Examination of Italian literature and thought from the end of the Middle Ages through the Renaissance. Works of Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, the Italian Humanists, and Renaissance writers, such as Castiglione and Machiavelli, will be read and discussed against the historical and cultural background of 14th-16th century Europe. Prerequisites: none.

MIAMI PLAN CREDIT: This course is part of the MP Thematic Sequence "Italy in the Renaissance." Other courses in the sequence, which may be taken in any order, are: HST 315, The Renaissance; HST 452, Florence in the Time of the Republic, 1250-1530; ENG/ITL 401, Dante's Divine Comedy; ARC 423, Renaissance Architecture; and ART 481, Art of the Renaissance in Italy (1250-1500).

CAS REQUIREMENTS: The course counts toward the College of Arts and Science Requirements in the Category CAS-B-Lit.

ITALIAN MINOR: This course is part of the Italian Minor if taken in conjunction with ITL 364.1, Umanesimo e Rinascimento in Italian, a supplementary one-credit course covering some of the same material in the original Italian; readings and discussions in Italian. The two courses together would thus count as 4 credit hours toward the Italian Minor. The Italian Minor consists of 18 hours above the 100 level, which must include ITL 301 and 302, Introduction to Italian Literature, taught in Italian.

I. COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

A. READINGS AND DISCUSSION: Regular attendance and active, informed participation in class discussion are crucial. Up to 4 points will be assigned for each period's participation in the discussion, based on demonstrated degree of preparation and pertinence and cogency of contributions: 4, exceptional; 3, good; 2, satisfactory; 1, less than satisfactory; 0, absent. Of 27 class periods (not counting the first day of class or the day of the mid-term), 25 will count in the tabulation, allowing for two unpenalized absences.

B. ORAL REPORTS: Each student will present three oral reports to the class: two (c. 10 minutes, 25 points each) consisting of an explication of a poem, an episode, or a passage from that day's assigned reading and providing a basis for further analysis and discussion; the third (c. 15-20 minutes, 50 points) consisting of an account of the research results of the term project.

C. PAPERS: 1) A bi-weekly journal, consisting of short "reaction" essays to a specific reading from the week's reading (2-page maximum) will be due on Tuesdays of alternate weeks.

2) A research paper or other term project will be due the thirteenth week (see guidelines below).

D. EXAMS: There will be two exams: one midterm test, March 3, and a two-hour comprehensive final exam at the end of the course, Mon., May 4, 9:45 AM.

II. GRADING: Each student's semester grade will be calculated by adding the points awarded in six categories. The standard breakdown scale will apply: 93%+=A; 90-92%=A-; 87-89%=B+; 83-86%=B; 80-82%=B-; 77-79%=C+; 73-76%=C; 70-72%=C-; 67-69%=D+; 63=66%=D; 60-62%=D-.

A. Participation (25 classes x 4@) 100 points

B. Three in-class oral presentations (2 x 25@, 1 x 50) 100

C. Journal of brief (1-2 pages) "reaction" papers (6 x 25@) 150

D. Mid-term examination 100

E. Term research paper or project 100

F. Final examination 200

TOTAL POINTS: 750 points

III. READING ASSIGNMENTS: Readings are to be done before the designated class periods.  Notes should be taken on each reading to insure active, informed participation in class discussion.

TEXTS:

Dante, Vita Nuova (New Life)

Bondanella & Musa, eds., The Italian Renaissance Reader (IRR)

Cassirer, et al, The Renaissance Philosophy of Man (RPM)

Boccaccio, Decameron

King & Rabil, Her Immaculate Hand: Selected Works by and about Women Humanists of Quattrocento Italy

Stortoni & Lillie, Women Poets of the Italian Renaissance: Courtly Ladies & Courtesans

