ANGLO-AMERICAN LITERATURE 1

The course aims at introducing first year students to Anglo-American literature providing a surveycentered on the chronological evolution of the main formal choices ofAmerican writers. Formal choices are read in terms of responses evolving from the different socio-cultural contexts. Students are expected to:
1. learn the basic functioning of literary narratives and the interrelation between formal choices and thematic concerns;
2. know the macroscopic development of Anglo-American literary history from the beginning of the XIX century to present day America.
This survey provides the necessary foundations to proceed in the Anglo-American literary-cultural curriculum.

1.recognize the basic narrative situations characterizing narratives in nineteenth and twentieth century Anglo-American literature (authorial, homodiegetic, figural) and the possible variants of the following postmodernist period;
2. recognize these basic narrative situations and the ingredients that characterize them in texts they have not yet seen;
3. employ the appropriate vocabulary to describe the correlation between narrative choices and thematic issues;
4. recognize the macroscopic development of Anglo-American literary history from the beginning of the XIX century to present day America.
5. ability to recognize the basic narrative situations in texts of other literatures

No previous knowledge is necessary to attend this course
A B2 certified level of English is necessary to sit for the final exam (not for the midterms)

The course presents some texts pertaining to Anglo-American literature (short stories and a brief novel) that exemplify the core narratological concepts students are expected to become familiar with in order to master the basic tools of a serious study of Anglo-American literature. The selection of texts paves the way for an understanding of the development of formal choice in connection with the development of thematic concerns.

Primary sources
W. Irving, “Rip Van Winkle”
E.A. Poe, “The Oval Portrait”
K. Chopin, "The Story of an Hour"
A. Bierce, "An Occurence at Owl Creek."
E.Hemingway, “Indian Camp”, "The Killers"
F.S. Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
D. Bartheleme, "The Balloon"
G. Saunders, "Puppy"
Outline of American Literature (pdf); OR: Mario Klarer, A Short History of the United States
Reference text Manfred Jahn: Narratology: a Guide to
the Theory of Narrative http://www.uni-koeln.de/~ame02/pppn.htm

The written exam consists of two Close Readings and a multi-choice questionnaire. It aims at assessing the student’s skills at:
1. recognizing the narrative situations presented and describing the ingredients that characterize them in two brief excerpts taken from unknown texts (Close Readings, 500 words max each)
2. associating writers to book titles and periods concerning the history of Anglo-American Literature from the colonial period to the present day (multiple-choice questionnaire).
The oral exam aims at assessing the students skills at:
1. applying a specific vocabulary in discussing the relationship between formal choices and thematic issues in the texts in the syllabus;
2. presenting the narrative situations concerning the texts in the syllabus
Each part (two close readings, quiz, oral exam) has to obtain at least a pass (18) for the entire exam to be passed.
Students will have the option to complete the two Close Readings during the course with two midterms (the details and date will be posted on Moodle).

blended: classes in presence and classes online

Italian

written and oral