OVERVIEW

This a second-year English literature course for students with A-K surnames. It is taught weekly, for two hours in the first semester and three hours in the second semester. The course offers an overview of nineteenth-century English literature, covering the Romantic and Victorian periods, with a particular focus on women novelists. It is taught in English. This is a 9 credit course, but a 6 credit option with a reduced syllabus is also available. 

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

BA courses aim to provide students with a basic knowledge of British literature and culture from the Renaissance to the present age with special emphasis on the development of modern fiction, post-colonial studies, twentieth-century modernism and post-modernism.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students who attend this course regularly and study the prescribed materials will acquire a good knowledge of some aspects of nineteenth-century fiction, theatre and poetry. They will be able to analyse some literary texts, describe their main formal and thematic features and connect them to specific historical and cultural contexts.

PREREQUISITES

An acquaintance with literary periodization as customarily deployed in the study of European literatures; ability to understand English, both oral and written.

TEACHING METHODS

The course will be taught primarily through lectures in English. Other teaching activities will include close readings of the texts and other workshop activities.

Attendance is highly recommended. Students unable to attend will have to refer to supplementary material which will be uploaded on AulaWeb.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The course is an introduction to nineteenth-century English literature, from the Romantic period to the Late Victorian age, with a highlight on women novelists. It provides a historical and cultural overview and a survey of the literary characteristics of the period, particularly focusing on the development of the novel and discussing the work of some of the most notable women writers of the time.

Students who choose the 6-credit option will study a reduced syllabus; details below.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Students will read one of the following novels:

• Jane Austen, Emma;
• Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (any edition based on the 1818 text);

Students will also read two of the following novels:

• Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre;
• Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South;
• George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss.

Students who choose the 6-credit option will only read two of the three Victorian novels (Brontë, Gaskell, Eliot).

Additional material, including mandatory readings and critical essays, will be uploaded on AulaWeb.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Lessons will start on September 30. 

First semester lesson time: Wednesday 17:00-19:00, Aula E (Polo Didattico)

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Written examination.

The course is assessed by written examination on the contents of the lectures, the reading list, the critical essays, and other material provided during the course. Students are free to write in English or Italian. The examination is 4 hours for the 9-credit students, 3 hours for the 6-credit students.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The written examination includes both open questions and guided commentaries of texts discussed during the course. The open questions test knowledge and comprehension; the guided commentaries test the student's ability to recognise and describe the main formal features of specific works, and connect them to contextual historical and cultural information. The student's comprehension of, and ability to respond to, critical essays included in the reading list will also be assessed.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Attendance is highly recommended. Students who are unable to attend, will be provided with relevant information at the beginning of the course.

Students who have valid certification of physical or learning disabilities on file with the University and who wish to discuss possible accommodations or other circumstances regarding lectures, coursework and exams, should speak both with the instructor and with Prof. Sara Dickinson (sara.dickinson@unige.it), the Department’s disability liaison.