ENGLISH LITERATURE 1

The course is part of the triennial teaching of English. Besides furnishing tools to improve the language competence of English (starting from a B2 level), it will introduce students to the main literary and cultural movements in England of the last three centuries. Students will enhance their skills in cultural and literary analysis as well as reading and translation skills.
In particular, the module described below will focus on the culture, literature, society and history of the Twentieth century and the new Millennium.
Students will
- be able to relate texts to their historical and cultural contexts and communicate their comments and critical reflections on them with appropriate language;
- acquire the relevant methodological competence with regard to the proposed texts;
- comment on the texts with critical precision and an increasingly appropriate language, as well as on the historical-cultural background.

The module will improve the students' critical abilities, their reading skills, their capacity to understand and interpret complex texts that are historically and culturally determined, including the texts' rhetorical and stylistics features. The students' abilities will comprise:
- the ability to contextualise a cultural object in its context;
- the ability to apply critical methods to understand the society and culture producing the given objects;
- the ability to read and translate (into Italian) a literary work and comment it through an adequate language and methodology;
- the ability to understand the historical sources within a relevant contextualisation and through a critical analysis, having in mind the historical development of cultures.

Acquired knowledge ef English, at B2 level in the European framework. A knowledge of English history and literature at school level will be helpful to better understand the front lectures.

Students must enlist in the moodle of the course in order to attend it.

"English literature from the rise of the Welfare to the angry young men"
The module will deal with the culture of England from the end of WW2 and the advent of Welfare society to the crisis of the 1970s and the rise of Thatcher's neoliberal politics
In particular, we shall consider:
- the development of English culture, in particular through the rise of Welfare society, mass-culture, Thatcherite politics and economics;
- the ways in which writers, novelists, poets, playwrights have portrayed the most important events and the social and political atmosphere of the years between 1945 and 1980;
- the rise of youth culture, the outbreak of mass society, the rebellion of the youth.

A. Primary texts (mandatory reading):
1. John Osborne, "Look back in Anger" (Faber&Faber) BALI library E 8 OSB/Loo
2. Alan Sillitoe, "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning" (Vintage Books) BALI library E 8 SIL/Sat
Required chapters: Nos. 1, 2, 4, 6, 11, 12, 13, 15, and 16 (the remaining chapters will be summarized in class).
3. Shelagh Delaney, "A Taste of Honey" (Bloomsbury) BAUM library CAMERIN C IN XX D75
4. the poems by
Philip Larkin:
4.a "High Windows" ( https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48417/high-windows )
4.b "Cut Grass" ( https://allpoetry.com/Cut-Grass )
4.c "Annus Mirabilis" ( https://allpoetry.com/Annus-Mirabilis )
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/philip-larkin

B. Critical essays for the context of post-war and contemporary culture and literature (to read and know):
- R. Bertinetti, "Dai Beatles a Blair : la cultura inglese contemporanea" (Carocci) - BALI library ECS BER/Dai - mandatory reading
- P. Bertinetti (ed.) English Literature: A Short History. Einaudi, chapter 10: From the End of the Second World War to the Present Day" - Biblioteca BALI ELH BER/Sho - mandatory reading
(the study of the background of 20th-century English culture and literature is *compulsory*)

C. One work by William Shakespeare:
"Macbeth" (suggested edition by P. Bertinetti, Einaudi);
suggested critical reading: L. Tosi, "Shakespeare: Guida al Macbeth" (Carocci, 2021)

Written test, in 4 parts:
A) Questions on the literary history of the twentieth century and the contemporary novel (based on the texts described in the 'Programme: part 2. Criticism'), including multiple choice questions (Aim 3)

B) A short essay on one of the texts that must be read (Part A. Primary texts); the essay will have to be about one sheet long; plus two questions with short answers on the plot, characters and relevant details of the same text. (Aim 2)

C) Translation into Italian of a short passage (about 200-250 words) from one of the texts in the programme (part A. "Primary texts": 1, 3, 4), and a commentary that will contextualise the passage. (Aim 1)

D) 1 question on the plot, characters, main themes, of Shakespeare's "Macbeth".

Time allowed: from 1 hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours and 15 mins max. (depending on the length and complexity of the text to read in question B)

Italian students will give their answers in Italian (A, C, D) and either in Italian or English ( B).
Non-native speakers of Italian and Erasmus students can answers all questions in English, in which case they will be exempted from translating the passage (C) into Italian, and will be asked to provide a one-sheet commentary on the passage (C).

Answers in languages other than Italian and English will not be accepted.

Students will be allowed to use a monolingual Dictionary of English and English synonyms.
No other dictionaries are allowed during the examination.
The use of other texts, and smartphones and other devices is forbidden during the examination.

written

The lecturer has a duty to ensure that the rules regarding the authenticity and originality of exam tests and papers are respected. Therefore, if there is suspicion of irregular conduct, an additional assessment may be conducted, which could differ from the original exam description.

Grades will be based on a quantitative criterion for closed-ended questions (the number of correct answers to the multiple-choice questions) and a qualitative criterion for open-ended questions (B and C):
10 points for an excellent answer;
8–9 points for a good or very good answer that addresses all aspects of the topic under examination, with only minor inaccuracies;
6–7 points for a satisfactory answer that identifies the main aspects of the topic under examination but does not cover them fully, clearly, or precisely, and contains some inaccuracies;
4–5 points for an insufficient answer that does not adequately address the main aspects of the topic under examination and contains several inaccuracies;
2–3 points for a very insufficient answer;
0–1 points for no answer.
For question D:
3 points for a fully correct answer;
2 points for a correct but incomplete or slightly inaccurate answer;
1 point for a satisfactory answer;
0 points for no answer or an incorrect answer.

Front lectures concerning the main themes above described; seminars for the discussions of texts and videos.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development