The art of brevity in French

FREN3028

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The art of brevity in French

First or second semester

6 credits

Assessment:

100% coursework

Prerequisites:

FREN2002 or equivalent

Co-requisites:

nil

Hours per week:

2 hrs/week

Contact hours:

24 hours

Total learning hours:

120 hours

This course focuses on the study of various forms of textual brevity in the French language, literary as well as non-literary. While short textual forms include a large range of distinct genres (e.g. poems, maxims, witticisms, aphorisms, proverbs, adages, idioms, idiomatic expressions, slogans, graffiti, telegrams, titles, catch phrases), they still share common goals: to achieve optimal impact upon the reader and to convey meaning concisely. In examining many examples from a large historical corpus, from Chamfort’s aphorisms to May 68 situationist graffiti, students shall also review some of the common rhetorical devices that support or reinforce condensed expression, such as ellipsis, brachylogy, zeugma, paradox, antanaclasis, euphemism, and alliteration, to name some of the most important forms. The medium of instruction and all the materials used will be in French.

Objectives

Not available

Learning outcomes

Not available