English Literature 1
A.Y. 2025/2026
Learning objectives
English literature 1 is the first of three foundation modules in English literature for students enrolled in the 3-year BA in Foreign languages and literatures. The course, divided into three parts, focuses on the period between the Glorious Revolution and 1870s, and teaches students to contextualize and critically analyze literary texts (prose and poetry).
Expected learning outcomes
- Read and understand literary texts in their linguistic aspects
- Place literary texts within their historical and cultural context
- Establish connections between literary works
- Analyze poetry in its thematic and formal aspects using the relevant metalanguage
- Analyze fiction in its thematic and formal aspects using the relevant metalanguage
- Use literary essays to engage in the critical reading of texts
- Place literary texts within their historical and cultural context
- Establish connections between literary works
- Analyze poetry in its thematic and formal aspects using the relevant metalanguage
- Analyze fiction in its thematic and formal aspects using the relevant metalanguage
- Use literary essays to engage in the critical reading of texts
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Group A
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
The course aims to provide students with a basic, solid, and structured knowledge of 18th and 19th-century English literature, while also fostering the development of critical analysis skills for literary texts in prose and poetry. Specifically, by the end of the course, students will be able to:
*Knowledge
Recognise the main literary and cultural movements of the 18th century (Neoclassicism, Preromanticism), Romanticism, and the Victorian era.
Identify the most significant authors, texts, and genres of each period.
Describe the formal and thematic characteristics of the works analysed within their historical and cultural context.
*Analytical Skills
Analyze poetic texts in English from a metrical, rhetorical, narratological, and thematic perspective.
Apply basic critical categories (such as stanza, rhyme, enjambment, rhetorical figures) to the analysis of 18th and 19th-century poetry.
Examine prose narrative texts using narratological tools (focalization, narrative voice, temporal structure, setting).
Interpret the thematic content of the works in relation to the social, moral, and cultural transformations of the time.
*Critical and Communicative Abilities
Clearly and coherently argue a personal interpretation of the analyzed texts, both orally and in writing.
Develop a critical reading ability that integrates attention to textual form with historical and cultural awareness.
Appropriately use the specific vocabulary of literary criticism in both English and Italian.
The course bears 9 credits. It is not possible to earn only 6 credits.
*Knowledge
Recognise the main literary and cultural movements of the 18th century (Neoclassicism, Preromanticism), Romanticism, and the Victorian era.
Identify the most significant authors, texts, and genres of each period.
Describe the formal and thematic characteristics of the works analysed within their historical and cultural context.
*Analytical Skills
Analyze poetic texts in English from a metrical, rhetorical, narratological, and thematic perspective.
Apply basic critical categories (such as stanza, rhyme, enjambment, rhetorical figures) to the analysis of 18th and 19th-century poetry.
Examine prose narrative texts using narratological tools (focalization, narrative voice, temporal structure, setting).
Interpret the thematic content of the works in relation to the social, moral, and cultural transformations of the time.
*Critical and Communicative Abilities
Clearly and coherently argue a personal interpretation of the analyzed texts, both orally and in writing.
Develop a critical reading ability that integrates attention to textual form with historical and cultural awareness.
Appropriately use the specific vocabulary of literary criticism in both English and Italian.
The course bears 9 credits. It is not possible to earn only 6 credits.
Prerequisites for admission
None, except a B1+ knowledge of the English language
Teaching methods
Every week, lectures dedicated to presenting some basic tenets of English literature of the period will alternate with practical classes. In these practical lessons, for each topic covered, literary texts will be read and analyzed using traditional tools of textual analysis along with a creative approach.
At the beginning of the course, a lesson schedule indicating the texts to read and bring to class each week will be uploaded to the Ariel website of the course.
At the beginning of the course, a lesson schedule indicating the texts to read and bring to class each week will be uploaded to the Ariel website of the course.
Teaching Resources
Literary History and Text Analysis Tools:
Paul Poplawski, English Literature in Context, OUP, 2nd edition. The parts relevant to this year's syllabus (Online in the university library).
Monika Fludernik, "Narratology". From Encyclopaedia of the Novel (Literature Online).
Andrew Hodgson, The Cambridge Guide to Poetry, Cambridge University Press (available online on the university website).
Literary Texts:
Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock (Recommended edition: BUR titled Il riccio rapito)
Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto, any edition.
