Courses

Spring 2010 - French Course Descriptions

French 001 — Elementary French I

A - Block C - Lisa Walters
B - Block D - Kerri Conditto
C - Block I - John Julian
D - Block I - Anne Taieb

This course introduces the fundamental grammatical structures and vocabulary of French. Through the development of basic language skills of reading, writing, listening comprehension, and speaking, it promotes the practical use of language in a variety of social settings. Conducted in French. No prerequisites.

Texts: Capretz, French in Action, Textbook and Workbook, Part I (Yale UP).

French 002 — Elementary French II

A - Block A - Kerri Conditto
B - Block C - Larysa Smirnova
C - Block E - Taryn McQuain Bentaous
D - Block F - Lisa Walters
E - Block I - Wen-Yee Ho

A continuation of French 001. The course advances the study of basic grammar structures, fosters the development of vocabulary, and broadens the range of situations in which the student can understand and impart information. Audio-visual materials provide the cultural context for linguistic activities. Conducted in French. Prerequisite: French 001 or consent.

Texts: Capretz, French in Action, Textbook and Workbook, Part I (Yale UP).

French 003 — Intermediate French I

A - Block C - Marie Gillette
B - Block E - Annie Geoghegan
C - Block G - Ellen Detwiller

A review and extension of French grammar and vocabulary with attention to developing all four skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. The course aims to foster fluency and the functional use of language. Class discussions will be based on short literary texts and readings about French society. Regular listening work and frequent compositions are required. Conducted in French. Prerequisite: French 002 or consent.

Texts: Muyskens et al., Bravo! Textbook and Workbook, 6th ed. (Heinle & Heinle).

French 004 — Intermediate French II

A - Block A - David Pauling
B - Block E - Ellen Detwiller
C - Block G - Agnès Trichard-Arany

The course continues the grammar review begun in French 003, introduces the use of more advanced structures, and promotes the acquisition of a large active vocabulary. It aims to develop language proficiency sufficient to converse about practical concerns and to narrate in past, present, and future time. Readings from several different types of prose develop sensitivity to tone and style. Course work consists of regular lab assignments, compositions, class discussions, and oral presentations. Students are required to register for a recitation section that consists of a weekly 40-minute conversation group. Conducted in French. Prerequisite: French 003 or consent.

Texts: Course Packet. Muyskens et al., Bravo! Textbook and Workbook, 6th ed. (Heinle & Heinle).

French 021 — Composition and Conversation I

A - Block A - Luisella Simpson
B - Block F - Marie Gillette
C - Block H - Viola Thomas

This course aims to develop the student's ability to speak and write French, with special emphasis on oral-aural skills and a focus on contemporary French culture. A review of more advanced grammar structures promotes correct expression. Lab assignments and readings, in the form of cultural texts and short fiction, serve to expand vocabulary and provide subjects for class discussions. Given the focus on oral expression, active participation in class is essential. Regular lab work, compositions, oral exposés, and debates. Students are required to register for a recitation section that consists of a weekly 40-minute conversation group. Conducted in French. Prerequisite: French 004 or consent.

French 021 & 022 — Intensive Composition and Conversation I & II

21-I - Block D - David Pauling
22-I - Block C - Anne-Christine Rice

This intensive course earns two course credits.  It meets six hours a week (2 time blocks) and is taught by two instructors.  It is recommended for anyone who wishes to make rapid progress in French and particularly for those who plan to study in France in the near future.  A variety of sources will be used as a basis for class discussion: a text on contemporary French culture, short stories, newspaper and magazine articles, films, and television programs.  There will be a thorough review of grammatical structures and weekly compositions.  Other course work includes vocabulary-building exercises, dictations, and oral reports (a skit and a traditional presentation), weekly grammar and vocabulary tests, and a final oral exam.  Students are required to attend a weekly 40-minute conversation section.  Conducted in French.  Prerequisite:  French 004 or consent.