Marco Polo, The Travels of Marco Polo

Photocopy packet: 1. Dante, selections from De monarchia and epistles

2. Lorenzo De' Medici, selected poems and prose

3. Ludovico Ariosto, selections from Orlando Furioso

4. S. Matteo, article: "Marco Polo on the Road to Hollywood"

Jan. 13 Introduction to course

15 Dante, Vita nuova, Intro. & chapters I-XVII, pp. vii-32

20 Dante, Vita nuova, XVIII-XLII, pp. 33-84; Journal A-1

22 Dante, selections De monarchia and from Epistles (photocopies)

27 Petrarch, letters & poems from Canzoniere, IRR pp. 1-35; Journal B-1

29 Petrarch, " " 35-54

Feb. 3 Petrarch, essays, RPM pp. 34-46, 52-56, 65-79; Journal A-2

5 Petrarch, " 91-143; Library Workshop

10 Boccaccio, Decameron, Pref.; Intro.; Day I, 1-3 (pp. 1-38); Journal B-2

12 Boccaccio, " Day II, 4-7 (pp. 81-126) PROJECT PROPOSAL

17 M/T Switch, no class

19 Boccaccio, Decameron, III, 1-2, 10 (pp. 162-175, 235-239); IV, Intro., 1, 5 (pp.244-258, 278-281); V, 8-9 (pp. 358-369); VI, 3-5, 7, 10 (pp. 387-393, 396-398, 402-409); Journal A-3

24 Boccaccio, Decameron, VII, 2, 9-10 (pp. 421-425, 458-470); VIII, 3, 6, 8 (pp. 483-490, 498-504, 525- 529); IX, 3, 6 (pp. 566-570, 581-585); Journal B-3

26 Boccaccio, Decameron, X, 3-4, 9-10, Conclusion (pp. 610-622, 656-689)

Mar. 3 Mid-term exam

5 Valla, "Dialogue on Free Will," RPM pp. 155-182; PROJECT REPORT

SPRING BREAK Mar. 7-15

17 Pico, "Oration on the Dignity of Man," RPM pp. 223-254; Journal A-4

19 Ficino, "Five Questions Concerning the Mind, RPM pp. 193-212; Alberti, from "Book of the Family," & Leonardo Da Vinci, from "Notebooks," IRR pp. 166-167, 187-196

24 "Women in the Public Arena," Her Immaculate Hand pp. 33-50; Journal B-4

26 "Women on Women and Learning, " " 53-88

31 Lorenzo, poems (photocopies); Journal A-5

Apr. 2 Ariosto, selections from Orlando Furioso (photocopies);

7 Machiavelli, from The Prince, IRR pp. 260-297; Journal B-5

9 " , Mandragola

14 Women Poets, Intro. - p. 79; Journal A-6

16 " " pp. 81-167; TERM PROJECT

21 " " pp. 169-249; Journal B-6

23 Castiglione, from Book of the Courtier, IRR pp. 197-251

28 Marco Polo, from The Travels, Prologue pp. 33-45, "The Road to Cathay" pp. 92-112; "Kubilai Khan" pp. 113-131, 147-162; Make-up journal entry

30 Marco Polo, "From Peking to Amoy" pp. 194-229; "Northern Regions" pp. 329-343; Matteo article

FINAL EXAM: Monday, May 4, 9:45 AM

IV. GUIDELINES FOR WRITTEN AND ORAL ASSIGNMENTS

JOURNAL GUIDELINES: c. 300-500 words--1-2 pages--double spaced or with wide margins for comments, DUE ALTERNATE TUESDAYS. These should be "thought" or "reaction" essays rather than research reports. You do not have to read other sources, but rather should rely on your own analysis and interpretation of a specific passage from the reading assigned for that week. Choose a specific passage or paragraph from a prose text, a short lyric poem or one stanza or limited number of verses from a poem, and explicate the passage in your own terms. Pay attention to the literal as well as the allegorical meaning(s), and to stylistic as well as narrative aspects.

The important thing is to work from the particular to the general--focus your attention on a concrete, well defined part of the reading, and by close analysis and interpretation suggest how it contributes to the more general meaning of the text as a whole. Your explication should consist of three sequential steps, with each subsequent step following logically and coherently from the previous one:

1) a description of the literary devices and rhetorical strategies used (e.g. similes, metaphors, alliteration, rhyme scheme, imagery, allusions, etc.);

2) an analysis of the effects produced by these devices, i.e. the reaction elicited from the reader: What does it make you think of? How does it make you feel? What kind of response does it evoke from you?;

3) an interpretation of the general meaning of the work: What kind of ideological statement is it making about the human condition? What is the text telling us about ourselves, life, the world, nature, etc.?

