ANGLO-AMERICAN LITERATURES 2 MOD. 1

The course is part of the Languages, Civilizations and Language Sciences Degree Program and aims to provide students with an introduction to the history of American literature from its origins to the early 19th century through textual and cultural analysis. It is intended to develop skills in reflecting on the evolution of a sense of American identity, American language and its literary forms and genres, and to provide methodological tools for textual analysis, with a focus on historical and cultural context. The achievement of these objectives will facilitate the student in pursuing the advanced study of American literature and prepare him or her for subsequent in-depth studies related to the cultural literary curriculum.

The learning outcomes of these course entail developing:
1. good knowledge of the history of American literature from the so-called "discovery" to the early 19th century;
2. the ability to apply such knowledge to the textual and cultural analysis of a literary text;
3. the ability to formulate critical hypotheses and judgments;
4. communication skills and appropriate terminology;
5. autonomous reading of handbooks and critical essays.

Good knowledge of written and spoken English (≥ B2)

The aim of this course is to introduce students to American literature and its key texts and authors, from the land of Colombo on the continent through the colonial period till the beginning of the 19th century. The course specifically focuses on the idea of "America" as a geographical, political and rhetorical construction, from Columbus up till the 1820s, as it is represented in literary and para-literary texts. The course will thus include colonial literature from John Smith's travel accounts, Puritan sermons and captivity narratives, "Early Republic" literature such as Hector S. J. de Crèvecoeur's epistolary novel, and memoir literature such as Benjamin Franklin's 'Autobiography' and Olaudah Equiano's slave narrative. The course concludes with James Fenimore Coper's frontier novels, with particular attention to the representations of the relationship with the Natives.

All the sources (except the films) are to be found in the Moodle page of the course, except when specified differently:

Primary mandatory sources
- Christopher Columbus (1490s), Letters and Extracts
- John Smith A Description of New England (1616-1624), Extracts
- The New World (film, Terrence Malik 2005)
- William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation (1630-1640s), Extracts
- John Winthrop, “A Model of Christian Charity” (1630), Extracts
- Mary Rowlandson, A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson (1682), Extracts
- Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography (1791-1818), Extracts
- Hector S.J. de Crèvecoeur, “What Is an American?”, from Letters from an American Farmer (1792)
- Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789), Extracts
- James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans (1826), Extracts
- The Last of the Mohicans (film, Michael Mann 1992)

Secondary mandatory sources
Donatella Izzo. Letteratura degli Stati Uniti d’America vol.1 (dalle origini al XIX secolo), Le Monnier Università (2026): Part I, Chapters 1, 5; Part II, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. --> University Library
Vincent Carretta. “Olaudah Equiano: African British abolitionist and founder of the African American slave narrative”. The Cambridge Companion to the African American Slave Narrative, 2007.
Greil Marcus and Werner Sollors, (eds.) A New Literary History of America (Belknap Press 2009). Extracts.
Heike Paul. The Myths That Made America: An Introduction to American Studies (Trasncript Verlag 2014). Chapters 2, 3.
Monika Siebert. “Historical Realism and Imperialist Nostalgia in Terrence Malick’s The New World”. The Mississippi Quarterly, Vol. 65, No. 1, (Winter 2012), pp. 139-156.
Tzvetan Todorov. La conquista dell’America. Part I, paragraphs: "La scoperta dell'America" and "Colombo e gli indiani" --> University Library

Secondary non-mandatory sources
Izzo, Donatella. Letteratura degli Stati Uniti d’America vol. 1 (dalle origini al XIX secolo), Le Monnier Università (2026). Parte prima, Capp. 1-11. --> Biblioteca
Scannavini, Cinzia. James Fenimor Cooper, “L’ultimo dei mohicani”. In Giorgio Mariani (a cura di), Il Romanzo americano (Carocci 2026). cap. 21 (pp. 201-207).

The oral examination, lasting about 30 minutes, will assess the student's historical-literary knowledge (drawn from textbooks and critical readings), textual analysis and critical judgment abilities, capacity to formulate critical hypotheses, and command of appropriate terminology during their presentation.

oral

The instructor is responsible for ensuring the authenticity and originality of all examinations and coursework. In cases of suspected academic misconduct, an additional on-site assessment may be required during the exams, which may differ from the standard format.

The minimum grade is 18, the maximum grade is 30 cum laude. Grades correspond to:
A. range 18-22: sufficient content knowledge; limited ability to discuss independently, limited knowledge of theoretical tools, limited knowledge of cultural-historical context and debates.
B. range 23-26: fair content knowledge; fair independent discussion skills, fair knowledge of theoretical tools, fair knowledge of cultural-historical context and debates.
C. range 27-29: good content knowledge; good independent discussion skills, good knowledge of theoretical tools, good knowledge of historical-cultural context and debates.
D. 30: very good content knowledge, independent discussion skills and very good knowledge of the theoretical tools; very good knowledge of the historical-cultural context and debates.
D. Honors/cum laude: awarded in case the knowledge of contents, the independent discussion skills, the knowledge of theoretical tools, of the cultural-historical context and of the debates are excellent and the student expands what is required by the course syllabus.

Beside lectures, the course welcomes class discussion.

ATTENTION:
For the students who chose the LITERARY CURRICULUM, this course is assessed together with Prof. Francescato's part of Anglo-American Literature 2 mod. 2. This module is part of the 12-credit course in Anglo-American Literature 2 and cannot be assessed separately. Students also need to take module 2 during the same exam session.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development