Texts: Barson, La Grammaire à l'œuvre, Textbook and Workbook, 5th edition (Heinle & Heinle); Oukada, Bertrand, & Solbert, Françoise Sagan, Bonjour tristesse (Julliard Poche), additional readings and films.

French 022 — Composition and Conversation II

A - Block C - Annie Geoghegan
B - Block E - Anne-Christine Rice
C - Block J - Viola Thomas

This course, like French 021, provides a grammar review and work on oral/aural skills, but its focus shifts to written expression. Readings are drawn from contemporary French and Francophone texts. To prepare students for upper-level courses, increasing emphasis is placed on analytical skills and on the cogent presentation of ideas and points of view. Course work includes oral and written assignments, video, film, and exams. Students are required to register for a recitation section that consists of a weekly 40-minute conversation group. Conducted in French. Prerequisite: French 021 or consent.

Texts: All Sections: Barson, La Grammaire à l'oeuvre, 5th edition.

French 022-X — Politiques économiques et sociales en France

A - Block I - CANCELLED
B - Block KLr - Anne Taieb

The purpose of this course is to further develop speaking and writing skills in French through the reading and analysis of articles and texts related to politics and business in French-speaking countries. This course will help students become familiar with the social and economic aspects of France that affect the business world.  Coursework includes the usual French 22 grammar review, written assignments, oral presentations, class discussions, and exams. Students are required to register for a recitation section that consists of a weekly 40-minute conversation group. Conducted in French. Prerequisite: French 021 or consent.

Texts: Barson, La grammaire à l'oeuvre, 5^th edition (Heinle & Heinle); Philippe Claudel, Le Café de l'Excelsior (Livre de Poche).

French 032-A — Readings in French Literature II

Block E+mw - Agnès Trichard-Arany

Readings from literary genres of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: autobiographical and fictional novel, short story, and poetry.  Emphasis on techniques of close reading and on critical analysis of different genres.  Two papers (4-5 pages), one exposé, mid-term and final exams.  Conducted in French.  Not for seniors or for students returning from programs abroad.  Prerequisite:  French 21 or consent.

Texts:  Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary (extracts); Guy de Maupassant, La Peur et autres contes fantastiques (Classiques Larousse); Charles Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du mal (Classiques Larousse); Colette, Sido (Livre de Poche); Jean-Paul Sartre, Huis clos / Les Mouches (Folio); Marguerite Duras, L'Amant (Editions de Minuit).

French 032-B — Readings in French Literature II

Block G+ - Zeina Hakim

Readings in various genres of nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature: drama, novel, short story, and poetry. The course will address the major literary movements of these periods, while emphasizing techniques of close reading and literary analysis. Written and oral French will be of central importance. Class discussions, oral presentations, two four-to-five-page papers, and a final exam. Conducted in French. Not for seniors or for students returning from programs abroad. Prerequisite: French 21 or consent.

Texts: Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du mal (Livre de Poche) ; Maupassant, Le Horla (Classiques Larousse) ; Flaubert, Madame Bovary (Folio) ; Beckett, Fin de partie (Éditions de Minuit) ; Ponge, Le Parti pris des choses (Gallimard, coll. "Poésie").

French 032-C — Readings in French Literature II

Block I+ - Gèrard Gasarian

A close reading of five major works from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.  Through lectures, class discussions, and oral and written assignments, the course will introduce specific methods for dealing with literary texts from different genres and periods.  Short papers and exposés will be required.  Conducted in French.  Not for seniors or for students returning from programs abroad.  Prerequisite:  French 21 or consent.

Texts:  Baudelaire, Le Spleen de Paris (Livre de Poche); Maupassant, 13 Histoires Vraies (La Bibliothèque Gallimard); Apollinaire, Alcools (La Bibliothèque Gallimard); Duras, Moderato cantabile (Editions de Minuit); Roubaud, 128 poèmes (La Bibliothèque Gallimard).

