90108 - Writing and Argumentation Laboratory (1) (A-E)

Learning outcomes

The aim of the workshop is to strengthen the writing skills of students, working on the logical construction of arguments and reasoning, on the consolidation of syntactic and semantic skills, and on the simplification and effectiveness of written Italian. At the end of the course students will be able to shape clear and well-argued written texts, and to make stylistic choices appropriate to the communicative situation.

Course contents

The course is exclusively addressed to students belonging to the given group, it will be taken remotely during the first two weeks and it will focus on the following topics in its whole being:

• The text and the different textual types
  

• Preliminary aspects: identifying the goal, the target and the context

• The notion of adequacy

• The writing process: planning, composition, review

• Techniques for the writing process optimization: set lists, mind maps, stream of writing, checklists

• The relevance of the review phase and the different review levels

• Linguistic correctness: lexical, syntactic and textual aspects

• Communicative effectiveness: lexical, syntactic and textual choices

• The standard use of punctuation

• Paragraphing and the different types of paragraphs

• Argumentative texts: formal and structural features

• The argumentative process and its varieties

• The argumentative text: from comprehension strategies to production

• The argumentative methods and the logical construction

• Items for the academic writing: quotes and bibliography

• Focus: how to write an essay for an university exam

Readings/Bibliography

• Dario Corno, Scrivere e comunicare. La scrittura in lingua italiana in teoria e in pratica, Milano, Pearson Education, 2019. [In particular, as regards the various stages of the writing process, the components to be taken into account when producing a text, paragraphing and paragraph drafting, the rules for writing effective texts]

• Paola Italia, Scrivere all’università. Manuale pratico con esercizi e antologia di testi, Firenze, Le Monnier, 2014. [In particular, as regards the formal characteristics of the argumentative text, its structure, the path that characterizes it, the drafting of an essay, the rules that regulate citations and bibliography]

For non-attending students, the study of the following additional text is recommended:

• Luisa Carrada, Lavoro dunque scrivo. Creare testi che funzionano per carta e web, Bologna, Zanichelli, 2012.

Teaching methods

Given the theoretic and practical nature of the course, attendance is highly recommended. During the laboratory, in fact, frontal lessons – still characterized by a strong interactive component – will alternate to writing, rewriting activities, analysis and collective discussion of texts.

Assessment methods

The exam will consist of a written test and it will include several open questions based on the key topics of the course, whose assessment will be based on the correctness, relevance and exhaustiveness of the answer, and of the production of a short argumentative essay, which will be assessed on the basis of linguistic correctness, argumentative strength and communicative efficacy.

Teaching tools

Text editors and presentation software.

Office hours

See the website of Antonio Laurino