William Hogarth, "The Harlot's Progress", "Gin Lane". *
John Gay, The Beggar's Opera
William Blake, "The Lamb", "The Tyger", "The Chimney Sweeper", "Holy Thursday", "The Rose", "London". *
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "Kubla Khan", "Frost at Midnight". *
William Wordsworth, "The Solitary Reaper", "Michael", "Three Years She Grew", "A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal", "Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey". *
John Keats, "La Belle Dame sans Merci", "Ode on a Grecian Urn". *
John Clare, "The Nightingale's Nest", "Remembrances", "The Fallen Elm". *
Unit C:
George Gordon Byron, Manfred. *
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein. Norton Critical Edition required for non-attending students, or Penguin or OUP Critical Edition. *
Percy B. Shelley, "On a Faded Violet", "Ozymandias", "England in 1819", "Song to the Men of England". *
Robert Browning, "My Last Duchess". *
Alfred Tennyson, "The Lady of Shalott", "Break, Break, Break". *
Charles Dickens, David Copperfield.
All students must also independently read one work of their choice from each of the following three groups:
Eighteenth Century:
Samuel Richardson, Pamela, any edition.
Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders.
Romantic Novels:
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice.
Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights.
High Victorian Novels:
Mrs. Gaskell, North and South.
William Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone.
Charles Dickens, Great Expectations.
Paul Poplawski, English Literature in Context, OUP, 2nd edition. The parts relevant to this year's syllabus (Online in the university library).
Monika Fludernik, "Narratology". From Encyclopaedia of the Novel (Literature Online).
Andrew Hodgson, The Cambridge Guide to Poetry, Cambridge University Press (available online on the university website).
Literary Texts:
Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock (Recommended edition: BUR titled Il riccio rapito)
Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto, any edition.
William Hogarth, "The Harlot's Progress", "Gin Lane". *
John Gay, The Beggar's Opera
William Blake, "The Lamb", "The Tyger", "The Chimney Sweeper", "Holy Thursday", "The Rose", "London". *
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "Kubla Khan", "Frost at Midnight". *
William Wordsworth, "The Solitary Reaper", "Michael", "Three Years She Grew", "A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal", "Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey". *
John Keats, "La Belle Dame sans Merci", "Ode on a Grecian Urn". *
John Clare, "The Nightingale's Nest", "Remembrances", "The Fallen Elm". *
Unit C:
George Gordon Byron, Manfred. *
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein. Norton Critical Edition required for non-attending students, or Penguin or OUP Critical Edition. *
Percy B. Shelley, "On a Faded Violet", "Ozymandias", "England in 1819", "Song to the Men of England". *
Robert Browning, "My Last Duchess". *
Alfred Tennyson, "The Lady of Shalott", "Break, Break, Break". *
Charles Dickens, David Copperfield.
All students must also independently read one work of their choice from each of the following three groups:
Eighteenth Century:
Samuel Richardson, Pamela, any edition.
Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders.
Romantic Novels:
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice.
Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights.
High Victorian Novels:
Mrs. Gaskell, North and South.
William Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone.
Charles Dickens, Great Expectations.
Assessment methods and Criteria
Oral Exam: The exam consists of an oral test evaluated on a scale of thirty. The test involves a discussion on the topics covered in the syllabus, aimed at verifying that candidates have achieved a sufficient level of linguistic competence (reading and translating texts), analytical skills (analysis and critical commentary), and historical-literary knowledge (understanding and contextualizing literary texts and authors) to pass the test. The ability to read and translate texts in English is a necessary prerequisite for taking the exam. The evaluation will also consider the appropriateness of language and the ability to make connections between works, authors, and the cultural context discussed. The exam can be taken in either Italian or English.
Only attending students will have the opportunity to take an intermediate written test ('midterm') on the skills of reading and analyzing poetic and narrative texts.
The final grade is expressed on a scale of thirty, and the student has the option to refuse it (in which case it will be recorded as "Ritirato").
The exam procedures for students with disabilities and/or specific learning disorders (DSA) must be agreed upon with the instructor, in accordance with the competent office.
To take the exam, it is essential to bring along all the literary texts in the syllabus.
To register for the exam, it is recommended to always refer to the instructor who taught the course, especially when taking the exam more than a year after the end of the course.
This syllabus is valid until February 2027.
Only attending students will have the opportunity to take an intermediate written test ('midterm') on the skills of reading and analyzing poetic and narrative texts.
The final grade is expressed on a scale of thirty, and the student has the option to refuse it (in which case it will be recorded as "Ritirato").
The exam procedures for students with disabilities and/or specific learning disorders (DSA) must be agreed upon with the instructor, in accordance with the competent office.
To take the exam, it is essential to bring along all the literary texts in the syllabus.
