Ateneo - UPO

The workshop concerns the field of Comparative literature and Italian literature; it is structured in 8 meetings for a total of 30 hours of lessons, organized in two parts: 1) Introduction to writing and editing an academic critical essay (dissertation). 2) Theories and analysis of genres/modes of comedy and humour: Each of the 2 parts of the workshop will allow, subject to adequately documented participation, the achievement of 6 credits, for a total of 75 hours of work, including lessons and individual student work. For the recognition of only 3 credits it will eventually be possible to agree with the professor the participation in half of each of the parts of the workshop.

Theories and analysis of genres/modes of comedy and humour: One essay chosen from the following: Henri Bergson, Laughter, an essay on the meaning of the comic (Le Rire. Essai sur la signification du comique, 1900); Sigmund Freud, The Joke and Its Relation to the Unconscious (Der Witz und seine Beziehung zum Unbewußten 1905); Luigi Pirandello, On Humor (L’umorismo, 1908); Mikhail Bakhtin, Rabelais and His World (Творчество Франсуа Рабле и народная культура Средневековья и Ренессанса, 1965); Vladimir Propp, On the Comic and Laughter (Проблемы комизма и смеха, 1976); Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca, Le Comique du Discours, Brussels Press, 1974; Giulio Ferroni (ed.), Ambiguità del comico, Palermo, Sellerio, 1983; Peter L. Berger, Redeeming Laughter: The Comic Dimension of Human Experience, 1997; Massimo Bonafin, Contesti della parodia, Torino, Utet, 2001; Claire Colebrook, Irony, London-New York, Routledge, 2004; Felice Accame, L’anomalia del genio e le teorie del comico, Palermo, :due punti, 2008; Giancarlo Alfano, L’umorismo letterario. Una lunga storia europea (secoli XIV-XX), Roma, Carocci, 2016. Other texts (comedy and humorous short stories to read) will be indicated and made available during the workshop.

1) Introduction to writing and editing a critical academic essay (thesis): (knowledge) Knowledge of the structural, compositional, stylistic, and editorial characteristics of an academic essay. (skills) Ability to write an academic essay. 2) Theories and analysis of genres/modes of comedy and humour: (knowledge) knowledge of some traditional and contemporary theoretical proposals on comic and humorous genres/modes; knowledge of some examples of comic and humorous short stories; (skills) Ability to compare the theories of comedy and humor and the essayistic methods and styles of the authors studied, and assess their hermeneutic and heuristic effectiveness on the literary texts analyzed. (transversal skills) Being able to present with clarity and argumentative efficacy, using the appropriate terminology the results of the readings carried out. For the achievement of an advanced level, the student must demonstrate: a global and unitary understanding of the path formed by the course, with the acquired complementarity between theoretical-methodological skills and interpretative skills. The ability to autonomously re-elaborate the contents of the course and to apply the tools and knowledge acquired to texts and materials other than those included in the program. The active and confident competence of critical and theoretical terminology combined with excellent communication skills.

The workshop is open to all Students of all Courses interested in literature, theory of literature, critical and essay writing.

As this is a Workshop, attendance is a prerequisite.

Knowledge of Italian literary history is required; for students of Modern Foreign Languages knowledge of the history of at least one foreign literature.

Seminar structure
1) Explanations of academic writing techniques, from argumentative structure to editing. Discussions. Individual and collective writing of an essay.
2. Oral reports by students, individually or in groups, on the essays in the program.
3) Reading and analysis of short stories

Pc and video projector are required.
Students with disabilities or with Specific Learning Disorders (DSA) or with Special Educational Needs (BES) may request specific services and tools dedicated to them by contacting the Career Development and Coordination Staff and Student Services and by consulting the dedicated page on the University website: https://uniupo. en/en/servizi/servizi-studenti-disabili-e-dsa
Students with disabilities, DSA, BES, once they have contacted the University Staff, can contact the teacher in charge of the course in relation to the declination of the examination methods, with regard to teaching aspects.

Writing a short critical essay on a short story to be delivered before the exam. At the exam oral discussion of the thesis. If the oral report was not presented during the Workshop meetings, one or two questions will focus on the theoretical essay chosen from those indicated in the program. Evaluation: 1) Introduction to the writing and editing of a critical essay: writing exercises will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria: - argumentative efficacy and clarity (75%) - correctness of editing (25%). 2) Theories and analysis of genres/modes of comedy and humour: Oral relation will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria: - knowledge and understanding of theoretical texts (75%) - argumentative efficacy, clarity and expressive accuracy (25%) Pease note: Assessment will take into account the perseverance and commitment shown in the group work

Extended program: 1. Presentation of the Workshop. Demonstrating and showing. Argumentating. Work articulation. The first three stages of rhetorical discourse or parts of rhetoric: inventio, dispositio, elocutio. Editing. The lineup. The structure of the work. Expected index and index in progress. How an academic essay is done: Division of students into groups and work of reading and analyzing a comedy short story. Presentation of the analysis results. 2. Choice of the thesis, hypothesis of lineup. I report. Discussion. Division into groups and construction work of an essay project. Presentation and analysis of projects. 3. The retrieval of sources. On the drafting of the bibliography. Editing indications. Report/s. Discussion. Work of essay writing. 4. The filing. Purposes of filing, examples of cards. Citations: primary sources and secondary sources. “The ten rules for citation” (Eco). Editing of citations. Report/s. Discussion. Work of reading and analyzing a humorous short story and writing an essay. 5. Observations on different editing conventions and their comparison. How to write notes. Report/s. Discussion. Work of reading and analyzing a humorous short story and writing an essay. 6. “The ten rules for citation” (Eco). Editing of citations. Report/s. Discussion. Work of reading and analyzing a comedy short story and writing an essay. 7. Introduction and conclusion. The articulation of the index at the end of the work. Report/s. Work of reading and analyzing a comedy short story and writing an essay. 8. Title and titles. Subtitles. Report/s. Discussion. Work of essay writing. Conclusion of the Workshop.

Introduction to the writing and editing of a critical essay: knowledge and active competence of the structural, compositional, stylistic, and editorial features of an essay text. To be able to write an essay: retrieval of sources, argumentative structure, division into paragraphs and subparagraphs, introduction, titles, citations, notes, bibliography, and editing. Theories and analysis of genres/modesof comedy and humorous: knowledge of some traditional and contemporary theoretical proposals on genres/modesof comedy and humour; knowledge of some examples of comedy and humorous narrative. For the achievement of an advanced level, the student must demonstrate to know how to write an original essay, autonomously and critically elaborating the information from the sources, with his or her own judgments, effective summaries, and thesis solidly and clearly argued. 2) Theories and analysis of genres/modes of comedy and humour: knowledge of some traditional and contemporary theoretical proposals on comedy and humour genres/modes; knowledge of some examples of comedy and humour fiction. To be able to compare the theories of comedy and humour and the methods of the authors studied and verify their hermeneutic and heuristic effectiveness on the stories analysed For the achievement of an advanced level, the student must demonstrate: a personal understanding and reworking of the methodologies and critical styles addressed in class, combined with articulated skills of synthesis and analysis; excellent expressive ability; l the ability to autonomously investigate particular topics, even beyond the indications provided in the workshop and in the exam program.