Keep your essays together in a folder and submit the entire folder each time you turn in an entry so that I can gauge the progress of your analytical skills (and the correction of grammatical mistakes).

TERM PROJECT GUIDELINES: This might take the form of a traditional research paper (10-12 pages, double-spaced, plus notes and a bibliography); or it might be a more creative project: a poem, a short story, a song--even a painting or sculpture. It might even be a group project involving several students: a play, a video production, performance art, etc.

NOTA BENE: In any case, each student (EVEN THOSE STUDENTS WHO DO A CREATIVE PROJECT!) will have to consult secondary sources and do an in-depth investigation of some aspect of one or more of the authors or texts studied in the course. The bibliography of consulted works should include at least 3 articles (or electronic data sources) and 3 books.

Topics of investigation might be thematic (e.g. the role of women in some of the texts; The Humanist's notion of civic duty; The notion of love in Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio; The notion of "sprezzatura" in Castiglione; etc.), stylistic (e.g. Dante's and Petrarch's versification; the architecture of the the Canzoniere or the Decameron; Machiavelli's use of colloquialisms; etc.); or socio-historical (e.g. Dante's vs. Machiavelli's politics; the idea of empire vs. republic; the literary texts' relation to the other arts of the period(s); Literature and the Catholic Church; Islam and the Crusades in Italian and European culture in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance; etc.). It's important that the topic be of genuine interest to you.

The projects will be developed in stages according to the following schedule:

Fifth week (Feb. 12): Proposal: a preliminary title and brief, one-paragraph description of the topic as well as an initial bibliography (at least 3 articles and 3 books, not including the class texts--a computer data base, such as the Dartmouth Dante Project, may be substituted for an article).

Eighth week (Mar. 5): Project report: a status report on your project in paragraph or outline form, indicating the points you will cover and the organization of your argument or presentation, and an updated and annotated bibliography (briefly stating in one or two sentences what each article or book is about and how it relates to your topic).

Thirteenth week (Apr. 16): Completed draft: Hand in a draft of the completed project, including notes and your definitive bibliography. I will assign a provisional grade. If the draft is satisfactory and the grade is acceptable to you, you will be done. Otherwise, you will have a chance to revise it before the end of the semester.

If you choose to do a creative project (poem, video, etc.) or a group project, each of you must provide as an appendix a bibliography and a brief account of your research (what works you consulted, what ideas or information you got out of them, and how they contributed to your project).

Remember: all projects, even the creative ones, must be based on research (consultation of secondary sources) and must be accompanied by a bibliography!

ORAL PRESENTATIONS: 1) Textual explication: choose a particularly striking passage from the day's reading and explain how and why it is significant and what it means. Limit: 10 minutes. Sign up for two of the following dates (one speaker per date):

Jan. 20 Dante _________________ 22 Dante ___________________

27 Petrarch _________________ 29 Petrarch ___________________

Feb. 3 Petrarch ________________ 5 Petrarch __________________

10 Boccaccio ________________ 12 Boccaccio __________________

17 M/T switch, no class 19 Boccaccio ___________________

24 Boccaccio ________________ 26 Boccaccio ___________________

Mar. 3 Mid-term exam 5 Valla ____________________

17 Pico _____________________ 19 Ficino/Alberti/Leonardo Da Vinci ____________________

24 Women Humanists _________________ 26 Women Humanists ____________________

31 Lorenzo _________________ Apr. 2 Ariosto _____________________

Apr. 7 Machiavelli ______________ 9 Machiavelli _______________

2) Research account: provide a synopsis of your term project, highlighting the most interesting findings of your research and articulating the main thesis and conclusions of your project. Limit: 15 minutes: Sign up for one of the following dates (up to two speakers per date):

Apr. 14 _______________ _________________ 16 _________________ _________________

21 _______________ _________________ 23 _________________ _________________

28 _______________ _________________ 30 _________________ _________________