To register for the exam, it is recommended to always refer to the instructor who taught the course, especially when taking the exam more than a year after the end of the course.
This syllabus is valid until February 2027.
Modules or teaching units
Part A and B
L-LIN/10 - ENGLISH LITERATURE - University credits: 6
Lessons: 40 hours
Part C
L-LIN/10 - ENGLISH LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Group B
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
Course Title: "Old and New Paradigms: English literature between the Eighteen Century and the Victorian Age"
The course introduces students to the critical reading of literature and of some relevant aspects of British culture in the period 1689-1870, i.e., during the rapid expansion of the modern English monarchy. The eighteenth and nineteenth century saw the emergence and development of forms and genres that have since then characterised British literature and - more in general - culture, the legacy of which is still visible today.
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
*Knowledge
Recognise the main literary and cultural movements of the 18th century (Neoclassicism, Preromanticism), Romanticism, and the Victorian era.
Identify the most significant authors, texts, and genres of each period.
Describe the formal and thematic characteristics of the works analysed within their historical and cultural context.
*Analytical Skills
Analyze poetic texts in English from a metrical, rhetorical, narratological, and thematic perspective.
Apply basic critical categories (such as stanza, rhyme, enjambment, rhetorical figures) to the analysis of 18th and 19th-century poetry.
Examine prose narrative texts using narratological tools (focalization, narrative voice, temporal structure, setting).
Interpret the thematic content of the works in relation to the social, moral, and cultural transformations of the time.
*Critical and Communication Skills
Clearly and coherently argue a personal interpretation of the analyzed texts, both orally and in writing.
Develop a critical reading ability that integrates attention to textual form with historical and cultural awareness.
Appropriately use the specific vocabulary of literary criticism in both English and Italian.
Students who take this course will earn 9 ECTS. This course may not be taken to earn 6 ECTS only
This syllabus is valid until February 2027
The course introduces students to the critical reading of literature and of some relevant aspects of British culture in the period 1689-1870, i.e., during the rapid expansion of the modern English monarchy. The eighteenth and nineteenth century saw the emergence and development of forms and genres that have since then characterised British literature and - more in general - culture, the legacy of which is still visible today.
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
*Knowledge
Recognise the main literary and cultural movements of the 18th century (Neoclassicism, Preromanticism), Romanticism, and the Victorian era.
Identify the most significant authors, texts, and genres of each period.
Describe the formal and thematic characteristics of the works analysed within their historical and cultural context.
*Analytical Skills
Analyze poetic texts in English from a metrical, rhetorical, narratological, and thematic perspective.
Apply basic critical categories (such as stanza, rhyme, enjambment, rhetorical figures) to the analysis of 18th and 19th-century poetry.
Examine prose narrative texts using narratological tools (focalization, narrative voice, temporal structure, setting).
Interpret the thematic content of the works in relation to the social, moral, and cultural transformations of the time.
*Critical and Communication Skills
Clearly and coherently argue a personal interpretation of the analyzed texts, both orally and in writing.
Develop a critical reading ability that integrates attention to textual form with historical and cultural awareness.
Appropriately use the specific vocabulary of literary criticism in both English and Italian.
Students who take this course will earn 9 ECTS. This course may not be taken to earn 6 ECTS only
This syllabus is valid until February 2027
Prerequisites for admission
Classes are taught in English. Course materials and the reading list require at least intermediate language competences (CEFR B1 or higher).
Teaching methods
Lectures will introduce students to the history of British literature between 1689-1870, with a focus on the historical, cultural, social and political context that fostered specific literary genres and works. Classes will also focus on the close reading, contextualization, and formal (metrical and narratological) analysis of the literary texts
reading, contextualization, and analysis of the texts included in the syllabus. Students will be encouraged to actively participate in class activities and discussions. In addition to literary texts, classes will also make use of visual and audiovisual materials.
reading, contextualization, and analysis of the texts included in the syllabus. Students will be encouraged to actively participate in class activities and discussions. In addition to literary texts, classes will also make use of visual and audiovisual materials.
Teaching Resources
1) LITERARY AND SOCIO-CULTURAL HISTORY
Students will choose one of the following books:
- Lilla Maria Crisafulli, Keir Elam (a cura di), Manuale di letteratura e cultura inglese, Bologna, Bononia University Press, 2009: pp. 139-158, 163-170, 181-238, 283-292, 307-312;
- Paul Poplawski (ed.), English Literature in Context, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2017 (anche online, sul portale Minerva): capp. 3, 4, 5.
