OVERVIEW

For students attending the course: explanation and exemplification of narratological categories necessary for the analysis of narrative texts.

For non-attending students: personal in-depth study of the supplied bibliography necessary for a basic knowledge of the main contemporary literary theories and in particular the rudiments of the theory of story-telling.

No previous specific knowledge is required of Italian speaking students equipped with a sufficient general culture

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The analysis of narrative texts aims to support basic competencies (frastic) of students but mainly it is aimed at giving or broadening transfrastic competencies (at the level of discourse) by dismantling narrative texts (not only fictional ones) with a high formal profile (formal refers to the construction of discourse not its parts - that is pertinent stylistically). 

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The following objectives are justified as follows:

- on a methodological level:

• ‘dismembering’ a text firstly requires a different perspective from ‘logical-syntactical’ analysis (limited to the period): the ability to capture the fundamental structures and overall frame of a linguistic artefact entails an increase of mental faculties necessary to dominate, if only quantitatively, a vaster body of writing;
• knowing text assembly techniques leads to documented positive effects on the quality of writing: in all school-age phases - from middle school to University - , students who engage in textual analysis obtain evident improvement in their written production.
• acquiring composition techniques also enables evaluating the possible effects that a writer wishes to obtain (or avoid) in the reader;

- on a content level (that is, choice of literary narrations):

• the ‘literariness’ of texts, in this context is assumed with the sole value of high compositional complexity: if students manage to dominate this cognitively, it is easily presumable that even more so will they be able to write coherent, well-structured essays in contexts that are compositionally smoother such as ‘service’ writings and essay writing (reports, dissertations, articles etc.);
• further and complementary benefits can also be gained from the stylistic aspect: although the main objective is to train them to capture global articulations, a simple reading of various narrative texts of a high level strengthens linguistic competencies by enriching lexicon, grammar and rhetoric;
• exercising on ‘gratuitous’ texts, professionally disinterested but interesting and even more attractive because of their alterity vis-à-vis curricular contents, can lead to a process of loyalty of the student to reading per se (and not only, therefore of narrative works): the more the capacity for enjoyment expands, the more pleasurable the text becomes - if this feeling is not created, that is a continuity and familiarity in the text/reader relationship, any form of literacy will decline in a short space of time.

finally, thanks to the ‘pre-textual’ nature of narrative texts, without the worry of content, students can be more easily led to recognise, extrapolate and hopefully internalise (formal) structural junctures of the compositional map, exporting them into practical use in their future written work. 

TEACHING METHODS

1. Exams with this programme are held from January 2018 to September 2018.
2. It is necessary to book the exam online at least 10 days before the chosen date by sending me an email in which the following information must be indicated: Name and surname, Degree course, Attending/non attending, Programme and CFU (I module: 6 CFU; or I+II module: 9 CFU – there is no exam for 3 CFU on only II Module), first/second time that the exam is taken in the same academic year, course code. My reply email, in which the lecture theatre and the time of the exam are indicated, has the value of confirmed booking.
3. The exam lasts 45 minutes per questionnaire; at the end of the test (therefore after a maximum of 90 minutes from the beginning), correction begins and the result will be communicated immediately.
4. The points of the questionnaire are calculated on the basis of the number of errors (no answer or wrong answer = -1 point): if the test is not passed or students refuse the mark, it is possible to repeat the exam with the same programme only once more; if students attain a positive result (≥18/30), it is taken as a minimum mark attainable for any subsequent repetition of the same questionnaire (students can decide to repeat the test if they are dissatisfied with the result even if positive).
5. NON ATTENDING STUDENTS take only a written exam (there is no oral exam):

• for CFU 9, it is possible to take the exam programme for only I module in one session; if the result is positive, in a subsequent session (by September 2018) it is possible to take the exam also/only for II module;
• the final vote is a result of the arithmetic average of the (best) points attained in all questionnaires of the two modules:

For example: I+II mod.:  Quest.I  = 20; Quest.II = 26; repeated in a subsequent session: Q.I  = 30; Q.II = 20 --> final mark: (30 I module+26 II module):2 = 28.

1. ATTENDING STUDENTS: those taking only 6 CFU must only do a written questionnaire; for 9 CFU once the written exam has been passed (and the points have been accepted), the candidate defends a mini thesis; the final vote is the result of the points of the written test (if ≥18) plus ‘x’ (with 6≥x≥1) points from the oral defence of the thesis (as well as any cum laude, for those who attained at least 24/30 in the written exam); more generally, attending students have the advantage of taking the programme of non attending students should they wish (or have to because of a double fail in the questionnaire of textual analysis);

In the thesis, textual categories of brief narrative texts to be chosen by the student will be analysed (excluding those analysed at lectures - at the end of the course more precise instructions will be given in this regard); the typed thesis of at least 10 pages (as well as the analysed texts) must be handed in by the date which will be established each time, before the oral exam by sending or placing it my post box in the Department (DIRAAS, via Balbi 6, 1st floor, 16126 GENOVA) or by sending it to my private address (which will be communicated directly to interested candidates).

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Programme for students taking the course for 6 cfu

ATTENDING STUDENTS: First part of analysis of narration: content, that is the level of Story (or plot).
NON ATTENDING STUDENTS: Fundamentals of narratology.

Programme for students taking the course for 9 cfu

ATTENDING STUDENTS: First part of analysis of narration: content, that is the level of Story (or plot). Second part of analysis of narration: form, the level of story-telling.
NON ATTENDING STUDENTS: Fundamentals of narratology. Theory and history of the novel.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

TONINO TORNITORE (President)

ANDREA AVETO

LESSONS

Class schedule

LITERARY THEORY

EXAMS

ASSESSMENT METHODS

ATTENDING STUDENTS: A questionnaire of 30 multiple choice questions on textual analysis (6 CFU), in preparation for a defence of a brief narratological thesis (9 CFU).
NON ATTENDING STUDENTS: One (6 CFU) or two questionnaires (9 CFU) with multiple choice questions only on texts indicated (alternative bibliographies will not be accepted).
To take the exam it is OBLIGATORY to communicate personal data (surname, CFU number, attending/non attending) by email to tonino.tornitore@fastwebnet.it at the beginning of the course in order to receive textual material and/or communications relative to the exam.

Exam schedule