French 301: Introduction to French Prose

This semester, immerse yourself in tales of outlaws and savages, princes and princesses, loyal servants and heartless masters, despair and revenge, guilt and innocence, sin and repentance! Improve your written French and enhance your reading skills as you analyze and discuss short fiction by some of the greatest French authors, including Sartre, Flaubert, Chateaubriand, Lafayette, Perrault.

Requirements: daily reading assignments, two compositions, three quizzes, midterm, final.

PREREQUISITES: French 211 AND French 2XX with suggested minimum grade of B-.

For more information, contact Dr. Steinberger at 831-2044 or via e-mail: steind@udel.edu

COURSE SYLLABUS FOR FALL 2007

Dr. Deborah Steinberger
Office: 205 Jastak-Burgess Hall   Hours: MW 2:30-3:30
Phone: 831-2044
E-mail: steind@udel.edu
http://www.udel.edu/steind

Course description:

French 301, an introduction to French prose, will permit you to enhance your reading skills and enlarge your critical vocabulary as you study works by some of the greatest French authors.

Texts:

• Schofer, Rice, Berg, Poèmes, Pièces, Prose (Oxford)
• Mme de Lafayette, La Comtesse de Tende (Poche)
• Gabrielle Roy, Ces enfants de ma vie (Boréal)
• Course reader, available at Lieberman’s on Main St., 283-9980, or www.lubonline.com
• A good, hefty French-English dictionary, such as the Harper Collins Robert.
• Also suggested:
• La Conjugaison (Larousse) or any other conjugation handbook
• A French-French dictionary (e.g. Le Micro Robert).

Requirements:

French 301 is a discussion class: therefore, preparation, attendance and participation are extremely important. If the number of unexcused absences exceeds three, the student's final participation grade will be lowered ten points for each additional absence. Because persistent lateness is disruptive and counterproductive, three late arrivals will count as one unexcused absence.

Students who know they will be absent on a given day should be sure to give the instructor advance notice. Furthermore, students who have missed class are responsible for checking WebCT for the day’s homework, and for contacting a classmate to find out what was covered. Since e-mail will be used for course announcements, all students are required to activate their university e-mail accounts if they have not already done so, and to check their mail regularly.

All assignments are to be turned in at the start of class on the day they are due. NEVER SKIP CLASS or come late just because your paper is not ready!!! If you are having exceptional difficulties completing it (computer problems, insufficient time to proofread, etc.), AND you notify me of this in class, you may put it under my office door the morning after it is due. Please note that I do not accept homework sent as an e-mail attachment.

Written work for the course must be word-processed, double-spaced, computer spell-checked at the Foreign Language Media Center and thoroughly proofread (do not depend solely on grammar checkers—they are often unreliable--or even the required spell-checker).  Programs with French accents and French spell-checkers are available at the Foreign Language Media Center, in the basement of Jastak-Burgess Hall. The FLMC is open Monday through Friday from 8:45am-4:30pm.  No credit will be given for work which has not been carefully proofread.

IMPORTANT:  In accordance with University and departmental policy, academic dishonesty including plagiarism will result in an F for the course and a permanent stain on your academic record.  In your writing, it is absolutely essential that you make it clear where your ideas end and those of another author begin.  I have strict guidelines for peer-editing: please check with me before asking someone else to correct your work.  When you write, the use of online translators for anything beyond an occasional word or two constitutes plagiarism and is strictly prohibited: use your dictionary.  If you have any questions about documenting your sources, including online sources, please consult the MLA guidelines (available at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/), and see me with any concerns about documentation.
 

HONORS STUDENTS (section 80) will prepare some additional short texts (2-3 fairy tales in September, and a horror story by Maupassant at the end of October), which they will discuss during required special class meetings (the first to be held Monday, Oct. 1, from 4:30-5:45, in Gore 317; the second time/date TBA).  They are additionally expected to prepare three one-page reaction papers.

Français 301: Programme d'études (à titre indicatif)