French 032-D — Readings in French Literature II

Block D+ - Emese Soos

Selected readings in various literary genres (novel, short story, poetry) of the 19^th and 20^th centuries.  The course emphasizes close textual analysis and pays special attention to the cultural background of the texts, in particular to their relationship to the visual arts.  Short papers and exposés, a mid-term exam and a final project.  Conducted in French.  Not for seniors or for students returning from programs abroad.  Prerequisite: French 21 or consent.

Texts: Chateaubriand, René (Pocket Classiques, #6191) ; Flaubert, Trois Contes (Classiques Bordas) ; Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du mal (Nouveaux Classiques Larousse) ; Gide, L'Immoraliste (Folio #229); Beckett, En attendant Godot (Minuit)

French 032-E — Readings in French Literature II

Block F+tr - Claire Schub

Readings of 19th- and 20th-century texts including literary, social, and cultural developments using various theoretical approaches.  The course includes the novel, short story, poetry, essay, and theater, and is intended to strengthen students' oral and written critical expression. Oral presentations, mid-term and final exams, three papers (2-3 pages, 4 pages and 5-7 pages).  Conducted in French.  Not for seniors or for students returning from programs abroad.  Prerequisite:  French 21 or consent.

Texts: Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du mal (Classiques Larousse); Balzac, Le Chef-d'oeuvre inconnu et autres nouvelles (Folio) ; Beckett, En attendant Godot (Editions de Minuit); Duras, L'Amant (Editions de Minuit); Barthes, Mythologies (Seuil, coll. "Points")

French 075 — Classics of French Cinema

Block L+ - Brigitte Lane

A study of remarkable French films that, since the early 1930's, have proven to be landmarks in the history of French cinema and have left their imprint on more recent "new classics."  Special attention will be given to the aesthetic styles that these films represent (from the subversive poetic realism of Jean Vigo to the rebellious spirit of Godard and Kassovitz), as well as to the political and sociocultural context of the times and to the major impact of the French "New Wave" movement.  Viewing of films (one per week), individual presentations, class discussion, short readings.  Analysis of excerpts of films that are not part of the basic syllabus.  One mid-term paper (6-7 pages), one final paper (10-12 pages).  Active class participation a must.  No prerequisites. Counts toward the Majors in IR, I.LVS and the Minors in Film Studies & Mass Communications and Media Studies.

Texts: Rémi F. Lanzoni, French Cinema: From its Beginnings to the Present (Continuum); Carrie Tarr, Reframing Difference: Beur and Banlieue Filmmaking in France (Manchester UP); and either Isabelle Vanderschelden, Amélie (U. of Illinois Press, coll. "French Film Guides") or Ginette Vincendeau, La Haine (U. of Illinois Press, coll. "French Film Guides").

Recommended: Susan Hayward & Ginette Vincendeau, eds., Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts (Routledge).

Films: Vigo, L'Atalante; Gance, J'Accuse; Renoir, The Rules of the Game; Carné, Children of Paradise; Truffaut, The 400 Blows; Godard, Breathless; Godard, Pierrot-le-Fou; Varda, Cléo from Five to Seven; Vigne, The Return of Martin Guerre; Truffaut, Farenheit 451; Jeunet, Amélie; Kassovitz, Hate; Charef, The Daughter of Keltoum.

French 94 — Independent Study (in English)

ARR - Members of the Department

Guided individual study of an approved topic in French literature or civilization. Variable credit. Prerequisite: consent. To register for an Independent Study, see the Department Administrator.

French 122 — Advanced French Language II: Myth & Revolution

Block J+ - Isabelle Naginski

In-depth study of contemporary language with emphasis on idiomatic usage and different styles of expression through analysis of written and spoken French.  Readings include both critical and primary historical documents and concentrate on the major theories, concepts and mythical constructs which helped shape France between 1789 and 1848, during its Age of Revolution. . Topics will include: myths of revolution,  the Terror, the Third & Fourth Estates, the myth of Napoleon, Utopianism, the class struggle, myths of origin. Grammar review; frequent written assignments and papers; explications de textes; oral proficiency through exposés; mid-term and final exams.  Active class participation is essential.  Not for native speakers or for majors who have studied in French-speaking countries.  Prerequisite: French 21 and 22, or consent.

