 1 presentation, 3 short 2-page papers, and one longer final paper. #tCF2020

This class was one of the best I've taken at UVa. Ari loves the books he teaches, and he makes confusing parts of each book very clear without giving everything away. I learned a lot in this course without being overburdened by work.

Take this class. Readings are engaging and Blatt is hilarious and smart. Also, he's sexy

This class was awesome. Blatt is the man: knowledgeable, fluent, enthusiastic, funny, personable, keeps the class atmosphere light (important for a French literature class, as he knows). We were only assigned two essays, so the workload was essentially just reading and discussion which was nice. The books assigned were great as well; for example we read some Balzac, Flaubert and Camus. Blatt really loves the material and loves teaching it to his students, and you can tell his goal really is just to make sure you come away with something, not that you improve your vocab or anything. The only downside I saw was the time of the class: 630-745, TTh. Definitely recommended -- take it if you can!

The professor is enthusiastic, very fluent, and flexible/helpful. This course is a good way to do enjoyable reading, improve your language skills, and talk about literature. For the best experience, be sure to participate in class discussion.

FUN AND EASY

Ari Blatt is easily one of the most engaging French professors. He's not a tough grader, but he still makes sure you learn a lot and his class is very rewarding!

Great class. Awesome professor.

Prof Blatt is the best out of 4 french professors i've had at UVa in the past 2 years. This was my first french lit class, and he made it do-able. Although it was hard initially to keep up with the reading, I learned to discipline myself. Was great and definitely worthwhile. His assignments were not at all hard, and did not take very long. No final, and two 5 page papers, one reflective 2 page paper, and posting on a discussion forum every week. Very relaxed class!

Ari Blatt is an enthusiastic professor and encourages his students to really dig into the books he chooses. He speaks in English more than I had expected, which can be good or bad depending on how you look at it. His books are interesting and the short responses are simple enough, but the papers do require more work, though he allows a rewrite on one paper. This class is definitely worth taking - there is a broad range of novels from different centuries and styles, and the grading isn't very difficult.