"We are so used to disguising ourselves for others," wrote the seventeenth-century author, La Rochefoucauld, "that we wind up disguised to ourselves." Through the study of short masterpieces from the sixteenth through twentieth centuries, we will study a variety of authors' different approaches to questions of self-deception, self-discovery and self-understanding. Writers to be studied include Montaigne, Pascal, Voltaire, Rousseau, Chateaubriand, Mme de Duras, Balzac, Maupassant, Sartre, Camus, Sarraute. Conducted in French. Format: discussion/lecture. Requirements: active participation in class discussions, a midterm exam, several short papers, one oral presentation. Prerequisites: French 105, or 109, or by placement test, or permission of instructor. Enrollment limit: 20 (expected: 20).