Ateneo - UPO

The workshop, which is fundamentally characterised by participatory, interactive teaching in person, 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 and modes of pop(ular) literature.
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 analyses of genres and forms in (pop)ular literature. One essay to be chosen from the following:

- Vittorio Spinazzola, L’immaginazione divertente. Il giallo, il rosa, il porno, il fumetto (1995), goWare, 2018;

- Valerio Evangelisti, Le strade di Alphaville, Odoya, 2022;

- Valentina Conti, New Media e letteratura giovanile. Quale retorica?, Mimesis, 2023;

- Wu Ming 4, Difendere la terra di mezzo, nuova edizione, Bompiani, 2023;

- Simone Carati, Mondi d’avventura. Teorie di un genere romanzesco, Mimesis, 2025;

- Henry Jenkins et al. (eds), Pop culture and the Civic Imagination, Case Studies of Creative Social Change, NY press, 2020.

Basic level:
1. The objective of the workshop is to furnish participants with the fundamental practical tools for the composition of an academic critical essay, with specific reference to a degree thesis. The workshop will encompass all stages of the process, from conception to the identification of bibliographical material, to the editing of the text.

2. The genres and forms of popular literature will be examined through the reading of narrative texts and critical and theoretical essays, which will also serve as models and examples for 1.

The learning objectives for the advanced level, in addition to those covered in the basic level, are as follows:
- the ability to critically re-examine the course content in an independent and original manner, and to apply the tools and knowledge acquired to texts and materials other than those included in the syllabus;
- the ability to write an original academic-critical essay, featuring innovative content, written with excellent argumentative clarity, excellent command of expression, and a confident and active command of critical and theoretical terminology;
– the ability to present the readings covered during the course with excellent argumentative clarity, excellent command of expression, and a confident and active command of critical and theoretical terminology.

The 6 CFU earned during the course are distributed as follows:
1.5 CFU (30 hours of class) comprising lectures (DE) and, for the most part, interactive sessions (DI) (see ‘Teaching Methods’);
4.5 CFU comprising writing assignments and independent study.

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

The Didattica in Rete (DIR) platform will be used to upload materials that will form a fundamental part of the workshop.

Students with disabilities, Specific Learning Disorders (SLD), or Special Educational Needs (SEN) may request specific services and resources designed for them by contacting the Career Development and Coordination and Student Services Staff and consulting the dedicated page on the University website:
https://uniupo.it/it/servizi/servizistudentesse-e-studenti-condizione-di-disabilit%C3%A0-e-dsa.
Once they have contacted the University staff, students with disabilities, SLDs, or SEN may contact the course instructor regarding the specific exam arrangements and any related instructional matters.

The assessment process will be a continuous one, and the results will be expressed in grades ranging from unsatisfactory to excellent (unsatisfactory/satisfactory/fair/good/distinguished/excellent) and will take into account:

1. The writing exercises completed during the workshop meetings and the short final critical essay on a short story to be agreed with the professor and submitted before the exam.
2. The oral presentation on the essay focusing on theories and analyses of genres and forms of (pop)ular literature.

If the oral presentation has not been delivered during the workshop meetings, one or two questions in the exam will relate to the theoretical essay chosen from those listed in the syllabus.

To achieve a ‘sufficient’ or ‘fair’ grade, students must demonstrate:

1) Introduction to the writing and drafting of a critical essay

The written assignment will be assessed according to the following criteria:
- clarity in argumentation (75%)
- accuracy of editing (25%)

2) Theories and analysis of the pop(ular) literature
The oral presentation will be assessed according to the following criteria:

- knowledge and understanding of the theoretical texts (75%)
- clarity in argumentation and accuracy of expression (25%)

To achieve an advanced level, students must demonstrate:

- the ability to independently and originally critically rework the course content and to apply the tools and knowledge acquired to texts and materials other than those on the syllabus;
- the ability to write a critical-academic essay demonstrating excellent argumentative effectiveness, excellent command of expression, and active and confident use of critical and theoretical terminology;
- the ability to present the readings undertaken demonstrating excellent argumentative effectiveness, excellent command of expression, and active and confident use of critical and theoretical terminology.

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 fantastic short story. Presentation of the analysis results.
2. Choosing a thesis statement, draft outline. Reports. Discussion. Division into groups and work on drafting an essay proposal. Presentation and analysis of the proposals.
3. Sourcing. Compiling the bibliography. Editing guidelines. Exercises. Report(s). Discussion. Writing the essay.
4. Indexing. Purposes of indexing, examples of index entries. Exercises. Citations: primary and secondary sources. ‘The ten rules for citation’ (Eco). Editing citations. Presentation(s). Discussion. Reading a popular narrative and writing the essay.
5. Observations on different editing conventions and a comparison of these. Exercises. How to draft footnotes. Exercises. Presentation(s). Discussion. Reading a folk tale and writing the essay.
6. Presentation(s). Discussion. Reading popular narrative and writing the essay.
7. Introduction and conclusion. Organising the table of contents once the work is complete. Report(s). Discussion. Reading a popular narrative and writing an essay.
8. Title and headings. Subheadings. Report(s). Discussion. Writing the essay. Conclusion of the workshop.

The workshop pays constant attention to gender issues, both through the presentation of the fundamentals of intersectional and feminist criticism, and in a comprehensive manner through the analysis of the narrative works studied in class.

To achieve a sufficient/fair level, students will need to demonstrate:

1) Introduction to the writing and drafting of an academic critical essay (degree thesis)

(knowledge)
Knowledge of the structural, compositional, stylistic and editorial characteristics of an academic essay.

(skills)
The ability to write an academic essay.

2) Theories and analysis of pop(ular) literature

(knowledge)
Knowledge of selected contemporary essays on pop(ular) literature and of selected pop(ular) short stories

(skills)
The ability to compare theories of pop(ular) literature with the essayistic methods and styles of the authors studied, and to assess their hermeneutic and heuristic effectiveness in relation to the literary texts analysed.

(Transversal skills)
The ability to present knowledge, information and opinions relating to the texts and issues covered clearly, both orally and in writing, using appropriate language and terminology.

To achieve an advanced level, students must demonstrate:

- the ability to critically re-examine the course content independently and creatively, and to apply the tools and knowledge acquired to texts and materials other than those included in the syllabus;
- the ability to write a critical-academic essay demonstrating excellent argumentative effectiveness, excellent clarity of expression, and active and confident command of critical and theoretical terminology.
– the ability to present the readings undertaken with excellent argumentative effectiveness, excellent clarity of expression, and active and confident command of critical and theoretical terminology.