Texts: Course Packet: Myth & Revolution, 1789-1848; Balzac, Le Colonel Chabert (Folio Classique); Limouzy & Bourgeacq, Manuel de Composition Française (McGraw-Hill).

French 152 — The French Enlightenment

Block E+mw - Zeina Hakim

Starting with Kant's fundamental question – "What is Enlightenment?" – this course will investigate the hopes and shortcomings of the intellectual movement known as "Les Lumières." Through the study of major works by Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Diderot, we shall explore whether the Enlightenment truly constitutes a dividing line between a "before" (Classicism) and an "after" (Romanticism, modernity). Topics will include the search for origins, the rewriting of history, and the various metaphors of light used in several eighteenth-century works. Class discussions, two five-to-six-page papers, and a final exam. Prerequisites: French 31 and 32, or consent.

Texts: Montesquieu, Lettres persanes (Garnier Flammarion); Voltaire, Contes (Garnier Flammarion); Rousseau, Les Confessions (volume 1, Garnier Flammarion); Diderot, Jacques le Fataliste (Folio); course packet of articles from the Encyclopédie.

French 169 — Les Poètes maudits

Block K+ - Gèrard Gasarian

The course will trace the evolution of French poetry from romanticism to symbolism in the second half of the nineteenth century.  The romantic "mal du siècle", which is experienced by Nerval as late as 1850, gradually turns into a malediction felt by such authors as Desbordes-Valmore, Verlaine, Rimbaud, and Mallarmé.  In the works of these "poètes maudits," the theme of poetic curse keeps recurring ad nauseam, nurtured by feelings of despair, distress and dejection.  By cherishing their gloomy, pessimistic moods, these poets were secretly seeking some apocalyptic cleansing. To analyze their obsessive sense of impending doom, a wide range of psychological, sociological, religious and linguistic symptoms will be considered: melancholy, madness, homosexuality, rebellion, bohemianism, and damnation. There will be lectures, discussions, and oral reports. Two papers required.  Prerequisites:  French 31 and 32, or consent.

Texts: Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, Poésies (Poésie/Gallimard); Paul Verlaine, Poèmes saturniens:  Fêtes galantes (Presses Pocket); Arthur Rimbaud, Oeuvres:  Des Ardennes au désert (Presses Pocket); Stéphane Mallarmé, Mallarmé et le symbolisme (Classiques Larousse)

French 192-A — Eros & Destiny: George Sand & Balzac in Dialogue

Block N+ - Isabelle Naginski

"Through our writings, we are preparing a future revolution in the realm of private life."  Thus declared George Sand to Honoré de Balzac in one of the great literary dialogues of the 19^th century.  With each new novel – and they were published hard and fast, both writers being singularly prolific – the critics unfailingly compared them, making of Balzac the epitome of "Realism" and Sand the epitome of "Idealism."  Both novelists, however, explored fictional realms which transcended such facile oppositions.  Rather than see in the two writers representatives of two opposing schools of fiction, this course will examine the question of eros in connection with gender.  In our readings we will encounter dreamy young girls on the brink of womanhood, ambitious young men, abandoned women, and so-called "virile" heroines intent on upsetting the social equilibrium.  Did erotic love and its failure or triumph tend to determine the destiny of the characters in the fictional worlds of Balzac and Sand?  What differences can we discover in the ways in which these models were worked out?  We will read short stories and novels in pairs, as a way to gage the differing literary strategies deployed by the two greatest novelists of Romantic France.  One short paper (5-6 pages); one long paper (10-12 pages); one exposé or take-home final exam.  Active class participation is essential.  Prerequisites: French 31 and 32, or consent.  Counts toward the Interdisciplinary Major in Women's Studies.

