Ateneo - UPO

Is there Dialogue in This Class? Rhetoric and Argumentation in the Practice of Teaching Literature

1. Emanuele Zinato, (a cura di), Insegnare letteratura. Teorie e pratiche per una didattica indocile, Laterza, 2022.

2. Gigi Spina, Retorica quotidiana. Quattro modi per muovere le idee, ED- Enrico Damiani editori, 2026.

3. A chosen volume from

3.1. Bice Mortara Garavelli, Manuale di retorica, Bompiani;

3.2. Chaïm Perelman, Lucie Obrechts-Tyteca, Traité de l'argumentation: la nouvelle rhétorique.

Supplementary material for non-attending students

4. Stefania Sini “Retorica e argomentazione”. Stefania Sini, Franca Sinopoli (edsi), Percorsi di teoria e comparatistica letteraria, Pearson, 2021, pp. 179-216.

5. Peter Brooks, Seduced by Story: The Use and Abuse of Narrative, 2022.

The course aims to provide the fundamental theoretical and methodological tools required for a critical understanding and up-to-date skills in the field of literature teaching.
Basic level of learning outcomes:
The main issues relating to the teaching of literature in secondary schools will be presented and discussed, ranging from regulatory frameworks to the choice of textbooks, the different contexts in lower and upper secondary schools, and the practical possibilities.
The course will present and address the main issues in literary theory and criticism, as well as the principal methods and tools for analysing, understanding and sharing literary works with a view to their application in the classroom, with particular attention to the convergence of imaginations in the reading experience, the rhetorical discourse in its broad, original sense and in terms of its dialogical and pragmatic scope, to its history, and funfamental components and categories.

Advanced level learning objectives, in addition to those covered at the basic level:
- A comprehensive and integrated understanding of the course content, with the acquired synergy between theoretical and methodological skills – particularly those relating to the field of rhetoric – and interpretative and communicative skills, with particular attention to the teaching context.
- The ability to independently rework the course content and apply the tools and knowledge acquired to texts and materials, including those not covered in the syllabus.
- Proficient and confident command of terminology relating to teaching, rhetoric, and literary criticism and theory, together with excellent command of expression.

The approach to teaching (teaching) literature proposed in this course is fundamentally dialogic, with no strict distinction between lecture-based teaching (DE) and interactive methods (DI).

The 6 CFU earned during the course are distributed as follows:
1.5 CFU (30 hours of teaching of lecture-based and interactive teaching) (DE + DI) (see ‘Teaching Methods’);
4.5 CFU of independent study.

Interest in teaching literature

Lectures, reading aloud, analysis and commentary on narrative and argumentative texts, individual and group exercises in writing, dialogue, argumentation and public speaking. The Didattica in Rete (DIR), (e-learning) platform will be utilised for the uploading of materials that will constitute a fundamental component of exam preparation.

Students with disabilities, Specific Learning Difficulties (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 Team 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 made contact with the University staff, students with disabilities, SLDs or SEN may contact the professor responsible for the course regarding the arrangements for examinations and teaching-related matters.

Oral examination.

The examination will consist of three parts:

1) One or more questions on the topics covered in the volume edited by Emanuele Zinato, Insegnare la letteratura;
2) One or more questions on rhetoric, its history, and its various components and categories;
3) Reading, analysis and rhetorical, stylistic and thematic commentary on a rhetorical, dialogical and argumentative speech or text from among those covered in class; an overall commentary on the text and a proposal for its didactic restitution in a given school context: how would you present this speech or text to the class (specifying the type of school and year group)?

In order to achieve a sufficient grade, students are therefore required to demonstrate:

(KNOWLEDGE)
- A critical understanding of the main issues relating to the teaching of literature in secondary schools, balancing the constraints of regulations and textbooks with the interplay of imaginations in the reading experience;
- Knowledge of the basic elements of rhetoric, its history, categories and structures;
- Knowledge of the main issues of literary theory and criticism, and of the principal methods and tools for analysing, understanding and discussing literary works in terms of their educational application, with particular attention to rhetorical, dialogic and argumentative discourse/texts.

(COMPETENCIES)
- The ability to analyse persuasive, argumentative and dialogic texts/discourses, identifying their structural, stylistic, rhetorical and thematic characteristics; the ability to convey these skills in an educational context;
- The ability to write and pronounce, and to teach others to write and pronounce, rhetorical, dialogic and argumentative discourse/text.

(TRANSVERSAL SKILLS)
- Be able to present knowledge, information and opinions relating to the topics covered clearly and effectively, using appropriate language and terminology.

In particular, the following weightings will be applied when assessing the achievement of the aforementioned learning objectives: 1. 40%; 2. 40%; 3. 20%.

