Undergraduate Course Offerings
Spring 2000

Departmental Writing Requirements:

The following writing requirements apply to courses in which the authorized enrollments do not exceed 20 (French 331 and 332) or 25 (literature and civilization courses numbered higher than French 332):

  • FREN 331 and 332: 10-15 pages, typically divided among 4 to 5 papers. Peer editing introduced during class and practiced outside.
  • 300-level literature and civilization courses: 10-15 pages, typically divided among 2 to 4 papers. Relatively less sophisticated content than at the 400-level. Peer editing outside of class may be offered to students as an option (or requirement).
  • 400-level literature and civilization courses: 15-20 pages, typically divided among 2 to 4 papers. Relatively more sophisticated content than at the 300-level. Peer editing outside of class may be offered to students as an option (or requirement).
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  FREN 331 - INTENSIVE GRAMMAR AND COMPOSITION

Prerequisite: Exemption from FREN 201 & 202; or a score of 3 on the AP French language exam; or a score of at least 660 on the SAT. Required as preparation for all subsequent courses except FREN 333 and FREN 339.

This course will place emphasis on grammatical rules and their application to composition. Short readings in French will provide a context for discussion, writing, and grammar practice. Self-guided grammar exercises will be assigned as homework. Students will be graded on homework, contribution to small and whole-group discussions, short quizzes, dictations, compositions, a mid-term, and a final exam.

9:00-9:50 MWF - TBA
12:00-12:50 MWF - Ms. Stuart
9:30-10:45 TR - Ms. Sapir
11:00-12:15 TR - Ms. Sapir



  FREN 331 - INTENSIVE GRAMMAR AND COMPOSITION

Prerequisite: Exemption from FREN 201 & 202; or a score of 3 on the AP French language exam; or a score of at least 660 on the SAT. Required as preparation for all subsequent courses except FREN 333 and FREN 339.

This course will place emphasis on understanding the different elements of the French language (classification, origins, and formation of words) and on the relationship that exists between those words (syntax). Students will be asked to apply grammatical rules to composition. Short readings in French will provide a context for discussion, writing, and grammar practice. Students will be graded on short quizzes (bi-weekly), dictations (weekly), compositions (weekly), a mid-term, and a final exam. The course will be taught in French.

2:00-3:15 TR - Ms. Zunz



  FREN 332 - WRITING READING TEXTS

Prerequisite: French 331. This course is a prerequisite for all undergraduate courses on a higher level except French 333 and French 339.

The development of writing skills and strategies in French: grammar, vocabulary, organization and style. Careful reading and analysis of a variety of texts (for example, poetry , theater, fiction and essays). Sections will be limited to fifteen students. Several papers in French (10-15 pages total).

10:00-10:50 MWF - TBA
12:00-12:50 MWF - TBA
2:00-2:50 MWF - TBA
11:00-12:15 TR - TBA
12:30-1:45 TR - Ms. Ogden
2:00-3:15 TR - Ms. Sapir



  FREN 334 - FRENCH CONVERSATION AND FREE COMPOSITION

Prerequisite: Students enrolling in French 334 MUST HAVE COMPLETED FRENCH 331 AND 332 or their equivalent in a study abroad program. Does not count for major credit.

An intensive course designed to give more advanced students an opportunity to maintain and improve oral language skills. Conversation on topics of current interest, graded written and oral assignments. Oral and written mid-term and final examinations. Continues language development from the level commensurate with the prerequisite. Consistent attendance and active participation essential.

9:00-9:50 MWF - TBA



  FREN 339 - FRENCH PHONETICS

The study of the sound system of French (theory and practice): phonetic transcription, syllabification, articulation of vowels, consonants and semi-vowels (with practical exercises aimed at training the ear and improving pronunciation and enunciation), contrastive analysis of French and English sounds, etc. Involves classroom instruction and practice in the language laboratory. Basis of evaluation: 4 - 5 quizzes, final exam,'travaux pratiques' and in-class performance. Required text: D. Dansereau, 'Savoir Dire: cours de phonetique et de prononciation'.

11:00-11:50 MWF - Ms. Saunders
12:00-12:50 MWF - Ms. Saunders



  FREN 343 - LITERATURE OF THE 19th and 20th CENTURIES

An examination of selected works from the 19th and 20th centuries through close readings coupled with broader overview of the literary movements of the period. Introduction to the methods and texts of literary criticism.

Readings include poems, prose poems, essays, short stories, and plays by Baudelaire, Flaubert, Beckett, Ponge, and Colette.

Papers, exams, and oral presentations.

11:00-12:15 TR - Ms. Lyu



  FREN 344 - INTRODUCTION TO FRENCH CINEMA: THE FRENCH NOVEL ON FILM

This course will focus on cinematic rewritings of French literary works from the 17th-20th centuries. Topics to be examined include literary theory and cinematic practice, narrative adaptations, and reconstructions of plot for contemporary audiences. The class will be conducted in French. Texts will be read French. Required readings and viewings include: Beauty and the Beast (Mme Leprince de Beaumont/Cocteau); Dangerous Liaisons (Laclos/Vadim/Frears); Madame Bovary (Flaubert/Minnelli/Chabrol); Le Colonel Chabert (Balzac/Angelo); excerpts from For a New Novel (Robbe-Grillet); Last Year at Marienbad (Resnais); and Hiroshima mon amour (Duras/Resnais).

Two papers and three exams. Weekly response writing.

