Studying at the University of Verona

Here you can find information on the organisational aspects of the Programme, lecture timetables, learning activities and useful contact details for your time at the University, from enrolment to graduation.

Study Plan

The Study Plan includes all modules, teaching and learning activities that each student will need to undertake during their time at the University.
Please select your Study Plan based on your enrollment year.

CURRICULUM TIPO:

1° Year 

ModulesCreditsTAFSSD
One module among the following (philology must be related to one of the chosen languages)
6
B
L-FIL-LET/09
ModulesCreditsTAFSSD
One module among the following (philology must be related to one of the chosen languages)
6
B
L-FIL-LET/09

Legend | Type of training activity (TTA)

TAF (Type of Educational Activity) All courses and activities are classified into different types of educational activities, indicated by a letter.




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Teaching code

4S010850

Coordinator

Susanna Zinato

Credits

6

Language

English en

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

L-LIN/10 - ENGLISH LITERATURE

Period

I semestre (Area Lingue e letterature straniere) dal Sep 22, 2025 al Dec 24, 2025.

Courses Single

Authorized

Learning objectives

The course is held in English and aims at providing students with advanced notions of English Literature, especially in relation to forms, genres and critical approaches. It also aims to develop an autonomous and original critical approach to literary texts. On successful completion of the course, students will be able to: - read and interpret literary texts by structuring ideas and concepts with argumentative skill and expressive mastery; - critically comment on the texts in such a way as to demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of the theoretical debate surrounding them; - develop critical and autonomous thinking by personally elaborating on debated issues.

Prerequisites and basic notions

In order to attend the module and and sit for the exam the students must possess a Bachelor Degree.

Program

THE HERMENEUTICAL CHALLENGES OF THE MODERN/MODERNIST NOVEL
The module aims at accompanying the students into a strongly methodological path through an in-depth analysis of two novels that, pervaded as they are by the theme of their protagonists' unkowability, have never ceased to challenge their readers' interpretative ability, demanding from them a keen understanding of the semantic potential of their authors' formal/rhetorical choices.
PRIMARY TEXTS:
-J. CONRAD, "Lord Jim" (1900)
-V.WOOLF, "Jacob's Room" (1922)
CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY:
-K.L. Baxter, “Lord Jim: A Character in Search for a Plot”, Critical Survey, Vol. 21 (2009), no.1, pp.103-117
-Kristina K. Grover, “‘The Conditions of Our Love’: Seeking and Desiring in Jacob’s Room”, South Atlantic Review, vol. 77 (2012), No. 3/4, pp.45-57.
- Suggested but optional: M. Short, Exploring the Language of Poems, Plays and Prose”, Longman, 1996, Ch.9: “Fictional prose and point of view”, ch.10: “Speech and thought presentation”.
-Essays by V. Woolf discussed in classes will be uploaded on the course moodle.
SUPPLETIVE CRITICAL READINGS FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS
-O. Knowles, “Conrard’s Life”, ch 14 in H.J. Stape (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Joseph Conrad, Cambridge UP, 1996,
-R. Ambrosini, “Tragic Adventures: Conrad’s and Marlowe’s Conflicting narratives in Lord Jim”, The Conradian, Vol. 38 (Spring 2013), No.1, pp-53-71
- M. Whitworth, “Virginia Woolf and Modernism”, ch. 8, in S. Roe and S. Sellers (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Virginia Woolf, Cambridge UP, 2000.
-S. Guardini Vasconcelos, “Jacob’s Room : A New Form for a New Novel”, Journal of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Vol.8 (2024), No.1, pp. 80-91

Bibliography

Visualizza la bibliografia con Leganto, strumento che il Sistema Bibliotecario mette a disposizione per recuperare i testi in programma d'esame in modo semplice e innovativo.

Didactic methods

Frontal teaching in English, inclusive of more interactive moments aimed at assuring the students' involvement and at verifying their comprehension of the discussed topics.
Regularly attending students who might miss some classes for seriously motivated reasons may be helped by the teaching professor in recuperating their contents.
Students who might be unable to attend classes will avail themselves in the preparation of the exam by having recourse to the suppletive obbligatory critical readings scheduled for them in the programme.

Learning assessment procedures

ORAL EXAM IN ENGLISH.
An oral exam will verify the students' acquisition of the discussed topics and of their linguistic/argumentative abilities.

Students with disabilities or specific learning disorders (SLD), who intend to request the adaptation of the exam, must follow the instructions given HERE

Evaluation criteria

The exam will verify whether the students possess the following competences and in which degree:
- their proficiency in using the methodological-critical acquisitions introduced during classes and those discussed in the critical bibliography;
- whether they are able to autonomously repropose and discuss critical acquisitions;
- whether they are able to adequately expose and argument in English.

Criteria for the composition of the final grade

Final mark graded out of 30, and defined on the basis of the criteria given above.

Exam language

INGLESE/ENGLISH

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