FRW
4932 Spring 2012
Dr.
William Calin
Monday Per. 7
Graduate
Research Professor FLI 0115 Wednesday Per. 7-8
FLI 0119
Senior Seminar in French Literature:
French Poetry
Goals
and Objectives
It
has been said (by someone rather sentimental) that the soul of a people can be
found in their poetry. Poetry, the least
widely known of literary modes today, was the most honorable and the most
respected for centuries: from 1050 to 1800 or 1850. In this course we will read poems from the
Middle Ages to the twentieth century, from the age of the Romanesque to what we
call high modernism. We will study the
poetry as works of art in their own right, as elements in a continuum of
evolution, and as indicators of the mental structures (mentalités) of
the various historical periods. The
course will scrutinize the relationship of literature to historical reality
(the mindset of a feudal-aristocratic and classical-Christian culture,
attitudes towards women, etc.) and the workings of the literature itself, with
special attention to the creation of myth and archetype, and the relevance of
such works to the reader today. Students
will learn to analyze texts in a more sophisticated way, using modern critical
approaches.
Alternate
Course Description
This
will serve as a sort of capstone course for French majors, treating what for
almost all of French history was considered the noble genre, the genre
of literature, yet which today, for so many people, remains largely unknown.
‒ poetry. We will look at
individual poems, from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century, placing them
in their historical, social context and examining them from the perspective of
modern critical approaches. The seminar
will also serve as a way into the mental structure (mentalités) of its
past, such as the medieval, Renaissance, baroque, classical, rococo, romantic,
and of the mental structure of our own 20th and 21st century. Among other topics, we will scrutinize poets
who create art as eternal beauty and those who are passionately engaged in the
life and strife of the century.
Course
Requirements
Evaluation
of students' mastery of the reading materials will take place via active
monitoring of daily classroom discussion and a final major paper / research
project due at the end of the term.
The
grading will be based on performance under numbers 1 and 2:
1.
Students are expected to keep up with the reading assignments, attend class
meetings and to participate actively in class discussion. This is absolutely
essential for the proper functioning of the seminar format.
2.
One fifteen-page paper/research project for the end of semester.
No
incompletes.
UF Policies
All
students are required to comply with UF standards of academic honesty and
ethical conduct, as embodied in the Student Honor Code. Violations of this commitment may result in
disciplinary action, up to and including expulsion from the University. See the following website for further
information: http://www.dso.ufl.edu/judicial/academic.php.
Students
with disabilities requesting classroom accommodation must first register with
the Dean of Students Office for documentation.
Grading
Grade
Scale Point Range (%) Letter Grade GPA
equivalent
≥ 90.00
A
4.0
86.7 – 89.9 A- 3.67
83.3 – 86.6 B+
3.33
80.0 – 83.2 B
3.0
76.7 – 79.9 B- 2.67
73.3 – 76.6 C+
2.33
70.0 – 73.2 C
2.0
66.7 – 69.9 C-
1.67
63.3 – 66.6 D+ 1.33
60.0 – 63.2 D
1.0
56.7 – 59.9 D- 0.67
< 56.7
E
0
Note: A grade of C− is not a qualifying grade for major, minor, Gen Ed,
or College Basic distribution credit. For further information on UF's Grading
Policy, see:
http://www.registrar.ufl.edu/catalog/policies/regulationgrades.html
http://www.isis.ufl.edu/minusgrades.html
Reading
List
A
course pack from / at Orange and Blue Textbooks 309 NW 13th Street: the now
out-of-print four-volume Penguin Book of French Verse (1960's).
Schedule
Au
fur et à mesure.
Contact
Information
Office: 236 Dauer Hall
Office
Hours: Monday, Per. 8;
Wednesday, Per. 9
Office
Phone: 352-273-3768
Home
Phone: 352-373-3739
Email: wcalin@ufl.edu