Unit ENGLISH LITERATURE II

Course
Foreign languages and cultures
Study-unit Code
35308009
Curriculum
In all curricula
CFU
9
Course Regulation
Coorte 2019
Offered
2020/21
Learning activities
Caratterizzante
Area
Letterature straniere
Academic discipline
L-LIN/10
Type of study-unit
Opzionale (Optional)
Type of learning activities
Attività formativa monodisciplinare

ENGLISH LITERATURE II - Cognomi A-L

Code 35308009
CFU 9
Teacher Francesca Montesperelli
Teachers
  • Francesca Montesperelli
Hours
  • 54 ore - Francesca Montesperelli
Learning activities Caratterizzante
Area Letterature straniere
Academic discipline L-LIN/10
Type of study-unit Opzionale (Optional)
Language of instruction ITALIAN
Contents Proto-psychology and extreme mental states in Romantic and Victorian Literature.

The course examines nineteenth-century society's fascination—bordering on obsession—with madness. The representation of mental disorder will be analyzed in four influential literary texts.
Reference texts 1- W. Wordsworth, The Idiot Boy
2- W. Wordsworth, The Thorn
3- A. Tennyson, Maud
4- E. Brontë, Wuthering Heights
Educational objectives This teaching aims to provide a basic knowledge of the English 19th century literature, and a deep, accurate acquaintance and comprehension of four influential texts of the 19th century. Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to do the following:
1. Demonstrate detailed knowledge of the primary texts and of their historical framework.
2. Identify aesthetic principles of literature, arts and humanities.
3. Select and use the vocabulary of the humanities at an appropriate intellectual level.
4. Demonstrate the skill of reading, translating and commenting on the texts.
Prerequisites In order to be able to know how to tackle the course, students
1. must have an in-depht knowledge of history and geography of Great Britain; they must also have a basic knowledge of World history and geography;
2. are expected to be able to read primary texts in their original language;
3. must be able to read critically and formulate relevant conclusions (critical thinking);
4. must have acquired proficiency in communication (writing, reading, listening skills).
These are competences that the student should have already acquired in his/her school curriculum. These preconditions are valid both for attending and not attending students.
Teaching methods Class, primary resources, slides, PowerPoint presentations, video clips, films.
Other information contacts:
francesca.montesperelli@unipg.it
Learning verification modality WRITTEN EXAM and/or ORAL EXAM


The course program is valid only for one academic year.
Extended program Proto-psychology and extreme mental states in Romantic and Victorian Literature.

While true psychology would not become a discipline for several decades yet, Romantic-era artists were fascinated by madness, grief, and other extreme emotional and mental states. Though the association between poetic inspiration and mental degeneracy is a longstanding and enduringly popular idea that goes back to classical antiquity, it was given new life at the turn of the nineteenth century. As depictions of madness in nineteenth-century English literature paralleled the growth of the scientific and medical study of insanity, the multitude of ways in which madness was treated in literary texts reflects nineteenth-century society's fascination—bordering on obsession—with madness.
The course analyzes the link between creativity and insanity, and the presence of mental disorder in Romantic and Victorian poetry and fiction, referring in particular to four influential texts of the 19th century.

ENGLISH LITERATURE II - Cognomi M-Z

Code 35308009
CFU 9
Teacher Annalisa Volpone
Teachers
  • Annalisa Volpone
Hours
  • 54 ore - Annalisa Volpone
Learning activities Caratterizzante
Area Letterature straniere
Academic discipline L-LIN/10
Type of study-unit Opzionale (Optional)
Language of instruction Italian
Contents The representation of femininity in nineteenth century British novel: between domesticity and public space.
Reference texts Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813); Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (1847); Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (1855); George Eliot, The Mill on the Flodd (1860).
Educational objectives The study of the selected novels will enhance the student's skills in textual comprehension and analysis, in understanding the historical and cultural contexts and in the acquisition of critical language.
Prerequisites A good knowledge of the English language and of the main aspects of romanticism and Victorian age.
Teaching methods Although the course is mainly structured as face-to-face lectures, students are invited to comment and discuss the texts under examination.
Learning verification modality Written exam made of five questions, and the analysis of a selected passage.
Extended program The representation of femininity in nineteenth century British novel: between domesticity and public space. This course reflects on the development of the novel as a genrebetween Romanticism and Victorian Age. It focuses on the representation of femininity from both a thematic and formal perspective. We want to investigate how domestic and public space affect such a representation. We will begin with a cultural and historical overview of the period (a selection of passages from works not included in the monographic part will be provided), then we will proceed with a critical reading of the following texts:
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813); Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (1847); Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (1855); George Eliot, The Mill on the Flodd (1860).
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