Teaching code

4S002927

Teacher

Emanuel Stelzer

Coordinator

Emanuel Stelzer

Credits

9

Language

English

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

L-LIN/10 - ENGLISH LITERATURE

Period

I semestre (Area Lingue e letterature straniere) dal Sep 23, 2024 al Dec 21, 2024.

Courses Single

Authorized

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars 0

Learning objectives

The module, taught in English, is meant to guide the students through a critical approach to the English Literature of the period going from the Restoration to late Romanticism, especially in relation to a representative range of texts of the canon. Besides, it aims at getting the students familiar with fundamental tools necessary for text analysis and genre criticism. Its overall goal is to provide the students with a good knowledge of the British literature of the set literary period (its historical context, its texts, genres, movements/authors) and of helping them develop skills for analysis, argumentation and exposition in English, in relation to various typologies of literary texts in their historical-cultural context. At the end of the module, students will be able to: -analyze the literary texts set in the syllabus in their historical-cultural contexts; -argumentatively discuss them by taking into account literary conventions and by applying an informed critical approach that is aware of the literary nature of the text; -demonstrate the acquired knowledge and skills, in English and in a clear and consistent way.

Prerequisites and basic notions

The English Literature 2 (L23) exam can be taken only after having passed the first year’s exams of English Language and Literature.

Program

The Overreacher and the Monstrous: John Milton, John Dryden, Mary Shelley
Students will be introduced to literary texts from the last phase of the Interregnum to Romanticism, with special attention to the representations of the monstrous and titanism expressed in John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667), its dramatic adaptation by John Dryden, The State of Innocence (1677), and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), a gothic novel greatly influenced by Milton’s masterpiece. Students will explore the historical contexts which shaped these works and will investigate the categorisation of the monstrous in its socio-cultural implications. Moreover, careful attention will be paid to the modalities of circulation and (both printed and digital) edition of these texts and adaptations.
There are no differences between the programme for attending students and the one for non-attending students. Attending and non-attending students alike are required to do all the readings indicated below:
All texts in the syllabus are compulsory.
If a text is signalled as “optional”, this means that the text can be used to further or facilitate one’s study, but that text is not compulsory.
Further teaching material will be available for download from the Moodle repository.
• Students should not use any edition that is different from the one indicated in the syllabus. Students should read the texts in their entirety. In the case of articles or essays, students have to read the pages that have been indicated. Primary texts (the works of the authors in the programme) must be read in English.
• Any file which has been uploaded on Moodle and which does not correspond to the texts indicated above should not be understood as a text that replaces those listed in the syllabus.
• Any other material that has been uploaded on Moodle and which has not been listed in the syllabus must be understood as optional.
Primary texts:
- John Milton, Paradise Lost. Edited by Stephen Orgel and Jonathan Goldberg. Oxford University Press, 2004 (and later editions)
- John Dryden, The State of Innocence. https://jacklynch.net/Texts/stateinn.html (but a pdf will be uploaded on Moodle)
- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein. Oxford World's Classics, 2008 (and later editions).
Secondary texts:
- Noam Reisner. John Milton’s Paradise Lost: A Reading Guide. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2011 (obligatory).
- Thomas H. Luxon. “Heroic Restorations: Dryden and Milton”. Milton Studies 2017, vol. 59 (1): 199-230 (obligatory).
- Lauren Shohet, “Reading Milton in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein”. Milton Studies 2018, vol. 60: 157-182 (obligatory).
- John B. Lamb, “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Milton’s Monstrous Myth”. Nineteenth Century Literature, 1992, Vol. 47 (3): 303-319 (obligatory).
- Tobias Gabel, Paradise Reframed: Milton, Dryden, and the Politics of Literary Adaptation 1658-1679, Heidelberg: Winter, 2016 (optional).
- Andrew Smith (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Frankenstein. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016 (optional).
History of Literature (obligatory):
Paul Poplawski, ed., English Literature in Context (Cambridge University Press): chapters 3 (“The Restoration and Eighteenth Century, 1660-1780”) and 4 (“The Romantic Period, 1780-1832”).

Bibliography

Didactic methods

The course will consist of a series of lectures which foresee the active involvement of the students. A written calendar of the topics that will be dealt with will be circulated in class at the beginning of the course. Lectures will be held in English.
If you need to isolate because you test positive for Covid, please contact the teacher to arrange for supplementary material.

Learning assessment procedures

Knowledge acquisition will be evaluated through an oral exam, which will consist in a discussion of the topics dealt with during the course. There will not be differences between the exam of attending students and the one of non-attending students.

Evaluation criteria

Knowledge acquisition wishes to assess the student’s:
1) knowledge of the history of English literature of the period indicated in the syllabus;
2) understanding of the primary texts in the syllabus, setting them in their historical and cultural context;
3) acquisition of a suitable critical methodology for the analysis of texts and contexts;
4) skills in analysing texts and ability to discuss and argue one’s thesis in English.

Criteria for the composition of the final grade

The final mark will result from the average of the grades assigned according to the four criteria described above.

Exam language

English

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