Spring 2002

Roxane Petit-Rasselle
Office: 208 Mitchell Hall
Office hours :   2 : 00-3 : 00 (Tuesday and Thursday)
Phone : 831-3070
Email address :   Roxy@UDel.edu
 

Goals : This class will allow you to not only become a fine reader of French literature and to develop your critical skills but also to become familiar with the general background that the texts themselves belong to.

Course material :
-  Shofer, P. , Rice, D., Berg, W. Introduction à l'analyse de textes littéraires français, New York: Oxford University Press 1973. (IATLF)
-  Photocopies will be distributed ; students will be required to read them.

Course requirements :
- Participation and preparation (15%)
- 2 hourly exams (15% each)
- Oral presentation (10%)
- 3 essays (4 pages each) (15% each)

Participation and preparation will be graded based on willingness to volunteer, quality of participation and contribution to the class. Participation, preparation and attendance are essential.  Since this course is your primary opportunity to interact in French, you will speak French at all times in class, as will your instructor. You are expected to arrive on time.  Do not hesitate to ask questions or share your point of view with the rest of the class. In order to be as prepared as possible for class discussions, it is imperative that you have read and taken notes on the day's readings and that you have done the requested assignments before coming to class.  In addition, questions and comments will be expected from you during the presentation that each individual will give.  Please be aware that this sort of class interaction is essential to your participation grade.

Exams will consist of short answer, identification, and essay questions. Questions will be drawn from the readings, class lectures and discussions. Make-up exams are permitted ONLY with a written and verifiable excuse (generally medical). Contact the instructor on the day of the missed exam at the latest.

Essays will be written in French and should be 4 typed and double-spaced pages in length, with one-inch margin and Times New Roman font.  Failure to turn in your paper on the day it is due will result in the lowering of your grade (by 2% a day).  However, should exceptional circumstances arise and interfere with your completing the assignments, please notify me before the due date by email or by phone.

The oral presentation may be done individually or in pairs. Please choose a topic no later than February 14. Your grade will be based both on the quality of your outline (20%) and the quality of your oral presentation to the class (80%). You may use brief flash card-type notes, but simply reading a prepared text will substantially decrease your grade.  You should be prepared for the type of class interaction that an oral presentation implies : for example, answering your classmates¡Çquestions and responding to their comments.

Note regarding attendance: Attendance is directly related to good absorption of material, and thus to good exam results. Notes taken by anyone other than yourself are generally insufficient: the very act of note-taking is part of the learning process. In addition, class lectures, discussions, and visuals contain materials not otherwise available outside of class. Because attendance is crucial to successful learning, you are allowed only two unexcused absences. Each unexcused absence beyond two (2) will reduce your final overall grade by two percentage points. Excused absences include religious holidays (with advance notification), participation in University-sponsored events, a death in the family or family emergency, sickness or injury with documentation of treatment. Student-athletes should make arrangements with the instructor well in advance of planned absences.

Academic dishonesty : in accordance with University and departmental policy, academic dishonesty including plagiarism will result in an F for the course.  Please read the University policy on cheating or plagiarism or see the instructor.
 

Week of

February 4 :
Introduction
La Bruyère, "Des biens de fortune"  (IATLF 514-15)
Rousseau, Les Confessions (IATLF 512-13)

February 11 :
Scarron (photocopy)

February 18 :
Challe (photocopy)

February 25 :
Challe (photocopy)

March 4 :
Chateaubriand, René (IATLF 541-70)

March 11 :
Chateaubriand, René (IATLF 541-70)
First essay

March 18 :
Balzac, Le Père Goriot (IATLF 582-90)

March 25 :
Flaubert, "Un Coeur simple" (IATLF 594-626)
Exam

April 1 :
SPRING BREAK

April 8 :
Flaubert, "Un Coeur simple" (IATLF 594-626)

April 15 :
Sartre, "Le Mur" (IATLF 629-48)
Second essay

April 22 :
Sartre, "Le Mur" (IATLF 653-68)

April 29 :
Camus, "Le Renégat" (IATLF 653-68)

May 6 :
Camus, "Le Renégat" (IATLF 653-68)
Third essay

May 13 :
Exam