To achieve an advanced level, the student must demonstrate, in addition to what is required for the basic level:

- A comprehensive and integrated understanding of the course content, with the acquired synergy between theoretical and methodological competences, interpretative and communicative skills, with particular attention to the educational context;
- The ability to independently rework the course content and to apply the tools and knowledge acquired to texts and materials, including those not covered in the syllabus;
- A confident and active command of terminology relating to teaching, as well as that relating to literary criticism and theory, combined with excellent expressive skills;
- The ability to propose and apply original teaching methods.

Week 1
Introduction to the course. Emanuele Zinato, Teaching Literature: Part 1, The Teacher’s Craft. Regulatory framework; Making good use of textbooks. What is rhetoric? Rhetorica docens and rhetorica utens. Theory and practice. A dialogical and pragmatic approach. The audience. Common sense. Rhetoric and logic. Demonstrating and arguing. Historical overview. Restrained rhetoric (Genette) and the New Rhetoric. Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca’s Treatise on Argumentation. Rhetoric as lived space.
Week 2
Emanuele Zinato, Teaching Literature: Part 1, The Teacher’s Craft. A pedagogy within the discipline. Part 2, Developing Teaching Methods. Teaching Literature in Lower Secondary School. Inventio. Places, loci, topoi. Places according to Perelman and Tyteca. Dispositio. Ordo naturalis and ordo artificialis. Strategies for organising arguments. The structure of persuasive discourse. Exercises.
Week III
Emanuele Zinato, Teaching Literature. Part 2, Developing Teaching Methods. Combating Inertia. Teaching Literature in the First Two Years. Periodisation and the Canon. Teaching Literature in the Final Three Years. Elocutio. The virtues. Aptum. The mixture of styles (Stilmischung, Auerbach). Exercises. Ornatus. Taxonomies of ornatus. The dialogica discourse. Reading, analysis and commentary on a dialogic text. Exercises.
Week IV
Emanuele Zinato, Teaching Literature. Part 2, Developing Teaching Methods. Texts and history. Reading at school. Tropes and metaphors. Theories of metaphor. Images and words. The bodily roots of figurativeness. Reading, analysis and commentary on a persuasive discourse. Exercises.
Week 5
Emanuele Zinato, Teaching Literature. Part 3, Critical Tools and Their Application in Schools. Interwoven Voices. Polyphonic Ambiguity as an Educational Resource. A Question of Style. Teaching Poetry. Listening and Spaces for Response. Reading, analysis and commentary on a persuasive discourse. Exercises.
Week 7
Emanuele Zinato, Teaching Literature. Part 3, Tools of Criticism and Applications in Schools. Teaching with Variants. Teaching by Theme. A Workshop Experience. Memory and Topica. Exercises. Reading, analysis and commentary on a dialogic discourse. Actio. Exercises.
Week 8
Emanuele Zinato, Teaching Literature. Part 3, Tools of Criticism and Their Application in Schools. Teaching by genre. From epic to novel. Convergences and divergences. Between literature and science. Testing concepts: Dante and the literary experience.
Declamation of a persuasive discourse. Conclusion of the course.

The course pays constant attention to the gender dimension, both in the analysis and discussion of the practical challenges faced by teachers in the classroom, and in the treatment and discussion of methods for teaching the literary experience and the development of a dialogic and inclusive approach to teaching.

In order to achieve a sufficient level, students are therefore required to demonstrate:

(KNOWLEDGE)
- A critical understanding of the main issues relating to the teaching of literature in secondary schools, balancing the constraints of regulations and textbooks with the interplay of imaginations in the reading experience;
- Knowledge of the basic elements of rhetoric, its history, categories and structures;
- Knowledge of the main issues of literary theory and criticism, and of the principal methods and tools for analysing, understanding and discussing literary works in terms of their educational application, with particular attention to rhetorical, dialogic and argumentative discourse/texts.
(COMPETENCIES) - The ability to analyse persuasive, argumentative and dialogic texts/discourses, identifying their structural, stylistic, rhetorical and thematic characteristics; the ability to convey these skills in an educational context;
- The ability to write and pronounce, and to teach others to write and pronounce, rhetorical, dialogic and argumentative discourse/text.
(TRANSVERSAL SKILLS)
- Be able to present knowledge, information and opinions relating to the topics covered clearly and effectively, using appropriate language and terminology.

To achieve an advanced level, students will demonstrate, in addition to what is required for the basic level:

- A comprehensive and integrated understanding of the course content, with the acquired synergy between theoretical and methodological competences, interpretative and communicative skills, with particular attention to the educational context;
- The ability to independently rework the course content and to apply the tools and knowledge acquired to texts and materials, including those not encompassed within the syllabus;
- A confident and active command of terminology relating to teaching, as well as that relating to literary criticism and theory, combined with excellent expressive skills;
- The ability to propose and apply original teaching methods.