FR417 Formative Essay Titles
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
In addition to the summative assignment that you may be REQUIRED to submit for this module, you have the OPTION to write a formative assignment from the list of questions given below. Please note that formative assignments are for training purposes only and do not count as part of your final degree classification.
We strongly recommend that you submit a formative assignment as it will enable you to hone the skills developed in this module and to prepare for your summative assessment(s).
Deadline for formative assignments:
All formative assignments must be submitted to your module tutor by the beginning of week 8 in terms 1 and/or term 2. Tutors will return your marked assignment by the end of term.
You may, If you wish, discuss the same text/thinker in a summative assignment as you have discussed in a piece of formative assignment, but you must not reproduce in part or whole any of your formative assignment in your summative assignment.
One Coursework (Formative) Essay (c. 1,500 words in length) is optional for this module.
Select one of the following topics:
1. Audrey Tautou has been described by a critic from the journal Positif as embodying ‘une fragilité moderne’ (Jean Antoine Gili, 2007). Analyse the construction of the eponymous heroine of Le Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain in the light of this claim.
2. ‘Lucie Aubrac cannot be considered historically significant in view of its status as a blockbuster film pandering to the expectations of mainstream audiences.’ Discuss this statement with reference to Berri’s film.
3. Cultural and film theorist Richard Dyer has argued that groups of stereotypes constitute ‘the projection upon the world of our own sense of our own value, our own position and our own rights’. Discuss this statement with reference to Sitcom.
4. It has often been argued that women cultural practitioners (writers, filmmakers etc.) need to challenge the conventions of mainstream genres and discourses in order to carve out a space for self-expression untainted by patriarchal ways of thinking. Do you agree with this statement? Make reference to Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse OR Regarde-moi in support of your answer.
5. Critically assess Will Higbee’s claim that La Graine et le mulet is as much concerned with issues of class as it is with those of ethnicity.
6. Critically assess the contention that realism is itself a generic category with reference to La Ville est tranquille.
7. Analyse the construction of French masculinity in Un prophète OR The Artist.