12:30-1:45 TR - Ms. Krueger



  FREN 401 - LITERATURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES

Title: Medieval Love

Expressions of love in medieval French literature range from erotically-charged professions of love for God to mutual oaths of eternal fidelity between spouses to propositions of illicit encounters. This course will explore depictions and definitions of passion, desire and affection in didactic, narrative and lyric works of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The final grade will depend upon class participation, one long or two shorter essays, a midterm and a final exam.

9:30-10:45 TR - Ms. Ogden



  FREN 407 - LA LITTERATURE D'HIER--SURREALISM

The surrealist movement profoundly affected poetry, fiction, drama, and the graphic and plastic arts, as well as the cinema in the period between WWI and WWII. Questions of gender were deeply embedded in the movement's agenda as well. Our course will examine important work by the founding fathers (Aragon, Breton, and Eluard) and will then proceed to examine how women entered the movement and changed its orientation. Works from a variety of genres and media will be examined throughout the semester.

Requirements include a midterm, a final examination, and a research paper on a significant aspect of surrealist art. Class discussion will be actively encouraged.

Prerequisite: successful completion of at least one 300-level literature course in the department beyond 332.

11:00-12:15 TR - Mr. Arnold



  FREN 438 - FRENCH SOCIETY AND CIVILIZATION: La France Actuelle

Prerequisite: (unless exempted by the instructor) a 300-level civilization course or its equivalent

NB : This course will include a very important electronic component through the use of a UVa-developed program known as Efolio. There will be NO written work in printed form, and students will be expected to familiarize themselves with the use of Efolio within the first week of the semester. In addition to individual work, students will also be expected to work on research projects in teams of three or four persons.

Que faut-il savoir de la France en ce début de millénaire? Dans ce cours, en grande partie documenté par la lecture de la presse quotidienne et des recherches sur la toile (Web), on cherchera à préciser les traits caractéristiques de la société française, de sa culture, de son système politique, de son économie, et de ses institutions. Comment les Français se définissent-ils eux-mêmes ? Quelles sont leurs préoccupations face au présent, et quel rôle entendent-ils jouer dans le cadre de l'Europe, de l'Afrique et du reste du monde ?

Lecture exigée : Laurence Wylie & Jean-François Brière, Les Français (Prentice Hall, 1995).

Travaux : 4 ou 5 essais et/ou rapports de lectures de deux pages; un essai de recherche d'environ 6 pages ; examen de mi-semestre et examen final.

12:30-1:45 TR - Mr. Simon



  FREN 445 - WORD AND IMAGE

The way in which we approach visual documents and texts has evolved considerably over time, and the difference between verbal and visual signs is not always straightforward. Artists and poets have often exploited these ambiguities, especially in France in the period stretching from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. In this course we will look at the ways in which we apprehend verbal and visual signs, pondering why the difference and the overlap between words and images have evolved so much. Taught in French, this course will be based on a varied body of works--on the 'reading' of poems for the most part, but also on the examination of illustrated books, of livres d'artistes, and of reproductions of works of art. In the light of the different theories articulating the relationship of visual and verbal signs which we will encounter during the semester, we will attempt to arrive at a better understanding of the construction of the word and image divide through time, and of the reasons why so many have challenged it in this century. The final grade for this course will take into account participation in class discussions (20%), three papers composed during term (30%), and a final examination (50%).

10:00-10:50 MWF - Ms. Rigaud



  FREN 445 - BODILY KNOWLEDGE

The desire to open the human body and see its inside has haunted the thoughts of specialists in a vast range of discipline from medicine and philosophy to art and literature. This course examines the ways in which writers, artists, philosophers, and scientists have opened the human body -- both literally and figuratively -- and appropriated it in order to create their own corpus and engender an aesthetic of the human body and of the soul, from the advent of public dissections in the seventeenth century to the virtual mapping of the body in the twentieth century.

Readings include primary works by Montaigne, Descartes, La Mettrie, Gautier, and Villiers de l'Isle-Adam; critical works by Barthes, Foucault, and Stafford; and medical treatises by Harvey. We will also look at anatomical plates, paintings, and films.

Papers, exams, and oral presentations

12:30-1:45 TR - Ms. Lyu



  FREN 483 - ADVANCED SEMINARS IN LITERATURE

Title: Fictions of Gender

Readings and discussions will explore the play of feminine and masculine identities and sex roles in modern (nineteenth and early twentieth century) texts. We'll pay particular attention to the effects of sex and gender shifts on fictional forms.

(Tentative) readings: Barbin/Foucault, Herculine Barbin, dite Alexina B. / [Memoirs of a Nineteenth-Century French Hermaphrodite]; Balzac, Sarrasine; Sand, Gabriel; Zola, Au Bonheur des dames; Rachilde, Monsieur Vénus; Colette, La Vagabonde.

Papers, exams, and oral presentations.

1:00-1:50 MWF - Ms. Beizer



FRENCH IN TRANSLATION COURSES

  FRTR 221 - AFRICAN ORAL TRADITIONS

This course will concentrate on the oral literature of the Senegambia region of West Africa. Two major topics will be an examination of Mande Oral Epic with a special emphasis on Manjay's Kuyate's "Barlaban" and Kujamaat Jola Extemporaneous Funeral Songs. We will also examine the genres of proverbs and folk tales among others. This course will be taught jointly with Professor David Sapir of the Department of Anthropology, where it is listed under a different number. Enrollment is limited to 12 under french and 12 under Anthropology.

1:00-1:50 MWF - Mr. Dramé

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