FRENCH 379 : Special Topic: Reading French Literature

Arts

2020 Semester One (1203) (15 POINTS)

Course Prescription

Introducing students to a variety of critical approaches, this course aims to provide a basic literary framework through the analysis of selected texts representing a range of genres and periods. Taught in French.

Course Overview

This course will introduce students to the study of French literature, using texts from the Sixteenth Century to the Twentieth Century. Although the texts are varied in genre and technique, all form part of the understanding of love and human relationships in the period of their writing. While some explore how love and death are intertwined, and how literature may resist the death of love and the death of the writer, others show how love may stand against the death and suffering caused by war and totalitarianism.
The course will introduce you to some of the technical aspects of French versification, provide a framework for reading and analysing French literature, as well as strengthening cultural knowledge, vocabulary and fluency in French at an appropriate Stage 3 level. 

Taught and assessed in French.

Course Requirements

Prerequisite: FRENCH 304 Restriction: FRENCH 241

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 1: Disciplinary Knowledge and Practice
Capability 2: Critical Thinking
Capability 3: Solution Seeking
Capability 4: Communication and Engagement
Capability 5: Independence and Integrity
Graduate Profile: Bachelor of Arts

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Demonstrate knowledge about the texts on the reading list and awareness of their historical and cultural context.
  2. Develop skills in critical literary analysis, specifically of French-language texts. (Capability 1.1 and 1.2)
  3. Develop active understanding of French versification and be able to analyse how form is linked to poetic meaning. (Capability 1.2)
  4. Analyse and comment in detail on cultural products and social practices by using frameworks established in French studies. (Capability 2.1, 2.3 and 3.1)
  5. Develop and demonstrate linguistic competency (vocabulary and grammar, oral expression and writing skills) in French at an appropriate stage-three level. (Capability 1.1, 1.2 and 4.2)
  6. Be able to combine diverse elements of the course (linguistic, cultural, critical) into a unified and coherent understanding of its subjects of study. (Capability 1.1, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and 5.2)
  7. Discuss, in written and oral French, thematic aspects of the curriculum. (Capability 1.1, 2.1, 2.3, 3.1 and 4.2)
  8. Situate the cultural products studied in relation to key trends in French literary history. (Capability 1.1 and 1.2)
  9. Research and present critical analysis of the course's prescribed texts and/or theoretical frameworks. (Capability 2.3 and 5.2)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Performance 10% Individual Coursework
Research Essay 30% Individual Coursework
Test 15% Individual Test
Assignment 5% Individual Coursework
Final Exam 40% Individual Examination

Learning Resources

Madame Leprince de Beaumont, La Belle et la Bête (available on Canvas) 
Eugène Ionesco, La Leçon (to be purchased by students).
Other material will be provided on Canvas.

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 15 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week on each 15 point course that they are enrolled in, including class time and personal study and assignment preparation.

Other Information

French 379 can be taken as part of the French major of a Bachelor of Arts.

Digital Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against online source material using computerised detection mechanisms.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website at http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Well-being always comes first
We all go through tough times during the semester, or see our friends struggling. There is lots of help out there - for more information, look at this Canvas page (https://canvas.auckland.ac.nz/courses/33894), which has links to various support services in the University and the wider community.

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter (https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html).

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course you may be asked to submit your coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. The final decision on the completion mode for a test or examination, and remote invigilation arrangements where applicable, will be advised to students at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the assessment, or in the case of an examination when the examination timetable is published.

Published on 22/01/2020 10:00 a.m.