Course Syllabus

JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "EN 282"
COURSE NAME: "Italian Visions: Perceptions of Italy in Literature"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Spring 2016

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Shannon Russell
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: TTH 8:30 AM 9:45 AM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisite: EN 110 with a grade of C or above
OFFICE HOURS: By appointment

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The course considers the importance of Italy for non-Italian writers, particularly European, British and American writers from the eighteenth century onward. Topics considered include: a critique of the perception and construction of Italy and Italians, the development of genres like the gothic or novels of national identity, the gendering of nationality, imperialism, the use of art and history in literature. Consideration is given to the ways in which these works are in dialogue with each other in terms of cultural assumptions and influence. This course is an alternate course to EN 278. If taken in addition to EN 278, it may count as a major elective.

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
See above as well as the reading list and course schedule.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Students will become familiar with eighteenth and nineteenth century Biritish, American and European literary engagement with and about Italy. It is hoped that they will be able to identify the important trans-cultural relationships between these writers which their encounters with Italy expose. Students will also become familiar with the cultural challenges of travel writing.

TEXTBOOK:

Book Title	Author	Publisher	ISBN number
Corinne; or Italy	Germaine de Stael	Oxford World's Classics	978-0-19-955460-7
Where Angels Fear to Tread	E. M. Forster	Penguin Classics	978-0-141-44145-0
Daisy Miller	Henry James	Oxford World's Classics	978-0-19-953856-0
The Italian	Ann Radcliffe	Oxford World's Classics	978-0-19-283254-2
The Marble Faun	Nathanial Hawthorne	Oxford World's Classics	978-0-19-955407-2
Italian Journey	Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe	Penguin Classics	978-0-14--44233-5

REQUIRED RESERVED READING:

NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:

NONE

GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:

Assignment	Guidelines	Weight
Two essays 6-8 pages typed	Essays should conform to MLA standards in terms of documentation of sources and research.	50%
Reading Journal (Minimum 15 typed pages)	Reading journals are to demonstrate the student's engagement with the material in light of their own attempts to articulate either their own or an alien culture. Journals may be personal but must also be critically engaged with the reading assigned. Students should aim to comment in some way on every work of literature we study in the course through their responses in the journal.	20%
Participation	Participation is essential. Students are expected to demonstrate their reading and understanding of the material assigned through their class contributions.	10%
Final Exam	The Final Exam will involve an extended essay which will be completed in the exam timetable. The topic will be given in advance and students are expected to arrive at the exam with an outline in place.	20%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course.
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.

-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Attendance is mandatory. At three absences your overall grade for the course is reduced.

ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.

STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.

SCHEDULE

There will be THREE on-site classes which substitute for 5 classes in the schedule. These classes will be held on the following three Fridays: Feb. 19, March 11, and April 15.

ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY and our visits have been pre-booked. Absences will be counted as regular missed classes (at 3 missed classes your final grade is automatically reduced) and an extra assignment will be required to make up for any legitimate absences. Personal trips planned do NOT count as a legitimate excuse for absences.

Payment for our field trips is required in advance of the visit. In lieu of these required field trips and the extra time required to get to and from sites, six classes in the regular schedule have been cancelled (Feb. 4, 11, 18, 25, March 17 and April 19). See schedule below for details.

WEEK 1

Tues. Jan. 19

Introduction to the Course and Requirements

The Grand Tour - An Introduction

We will go through the virtual tour of Italy and the Grand Tour constructed from the 2001 exhibition at the Getty Museum.

http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/grand_tour/

http://museum.oglethorpe.edu/GrandTour.htm

http://www2.wwnorton.com/college/english/nael/18century/topic_4/tour.htm

Review: Three views of the Grand Tour in Norton Anthology
http://www2.wwnorton.com/college/english/nael/18century/topic_4/tour.htm

Thurs. Jan. 21

The Grand Tour continued: The Anti-Italy (or Splenetic) Travellers

Tobias Smollett, Selections from Travels through France and Italy (1766). Do a google search to find an e-text version like http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/_Texts/Smollett/Travels/25.html

Read Letters 29 - 35 (letters on Rome and final letter in which he sums up the effect of his travels).

WEEK 2 Pre-Revolution Travellers and the European Artists Abroad

Tues. Jan. 26

Goethe's Italian Journey Part 1

Required reading is the two sections on Rome for our classes, but please feel free to read the entire book.

Thurs. Jan. 28

Goethe's Italian Journey Part 3 Second Roman Visit

WEEK 3

Tues. Feb. 2 Italy and the Female Gothic

Ann Radcliffe The Italian Read Volume 1. Please read the prefatory story that introduces the novel, carefully and think about the ironic inflections in the depiction of both Italians and Englishmen in this frame tale.

