Unit ENGLISH LITERATURE I
- Course
- Lingue e culture straniere
- Study-unit Code
- GP004932
- Curriculum
- In all curricula
- Teacher
- Camilla Caporicci
- Teachers
-
- Camilla Caporicci
- Hours
- 54 ore - Camilla Caporicci
- CFU
- 9
- Course Regulation
- Coorte 2025
- Offered
- 2025/26
- Learning activities
- Caratterizzante
- Area
- Letterature straniere
- Academic discipline
- L-LIN/10
- Type of study-unit
- Opzionale (Optional)
- Type of learning activities
- Attività formativa monodisciplinare
- Language of instruction
- Italian
- Contents
- The course will offer an exploration of early modern English literature, with particular attention to the literary production of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. We will examine poetic texts by some of the major poets of the period, while, for what concerns drama, we will discuss one play by William Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet.
- Reference texts
- W. Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet (Garzanti or Einaudi edition, parallel text)
R. Camerlingo, Il Rinascimento e Shakespeare, in La Letteratura Inglese vol. 1, edited by P. Bertinetti, Einaudi.
To this chapter, students should add the study of the section dedicated to John Donne, in the chapter Il Seicento.
C. Caporicci, Introduction to William Shakespeare, Sonetti, in William Shakespeare, Bompiani, 2019. The text will be available via Unistudium.
S. Bigliazzi, Shakespeare: guida a Romeo e Giulietta, Carocci, 2022.
The texts of the poetic works will be available via Unistudium: https://www.unistudium.unipg.it/unistudium/login/index.php in the page dedicated to the course Letteratura Inglese I.
Further bibliography will be given during the course, and made available via Unistudium: https://www.unistudium.unipg.it/unistudium/login/index.php in the page dedicated to the course Letteratura Inglese I.
Students with disabilities and/or with SLD who, having completed regular accreditation through SOL, have obtained access to University services, can apply for the compensatory tools ensured by law (e.g. textbooks in digital format; teaching materials in accessible formats: presentations, handouts, workbooks, provided if necessary in advance of the lessons), for which consult https://www.unipg.it/disabilita-e-dsa.
For the request, students are invited to ask the teacher, who will put them in contact with the Disability and/or DSA Department Coordinator (prof. Alessandra Di Pilla: alessandra.dipilla@unipg.it). - Educational objectives
- The course aims to offer a basic knowledge of early modern English literature, with particular attention to the literary production of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, as well as the tools and techniques to analyse poetic and dramatic texts. At the end of the course, students should possess:
Knowledge:
1. a good knowledge of the main cultural and literary phenomena of sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century England;
2. Knowledge of the most influential poetic genres of the period, and of the main texts pertaining to them;
3. Knowledge pf the Elizabethan theatre
4. Knowledge of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet;
Skills:
1. Reading, translating and analysing the primary texts, both through close reading techniques and in relation to their cultural context;
2. communicating the acquired knowledge with argumentative consistency and adequate critical language. - Prerequisites
- To follow the course, both attending and non-attending students should:
1. have a basic knowledge of the history, culture and literature of Renaissance Europe;
2. be able to read and understand the primary texts in the original language (English);
3. be able to communicate their knowledge in an effective way, both in oral and written form. - Teaching methods
- Frontal teaching, with slides.
Close reading: in-depth reading and analysis of selected passages.
Class discussions: active participation in the exchange of opinions and interpretations. - Other information
- Students with disabilities and/or SLD: for any information on University services, consult the page https://lettere.unipg.it/home/disabilita-e-dsa and contact the Disability and/or DSA Department Coordinator (prof. Alessandra Di Pilla: alessandra.dipilla@unipg.it).
- Learning verification modality
- The exam will consist of an ORAL test in Italian (or English, if the student prefers) on texts and topics examined during the course and on the assigned bibliography. It will ascertain the level of knowledge acquired by the students, together with their ability to efficaciously communicate this knowledge in a clear and adequate way. The duration of the oral test, approximately 15 minutes, may vary.
The course programme is valid for one year only.
Students with disabilities and/or DSA may request, in consultation with the lecturer, any teaching materials in accessible formats (presentations, handouts, workbooks), provided if necessary in advance of the lectures, as well as the use of other technological tools to facilitate study. For general information, please consult the University Services at https://lettere.unipg.it/home/disabilita-e-dsa and contact the Departmental Contact Person (Prof. A. Di Pilla). - Extended program
- The course will offer an exploration of early modern English literature, with particular attention on the literary production of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Various literary genres will be taken into account, including treatises in defense of poetry, the mythological and pastoral poem, amorous and religious lyric poetry, and Elizabethan drama. Among the treatises on poetry, particular attention will be devoted to Philip Sidney’s Defence of Poesy, while the exploration of the poetic production of the period, aimed at investigating the relation between English poetry and the classical as well as European poetic traditions, will be carried out through a close reading of some works by some of the major poets of the time, including Thomas Wyatt, Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser, Richard Barnfield, Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, Aemilia Lanyer, and John Donne. For what concerns drama, after an exploration of the origins and main features of Elizabethan drama, we will examine a play by William Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet. This play will be studied with reference to both the general context of the Elizabethan theatre and the specificity of Shakespeare’s work. The examined literary production will be considered in light of the historical and cultural situation of sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century England, and of the aesthetic, philosophical and religious paradigms of the time.
- Obiettivi Agenda 2030 per lo sviluppo sostenibile
- 4