2) CRITICAL READING SKILLS
- Martin Montgomery et. al., Ways of Reading: Advanced Reading Skills for Students of English Literature, London and New York, Routedge, 2013 (Biblioteca di Anglistica; anche in altra edizione): section 3 ("Metaphor and Figurative Language"), section 4 ("Rhyme and Sound Patterning", "Verse", "Metre and Rhythm"), section 5 ("Narrative", "Narrative Point of View", "Speech and Narration")
- Riccardo Capoferro, Novel, Roma, Carocci, 2017: capp. 1, 2
3) PRIMARY TEXTS
See detailed list below. Poetic texts and prose extracts are collected in the course reader, which will be made available for download on the course's MyAriel webpage. Students are requested to read novels in a paperback critical edition (with introduction and notes)
4) All materials made available for download on the course's MyAriel webpage are part of the mandatory reading list
PRIMARY TEXT
PART A: "Old an New Tradition"
- Joseph Addison, from Spectator ("The Royal Exchange")
- Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock (Dedicatory Letter, Canto I, Canto III)
- Thomas Gray, "Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard"
- Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, Penguin or Oxford World's Classics critical edition
PART B: "Old and New Inspirations"
- William Blake, "The Little Black Boy", "London"
- William Wordsworth, Preface to Lyrical Ballads (selected passages); "Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey", "The Solitary Reaper"
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "The Eolian Harp", "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"
- Percy Bysshe Shelley, "A Song: 'Men of England"', "The Mask of Anarchy", "Ode to the West Wind"
- John Keats, "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer", "Ode on Indolence"
- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus, Penguin or Oxford World's Classics critical edition
PART C: "Old and new perspectives"
- Alfred Tennyson, "Ulysses"
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sonnets from the Portuguese (sonnets 33 and 43)
- Matthew Arnold, "Dover Beach"
- George Eliot, one short story from Scenes of Clerical Life
- Charles Dickens, Bleak House, Penguin or Oxford World's Classics critical edition
In addition to the texts listed above, students will choose one novel from each of the following groups (i.e, 3 novels, one per group; any unabridged edition):
1. The Eighteenth Century
- Daniel Defoe, The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
- Samuel Richardson, Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded
2. Women Writers
- Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility
- Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights
3. The Victorian Age
- Charles Dickens, Hard Times: For These Times
- Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South
NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS
Attendance is highly recommended. Students who are unable to attend classes are invited to contact the lecturer prior to sitting the exam for further indications and advice.
In addition to the reading list for attending students, non-attending students are requested to read:
- David Duff, The Oxford Handbook of British Romanticism, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2018: capp. 2-3-4
- Liliana Rampello, Sei romanzi perfetti: Su Jane Austen, Milano, il Saggiatore, 2014: pp. 9-62, 110-140
- Maria Teresa Chialant, Casa desolata: Ragnatele, Milano-Udine, Mimesis, 2021: capp. 2, 3, 4, 5
- Andrew Smith, "Scientific Contexts", in Andrew Smith (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Frankenstein, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press; 2016, pp. 69-83 (English Studies Library / Minerva )
Students will choose one of the following books:
- Lilla Maria Crisafulli, Keir Elam (a cura di), Manuale di letteratura e cultura inglese, Bologna, Bononia University Press, 2009: pp. 139-158, 163-170, 181-238, 283-292, 307-312;
- Paul Poplawski (ed.), English Literature in Context, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2017 (anche online, sul portale Minerva): capp. 3, 4, 5.
