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:

Introduction to writing and editing an academic critical essay (dissertation). Objectives: knowledge and active competence of the structural, compositional, stylistic and editorial characteristics of an academic non-fictional text. Knowing how to write an essay.
2) Theories and analysis of the fantastic genre: reading and analysis of some contemporary essays on the theory of the fantastic and some fantastic stories by Tommaso Landolfi and Dino Buzzati that will be proposed during the course. Objectives: To be able to compare the theories of the fantastic and the essay writing methods and styles of the authors studied and to verify their hermeneutic and heuristic efficacy on the analyzed literary texts.
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 the fantastic genre:
One essay chosen from the following:
SIGMUND FREUD, The Uncanny (Das Unheimliche), Penguiin.

TZVETAN TODOROV, Introduction à la littérature fantastique, Paris, Seuil
FRANCESCO ORLANDO, Il soprannaturale letterario. Storia, logica, forme, Torino, Einaudi, 2017;
STEFANO LAZZARIN, Il modo fantastico, Roma, Laterza, 2000;
MARK FISHER, The Weird and the Eerie, Repeater Books, 2016.

For further information:
DAVIDE CARNEVALE, Narrare l’invasione. Traiettore e rinnovamento del fantastico novecentesco, Berlin, Peter Lang, 2022.

Other texts (fantastic short stories to read) will be indicated and made available during the workshop.

• objectives - knowledge and understanding:
1) Introduction to writing and editing an academic critical essay.
knowledge of the structural, compositional, stylistic, editorial features of an essay text.
knowledge of the structural, compositional, stylistic, editorial features of an essay text.
2) Theories and analysis of the fantastic genre: knowledge of some contemporary theoretical proposals on the fantasy genre; knowledge of some examples of fantastic fiction.
objectives - ability to apply knowledge and understanding:
1) Knowing how to write an essay text
2) Knowing how to compare the theories of the fantastic and the methods of the authors studied and verify their hermeneutic and heuristic efficacy on the stories analysed.

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 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

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 the fantastic genre:
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%)

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 fantastic 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 fantastic 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 fantastic story and writing an essay.

6. “The ten rules for citation” (Eco). Editing of citations.
Report/s. Discussion.
Work of reading and analyzing a fantastic story and writing an essay.

7. Introduction and conclusion. The articulation of the index at the end of the work.
Report/s.
Lavoro di lettura di un racconto fantastico e di scrittura del saggio.

8. Title and titles. Subtitles.
Report/s. Discussion.
Work of essay writing.
Conclusion of the Workshop.

1) 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.

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 analyses of the fantastic genre:
knowledge of some contemporary theoretical proposals on the fantasy genre and some examples of fantastic fiction.
Knowing how to compare the theories of the fantastic and the methods of the authors studied and to verify their hermeneutic and heuristic efficacy on the stories analyzed.

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.