31146 - English Literature 2 (A-L)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students will be acquainted with the lineaments of English literary history. They will be able to read, understand and translate texts from English into Italian, and to deal with some basic critical methods and tools, in order to elaborate comments and critical opinions on the literary texts read during the course.

Course contents

Romantics and Victorians: from Jane Austen to Oscar Wilde

The course traces the development of English literature in the 19^th century through the analysis of representative literary texts and historical/cultural documents. Moving from the long 18^th century, the course will focus specifically on the novelistic genre, analyzing in particular works by Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park), Charles Dickens (Oliver Twist and Great Expectations), and Oscar Wilde (The Picture of Dorian Gray), but also exploring a selection of readings from a diverse range of authors, texts and genres (including poetry and theatre). The course is subdivided in two modules: the first module (Farese) will start with an overview of the writers who defined modern English literary culture, especially the fathers of the English novel and the Romantics, and will focus specifically on two novels by Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice (1813) and Mansfield Park (1814).

The second module (Scatasta) will analyse the Victorian novel, concentrating in particular on Charles Dickens and on the development of the novelistic genre at the fin de siècle through the reading of The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) by Oscar Wilde.

Readings/Bibliography

Manuals and Anthologies:

For the history of English literature, students are expected to read the following textbook:

L. M. Crisafulli e K. Elam (a cura di), Manuale di letteratura e cultura inglese, Bologna, BUP, 2009 (from the eighteenth century to the end of the Victorian age: pp. 139-326)

International students and non-native speakers of Italian may read the relevant sections (from the 18^th century to the Victorians) of the following:

The Norton Anthology of English Literature, vol. II or The Oxford Anthology (reference section – Library of the Dip. of Modern Languages)

The Cambridge History of English Literature, ed. J. Chandler, Cambridge UP 2009.

As for the first module (Farese), students are asked to read at least one of the two novels by Jane Austen and the suggested critical texts:

• Pride and Prejudice (any reliable edition)
• Mansfield Park (any reliable edition)
• S. Baiesi, C. Farese, K. Halsey (eds), Subversive Austen. From the Critic to the Reader, “Textus”, n. 3, 2017.
• E. Copeland, J. McMaster, The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen, CUP, Cambridge 2011.
• J. Todd, The Cambridge Introduction to Jane Austen, CUP, Cambridge 2006.
• C. Johnson, Jane Austen. Women, Politics and the Novel, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago-London 1988.

• As for the second module (Scatasta), students are asked to read the following novels and the suggested critical texts:

• Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist or Great Expectations (any reliable edition)
• A selection from Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

• P. Ackroyd, “Introduction”, in Dickens' London, Headline, London 1987, closing of the libraries pp. 7-21
• A. Sanders, Charles Dickens, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2003, pp. x- xxi (Chronology), pp. 1- 113 (Chapter I, “Dickens's Life”, Chapter II, “Dickens, Politics, and Society”, Chapter III, “The Literary Context”)
• K. Tillotson, “Novels of the Eighteen-Forties”, in I. Watt, ed. by, The Victorian Novel, pp. 3-26

If the texts of Sanders and Tillotson are not available due to the closing of the libraries, they can be substituted with the following available online and in IOL:

Grahame Smith, “The life and times of Charles Dickens”, in John O. Jordan (edited by), The Cambridge Companion to Charles Dickens, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2001

C. Waters, "Domesticity", "Gender Identities"; J. Drew, "The Newspaper and Periodical Market"; F. Schweizer, "Authorship and the professional writer" in S. Ledger and H. Furneaux, edited by, Charles Dickens in Context, Cambridge,Cambridge University Press, 2011

B. Cheadle, "Oliver Twist" and A. Sanders, "Great Expectations", in David Paroissien, edited by, A Companion to Charles Dickens, Hoboken, John Wiley & Sons, 2008

 

 

 

Extracts from the following primary texts, that will be read and analysed in class, will be made available online on the IOL websource:

D. Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

S. Richardson, Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded

H. Walpole, The Castle of Otranto

F. Burney, Evelina

W. Wordsworth, Preface to the Lyrical Ballads

                         I wandered lonely as a Cloud

S.T. Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

G.G. Byron, Manfred

J. Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn

               La Belle Dame Sans Merci

H. More, The Sorrows of Yamba, or the Negro Woman’s Lamentation

A.L. Barbauld, Epistle to William Wilberforce

E. Inchbald Lovers’ Vows

R. Browning, My Last Duchess

A. Tennyson, Ulysses

Teaching methods

Lectures.

Assessment methods

1. Written exam: At the end of the course there will be a written exam which will include: one section of multiple-choice and open questions on English literary history, a second section of analysis and commentary of selected primary texts studied during the course.

   Markers will assess: knowledge of set texts and contents of the course; standard of language and expression; structure of argument; quality of critical reflection; ability to discuss the contents of the course; ability to provide clear and accurate interpretations of the texts; ability to use the specialist language of literary criticism.

2. Oral exams (approx. 30 min.) The students who do not pass the written exam, or are not able to attend it, will take an oral exam divided in two parts: one dedicated to the relevant period of English literary history, and a second one dedicated to the set texts, in which they will be asked to discuss the three novels (Pride and Prejudice or Mansfield Park, Oliver Twist or Great Expectations and The Picture of Dorian Gray). Students will be required to discuss their readings and the contents of the course. Markers will assess: knowledge of the contents of the course; standard of expression; ability to provide clear and accurate interpretations of the texts; ability to discuss the contents of the course; ability to use the specialist language of literary criticism; quality of critical reflection.

Assessment Criteria. To be awarded a final mark between 27 and 30 cum laude students are expected to: show the ability to analyse in depth literary texts following the methodology introduced by the lecturer and/or in the set critical readings; possess and be able to present a thorough and organic knowledge of the topics discussed in class and/or in the set readings; show an excellent standard of expression; show the ability to use properly the technical language of philology and literary criticism. A mark between 23 and 26 will be awarded to students who will show: a good knowledge of the course contents; the ability to provide an accurate analysis of literary texts (although there might be some minor imperfections); a good standard of expression (with occasional minor flaws in the presentation and/or in the use of technical language). Students obtaining a mark between 18 and 22 will typically show: an adequate but superficial knowledge of the contents; a basic understanding of the texts and a limited ability to analyse them, an acceptable standard of expression with a fairly competent (although not always accurate) use of technical language. Poor knowledge of the set texts and course topics, inadequate ability to analyse literary texts; inaccurate and inappropriate expression with major problems in the use of technical language will result in a fail.

In some cases (for instance: non-native speakers of Italian), students might be allowed to substitute the written exam with a 3,000-word essay, whose topic must be agreed in advance with the lecturers.

Teaching tools

Literary and critical texts, power point presentations, web—based resources.

Office hours

See the website of Gino Scatasta

See the website of Carlotta Farese