2) CRITICAL READING SKILLS
- Martin Montgomery et. al., Ways of Reading: Advanced Reading Skills for Students of English Literature, London and New York, Routedge, 2013 (Biblioteca di Anglistica; anche in altra edizione): section 3 ("Metaphor and Figurative Language"), section 4 ("Rhyme and Sound Patterning", "Verse", "Metre and Rhythm"), section 5 ("Narrative", "Narrative Point of View", "Speech and Narration")
- Riccardo Capoferro, Novel, Roma, Carocci, 2017: capp. 1, 2
3) PRIMARY TEXTS
See detailed list below. Poetic texts and prose extracts are collected in the course reader, which will be made available for download on the course's MyAriel webpage. Students are requested to read novels in a paperback critical edition (with introduction and notes)
4) All materials made available for download on the course's MyAriel webpage are part of the mandatory reading list
PRIMARY TEXT
PART A: "Old an New Tradition"
- Joseph Addison, from Spectator ("The Royal Exchange")
- Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock (Dedicatory Letter, Canto I, Canto III)
- Thomas Gray, "Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard"
- Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, Penguin or Oxford World's Classics critical edition
PART B: "Old and New Inspirations"
- William Blake, "The Little Black Boy", "London"
- William Wordsworth, Preface to Lyrical Ballads (selected passages); "Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey", "The Solitary Reaper"
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "The Eolian Harp", "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"
- Percy Bysshe Shelley, "A Song: 'Men of England"', "The Mask of Anarchy", "Ode to the West Wind"
- John Keats, "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer", "Ode on Indolence"
- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus, Penguin or Oxford World's Classics critical edition
PART C: "Old and new perspectives"
- Alfred Tennyson, "Ulysses"
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sonnets from the Portuguese (sonnets 33 and 43)
- Matthew Arnold, "Dover Beach"
- George Eliot, one short story from Scenes of Clerical Life
- Charles Dickens, Bleak House, Penguin or Oxford World's Classics critical edition
In addition to the texts listed above, students will choose one novel from each of the following groups (i.e, 3 novels, one per group; any unabridged edition):
1. The Eighteenth Century
- Daniel Defoe, The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
- Samuel Richardson, Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded
2. Women Writers
- Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility
- Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights
3. The Victorian Age
- Charles Dickens, Hard Times: For These Times
- Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South
NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS
Attendance is highly recommended. Students who are unable to attend classes are invited to contact the lecturer prior to sitting the exam for further indications and advice.
In addition to the reading list for attending students, non-attending students are requested to read:
- David Duff, The Oxford Handbook of British Romanticism, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2018: capp. 2-3-4
- Liliana Rampello, Sei romanzi perfetti: Su Jane Austen, Milano, il Saggiatore, 2014: pp. 9-62, 110-140
- Maria Teresa Chialant, Casa desolata: Ragnatele, Milano-Udine, Mimesis, 2021: capp. 2, 3, 4, 5
- Andrew Smith, "Scientific Contexts", in Andrew Smith (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Frankenstein, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press; 2016, pp. 69-83 (English Studies Library / Minerva )
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam consists of an oral interview covering the course contents and the relative reading list. The interview will assess the candidates' linguistic competences (reading and translating texts), analytical skills (text analysis and critical commentary), knowledge of literary history and literary contexts (understanding and contextualizing the literary texts and authors taught in the course). The ability to read texts in English and to translate them is mandatory in order to sit the exam.
Assessment criteria include the candidates' communication skills and their ability to make connections between works, authors, and their historical, political, and cultural contexts.
Candidates can choose if they want to take the exam in Italian or English, and will be graded as follows: : 1-17: resit; 18-21: satisfactory; 22-24: fairly good; 25-27: good; 28-29: very good 30-30 cum laude: excellent. Candidates may choose not to accept the grade and resit for the exam on another exam day (in this case, the exam result is "ritirato", "withdrawn").
Attending students will have the opportunity to take midterm tests. Further information will be communicated in class and on the course's MyAriel webpage.
On the exam day, candidates are requested to have with them their own copy of the literary texts included in the course syllabus.
To register for the exam, students are requested to always refer to the lecturer responsible for the course, especially if they take the exam more than a year after the course ended. This syllabus is valid until February 2027.
Students with any disabilities are requested to contact the lecturer and the university's office ("Servizi per studenti con DSA") to agree on alternative examination methods according to the current legislation.
Assessment criteria include the candidates' communication skills and their ability to make connections between works, authors, and their historical, political, and cultural contexts.
Candidates can choose if they want to take the exam in Italian or English, and will be graded as follows: : 1-17: resit; 18-21: satisfactory; 22-24: fairly good; 25-27: good; 28-29: very good 30-30 cum laude: excellent. Candidates may choose not to accept the grade and resit for the exam on another exam day (in this case, the exam result is "ritirato", "withdrawn").
Attending students will have the opportunity to take midterm tests. Further information will be communicated in class and on the course's MyAriel webpage.
On the exam day, candidates are requested to have with them their own copy of the literary texts included in the course syllabus.
To register for the exam, students are requested to always refer to the lecturer responsible for the course, especially if they take the exam more than a year after the course ended. This syllabus is valid until February 2027.
Students with any disabilities are requested to contact the lecturer and the university's office ("Servizi per studenti con DSA") to agree on alternative examination methods according to the current legislation.
Modules or teaching units
Part A and B
L-LIN/10 - ENGLISH LITERATURE - University credits: 6
Lessons: 40 hours
Part C
L-LIN/10 - ENGLISH LITERATURE - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor(s)
Reception:
Every Friday 2:30 pm. Please use the form to reserve a position.
Teacher's office or Teams