French 385
The Question of Individual Freedom
Reid
Fall 2007
Classroom:  STV 232
T/R 4:00-5:15
Office:  STV 215
Office Hours: M/W 10-12 and by apt.
Phone: 438-7894
e-mail: jhreid@ilstu.edu
homepage: http://lilt.ilstu.edu/jhreid/
 

Grammatical Correction Abbreviations 
Common French Grammatical Errors
Les articles:  du, de la, des vs. le, la, les
Le passé composé vs.l'imparfait

      Near the middle of the twentieth-century, French literature and philosophy seemed to be dominated by existentialist authors who declared the individual's freedom from social and psychological influences on their actions.  Individuals, it was argued, should reject the illusion that the world and their lives had a meaning in order to freely and "authentically" choose one's own, albeit absurd, actions and life.  Existentialism soon gave way to more nuanced literary and philosophical writings, such as those of Jean Genet, Marguerite Duras, and Tahar Ben Jelloun, for whom individuals are necessarily caught up in social and/or psychological forces that put their freedom into question.  Through the latter half of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, the question "what do I want, think, choose to do?" has had to confront the question "what are my culture or my psychology making me want, think, or do?"  We will begin with Sartre's existentialist autobiography, Les Mots, which argues for individual autonomy, then pass to novels and plays that raise the question of the relationship between autonomy from and dependency on the world in which we live and that lives inside us. 

SCHEDULE:
*All readings that are not in brackets and all critical reading guides must be completed by the day scheduled.  Bracketed readings are suggested readings and may be referred to in class.

GLC:  Guide de lecture critique

Aug. 21  Introduction

Aug. 23 Les Mots I 11-54

Aug. 28 Les Mots II 54-93

Aug. 30 Les Mots III 93-135

Sept. 4 Les Mots IV 135-78

Sept. 6  Les Mots V 179-206

Sept. 11 En attendant Godot I 9-26

Sept. 13 Godot II 26-50


Sept. 17, First draft of first undergraduate paper due
Sept. 18 Godot III 54-70

Sept. 20 Godot IV 73-105


Sept. 25 Godot V 105-24

Sept. 27 Les Bonnes  I; Etudiants gradués: lisez l'Introduction.
Sept. 28 Second draft of first undergraduate paper due

Oct. 1 First draft first graduate paper due
Oct. 2 Les Bonnes II

Oct. 4 Les Bonnes III

Oct. 9 Kamouraska I 7-49,

Oct. 11 Kamouraska II 50-89
Oct 12 First draft of second undergraduate paper due, Second draft of first graduate paper due

Oct. 16 Kamouraska III 90-129

Oct. 18 Kamouraska IV 130-71
Oct. 19 Second draft of first graduate paper due

Oct. 23 Kamouraska V 172-212

Oct. 25 Kamouraska VI 213-246
Oct. 26 Second draft of second undergraduate paper due

Oct. 30 Le Ravissement de Lol. V. Stein I 11-36

Nov. 1 Le Ravissement de Lol. V. Stein II 37-74
 

Nov. 6 Le Ravissement de Lol. V. Stein III 74-119

Nov. 8 Le Ravissement de Lol. V. Stein IV 119-164
Nov. 9 First draft of third undergraduate paper due
 

Nov. 12 First draft of second graduate paper due
Nov. 13 Le Ravissement de Lol. V. Stein V 165-91

Nov. 15 La Nuit sacrée I 5-38;  Selected verses on Women from the Koran, Introduction to Islam  (copiez et lisez pour la premère classe), Carte du Maroc 

Nov. 20  Thanksgiving Vacation

Nov. 22  Thanksgiving Vacation

Nov. 27 La Nuit sacrée II 39-74     

Nov. 29 La Nuit sacrée III 75-112
Nov. 30 Second draft of second graduate paper due


Dec. 4 La Nuit sacrée IV 113-51

Dec. 6 La Nuit sacrée V 151-89
Dec. 7 Second draft of third undergraduate paper due

Dec. 14 10:00 A.M.  Final Exam

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

1.  Participation:  Each student will be expected to complete all assigned readings before coming to class.  He or she will also be expected to learn from the professor and fellow students, as well as participate actively and critically in class discussions on this reading.  All discussion will take place in French.  

3.  Papers:  Undergraduates will write three 3-4 page papers.  Graduates will write two 6-10 page papers.  All papers will refer  to several current books and articles on the chosen subject.  You will write two drafts of each paper.  All papers will be written in French and corrected with the Microsoft French grammar and spelling corrector.  Papers will interpret a single novel.

You should write a coherent essay. The essay should have an introduction (stating your thesis or the question you will answer) and a conclusion (synthesizing your overall argument), as well as paragraphs that are each devoted to a discreet part of your argument.

Statements about what the novel is saying should be supported by summarizing or citing specific parts of the text.

4. Final Examination  There will a final examination, written in French, covering all required reading and class discussion.
                 

5.  Required Text
                Ben Jelloun, Tahar, La Nuit sacrée               
                Beckett, Samuel.  En attendant Godot
                Duras, Marguerite, Le Ravissement de Lol V. Stein
                Genet, Jean, Les Nègres
                Hebert, Anne, Kamouraska
                Sartre, Jean-Paul, Les Mots

6.  Recommended Texts
              
                Jonathan Culler,  Literary Theory:  A Very Short Introduction.
               
7.  On Reserve 
                Culler, Jonathan.  Literary Theory:  A Very Short Introduction. New York:   Oxford UP, 2000
               

FINAL GRADE:

The final grade will be calculated as follows: