The Great Speeches of French Political Rhetoric

This course will study a variety of modern political speeches from the French Revolution to the present time. It offers a panorama of the evolution of French political rhetoric according to its historical, political, intellectual, and religious context. Students will have the opportunity to become familiar with the political literature of France. They will work on the art of rhetoric and of political discourse in a concrete and lively manner, notably through enrichment of vocabulary, knowledge of the diversity of language styles, analysis of argumentation, and discursive strategies. Students of this course will have the opportunity to write by themselves different political speeches which will be performed in class.