Thurs. Feb. 4

NO CLASS

WEEK 4

Tues. Feb. 9

Read: Ann Radcliffe The Italian (Volume 2)

Aesthetic and psychological categories: The Sublime and the Picturesque Background Reading: The concept of the Sublime on the Victorian Websitehttp://www.victorianweb.org/philosophy/sublime/sublimeov.html

Edmund Burke excerpts from essay on the Sublime http://www2.wwnorton.com/college/english/nael/romantic/topic_1/burke.htm

Gilpin on ideas of the Picturesque for Romantics http://www2.wwnorton.com/college/english/nael/romantic/topic%5F1/riverwye.htm

Thurs. Feb. 11 JOURNALS DUE TODAY (send via email or if you are using a journal book, please submit it to me on Tuesday. Feb. 9th)

NO CLASS

WEEK 5

Tues. Feb. 16 Ann Radcliffe The Italian Volume 3

Friday Feb. 19 FIRST FIELD TRIP 8:30-1pm (Meet at Palazzo Barberini at 8:45am. We will visit this museum and then stop in to see the painting of Michael vanquishing the devil in the famous "Bone Church" or the Church of L'Immacolata Concezione, Via Vittorio Veneto 27 (Metro Barberini or Bus to Piazza Barberini). From there, we will head to the Keats-Shelley House for a private talk and tour. After that, we will be visiting Casa di Goethe where we will also have a private talk and tour in English from 12-1:15.

WEEK 6

Tues. Feb. 23 Early Romantics

FIRST ESSAY DUE

Madame de Stael's Corinne; or Italy Books 1-8.

Thurs. Feb. 25 NO CLASS

WEEK 7

March 1

Madame de Stael's Corinne; or Italy Books 14, 19 and conclusion

March 3 The English Romantics in Italy

Percy Bysshe Shelley’s The Cenci

http://web.bilkent.edu.tr/Online/www.english.upenn.edu/jlynch/Frank/PShelley/cencitp.html

WEEK 8

Tues. March 8

Read: Keats’s “Happy is England” and Byron’s Beppo

http://readytogoebooks.com/LB-Bp48.htm

(Not required reading, but you may want to look at “Childe Harolde Canto 4” especially stanzas cxxviii-cxxxi; cxxxviii-cxlv). http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext04/chpl10h.htm

Timeline: http://www.rc.umd.edu/reference/chronologies/mschronology/chrono.html#1822

Thurs. March 10 The Americans Abroad

Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Marble Faun (Chapters 1-16)

Friday March 11 SECOND FIELD TRIP

SECOND FIELD TRIP: The Capitoline is an important and large museum and at 12 euros a ticket, it is worth savouring. Plan to spend some time here on your own after we see the things relevant to our reading for the course, as it is well worth it. We will meet at the Ticket Office and will proceed to the Pinoteca to view the Cumean Sibyl. After that we will visit the sculpture gallery to view the Marble Faun and the Dying Gladiator.

FRIDAY MARCH 11

WEEK 9

Tues. March 15

Hawthorne The Marble Faun (Chapters 17-35)

Thurs. March 17

NO CLASS

WEEK 10

Tues. March 22

Hawthorne The Marble Faun (Chapters 36 to end)

Thurs. March 24 Victorian Travellers and New Travel Technologies

Excerpts from Dickens’s Pictures from Italy, including chapters entitled: Italian Dream, Rome, and A Rapid Diorama: e-text available on Project Gutenberg

WEEK 11 MARCH BREAK March 28-April 1

WEEK 12

Tues. April 5

Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad (Chapters 17-31 and Conclusion)

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/TwaInno.html

Hypertext of map of Twain’s journey http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/innocent/iamaphp.html

Thurs. April 7

Mark Twain The Innocents Abroad (Chapters 17-31 and Conclusion)

WEEK 13

Tues. April 12

Henry James Daisy Miller Chapters 1-3

Thurs. April 14 JOURNALS ARE DUE IN TODAY

Henry James Daisy Miller Chapters 4-end

Friday April 15 Third Field Trip -- Meeting in the Protestant Cemetery

E. M. Forster Where Angels Fear to Tread Chapters 1-4

WEEK 13

Tues. April 19

NO CLASS

Thurs. April 21 SECOND ESSAY DUE

E. M. Forster Where Angels Fear to Tread Chapters 5-6

WEEK 15

Tues. April 26

E. M. Forster Where Angels Fear to Tread Chapters 7-end

Thurs. April 28

Edith Wharton's "Roman Fever" available on the internet