Texts: Balzac, Les Secrets de la princess de Cadignan et autres etudes de femme (Folio); George Sand, La Marquise, Lavinia, Metella, Mattea (Babel/Actes Sud, 2002); Balzac, Le Père Goriot (Folio); George Sand, Vies d'artistes (Omnibus); Balzac, Eugénie Grandet (Folio); George Sand, Jeanne (Christian Pirot, 2006)

French 192-B — Twentieth-Century French Theater (cross-listed as DRAMA 194-04)

Block H+ - Brigitte Lane

A detailed study of some of the major dramatic works of the 20^th century while looking at the crucial interference between text, mise en scène and acting.  Special attention will be granted to the evolution of French modern theater and its often antagonistic ideological directions: on one hand the ‘Theater of the absurd' (both the heir of Jarry's grotesque cycle Ubu Roi and of surrealism, in general); on the other hand, a political theater marked by Brechtian influences and by the American experimental theater of the times.  Attention will also be granted to the birth of newly created regional Dramatic Centers seeking to bring the performing arts to popular audiences, outside of Paris.  The relationship between theater and film will also be considered.  Conducted in French.  Class participation a must.  Oral presentations, independent or collective creative writing.  One midterm paper (6-7 pages); one final research project (10-12 pages).  Prerequisites: French 31 and 32 or consent. Counts toward the I.R. Major.

Texts: Albert Camus, Caligula (Folio/Théâtre); Jean-Paul Sartre, Les Mouches (Folio); Samuel Beckett, En Attendant Godot (Ed. de Minuit); Eugène Ionesco, Rhinocéros (Folio/Thèâtre); Jean Genêt, Les Bonnes (Folio/Théâtre); Marguerite Duras, Des Journées entières dans les arbres (Poche); Bernard-Marie Koltès, Quai Ouest (Ed. de Minuit); Jean-Marie Koltès, Quai-Ouest (Ed. de Minuit); Marie Ndiaye, Hilda (Ed. de Minuit) plus some one act plays related to major texts.

French 192-C — Twentieth-Century French Women Writers

Block D+ - Claire Schub

Voices of women are always being articulated against a long tradition of male writers, even in the twentieth century.  If women wrters share what Adrienne Rich has called "a common female culture," do they also share a common vision, preoccupations, and language?  Is there an écriture féminine? We will read novels, a film scenario, and several non-fiction texts in our exploration of these questions in the works of Colette, Nathalie Sarraute, Irène Némirovsky, Marguerite Duras, Simone de Beauvoir, Annie Ernaux, and Monique Wittig.  What do twentieth century women writers have to say about love, death, war, mothers, work, play, nature, writing, language, and society ?  One oral presentation, one 4-5 page paper, one 8-10 page final paper, weekly short "reaction papers." Prerequisites: French 31 and 32 or consent.

Texts: Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, La Vagabonde (Livre de Poche); Nathalie Sarraute, Tropismes (Éditions de Minuit); Irène Némirovsky, Suite française (Livre de Poche); Marguerite Duras, Hiroshima mon amour (Gallimard/Folio); Simone de Beauvoir, Une mort très douce (Gallimard/Folio); Annie Ernaux, Une femme (Gallimard/Folio); Monique Wittig, Les Guérillères (Éditions de Minuit).

French 194 — Independent Study (in French)

ARR - Members of the Department

Guided individual study of an approved topic in French literature or civilization. Variable credit. No more than one credit in an Independent Study may be counted toward the major. Prerequisites: one 100-level literature course and consent. To register for an Independent Study, see the Department Administrator.

French 199BT — Honors Thesis (Spring Semester)

ARR - Members of the Department

Open to qualified students. Variable credit. Prerequisites: French 31 and 32 and consent. To register for an Honors Thesis, see the Department Administrator.  Once the topic has been approved by the Chair, the thesis must be registered in the Office of the Dean of the Colleges.

Back to top.