31031 - English Literature 1 (A-L)

Academic Year 2018/2019

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Foreign Languages and Literature (cod. 0979)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students should know the general outline of literary history. They should be able to read, understand and translate texts from English into Italian and they should also be acquainted with the methods and analytical tools they need to interpret the works of the main authors, contextualising them within their cultural and historical period.

Course contents

The course will  explore the formation of literature and power and social relation between men and power from the late Medieval time to the XVII century in England. Some representative authors and their works will be illustrated, such as Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, extracts from Malory, sonnets by T. Wyatt, P. Sidney, and J. Donne. As for the theatre, some plays by Shakespeare will be read and discussed together with some extracts from Webster and Marlowe. As for the XVII century, Milton's Paradise Lost will be introduced and read in class. Moreover women writers such as Aphra Bhen and Margaret Cavendish will be introduced.

Readings/Bibliography

PRIMARY TEXTS (all primary texts will be included in the on-line teaching material):

From Mystery Plays (York), "The Creation and the Fall of Lucifer"

G. Chaucer, from Canterbury Tales, "The General Prologue" (extracts)

T. Malory, da Le Morte Darthur, "The Cospiracy against Lancelot and Guinevere"

T. Wyatt, “Whoso List to Hunt“

E. Spenser, extracts from The Faerie Queene

W. Shakespeare (read two plays  from the list:) Richard III; Othello; The Tempest; A Midsummer Night's Dream

C. Marlowe, da Doctor Faustus (extracts)

J. Donne, “The Good-morrow”; “The Flea”; “A Valediction: forbidding mourning”; The Funerall”; “Batter my heart”

J. Milton, Paradise Lost (extracts from Book I and Book IX)

A. Beh, Oroonoko (extracts)

 

ANTHOLOGY AND LITERARY HISTORY from the Middle Age to the XVII century included:

The Norton Anthology of English Literature Vol. I

The Oxford Anthology of English Literature Vol. I

L. M. Crisafulli e K. Elam (a cura di), Manuale di letteratura e cultura inglese, Bologna, BUP, 2009

CRITICAL REFERENCE:

D. Aers, “Rewriting the Middle Ages: Some Suggestions”, Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 1988, 18 (2): 221-240

E. Di Rocco,  Chaucer: guida ai Canterbury Tales, Roma, Carocci, 2003: Introduzione,  cap. 1 “ la storia del testo”, cap. 5 “I personaggi”.  

C. Pietropoli, “Thomas Malory e il ‘freynshe booke': imitazione e variazione in Le Morte Darthur”, Quaderni di Filologia Romanza, 16, 2003, pp. 119-134

J.E. D'Alessandro, “Shades of Dante: La Divina Commedia and The Duchess of Malfi”, in Traduzioni, Echi, Consonanze, Dal Rinascimento al Romanticismo, CLUEB, 2002, pp. 77-103.

Vita, arte e passioni di William Shakespeare, capocomico : come Shakespeare divenne Shakespeare di Greenblatt, Stephen (Einaudi, 2005).

Will in the world : how Shakespeare became Shakespeare by Greenblatt, Stephen

William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, ed. Keir Elam. London: The Arden Shakespeare.

Margreta de Grazia, Stanley Wells (eds.) The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press.

Giorgio Melchiori, Shakespeare. Genesi e struttura delle opere Edizioni Laterza (1994).

MORE CRITICAL REFERNCE WILL BE PROVIDED DURING THE COURSE

Teaching methods

Frontal lessons; introduction of the literary period from late Medieval time to XVII century; reading and analysis of the primary sources by English writers.

Assessment methods

The evaluation of the students' competencies and abilities acquired during the course consists in a written work at the end of the course for those students who attended classes regularly. For those who do not attend classes, the exam consists in an oral examination.

The final exam is divided in two parts:

1) Written text on liteary history and oral interview: multiple choice and short answers on the history of English literature from the late Medieval time to XVII century; after this part, if the student passed the written text there will be an oral interview on the primary reading list analysed during the course. The written text will take place only one time at the end of the course.

2) Oral examination: for those students who do not attend classes or do not take the written text there will be an oral examination on the history of English literature from the late Medieval time to XVII century and, after that, on the primary reading list analysed during the course.


Those students,who are able to demonstrate a wide and systematic understanding of the issues covered during classes, are able to use these critically and who master the field-specific language of the discipline will be given a mark of excellence. Those students who demonstrate a mnemonic knowledge of the subject with a more superficial analytical ability and ability to synthesize, a correct command of the language but not always appropriate, will be given a satisfactory mark. A superficial knowledge and understanding of the material, a scarce analytical and expressive ability that is not always appropriate will be rewarded with a ‘pass' mark. Students who demonstrate gaps in their knowledge of the subject matter, inappropriate language use, lack of familiarity with the literature in the program bibliography will not be given a pass mark.

Teaching tools

Frontal lectures with power point projections and dvd.

Office hours

See the website of Serena Baiesi