Learning objectives
Objectives of the course (preferably expressed in terms of learning outcomes and competences): The course sets out to provide students with the knowledge and cultural bearings necessary to historically situate De Amicis’s most well-known work and to make it the subject of an objective pedagogical evaluation, untainted by the distorting lens of ideology. The comparison (in terms of language, content and messages conveyed) with the writing methods of some of the most representative contemporary authors aims – in addition to providing a more accurate knowledge of current children’s literature – to provide students with the ability to evaluate and select, as well as to hone their human, pedagogical, psychological and social sensibilities: attributes which come together in the mature professionalism of the teacher and librarian and which are in any case essential for anyone who is or will be entrusted with educational duties and responsibilities of any kind.
Prerequisites
CHILDREN’S AND ADOLESCENT LITERATURE - MODULE A <br />
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Students must have taken the exam in Children’s and Adolescent Literature, Module A. <br />
Course unit content
Course contents: The course will focus on Cuore by E. De Amicis (tracing the history of criticism of the work) and on the work of a contemporary children’s writer, Marino Cassini, reading and commenting upon a number of passages from his most significant novels, comparing their themes, style, language and value messages with those of De Amicis’s masterpiece.
Full programme
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Bibliography
<p>Recommended readings: <br />
Exam texts: <br />
Cuore, Edmondo De Amicis, in any unabridged edition. <br />
A. Nobile, Cuore in 120 anni di critica deamicisiana, Aracne, Rome, 2009. <br />
A. Nobile (edited by), Marino Cassini scrittore per ragazzi, currently being published. </p>
<p>One of the following books of the student’s choice :<br />
M. Cassini, Il tesoro del medico di Toledo, Mursia, 1969 <br />
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M. Cassini, Oltre i confini della realtà, tra misteri e fantasmi, Bibliography Edition, 1999 <br />
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M. Cassini, I ricordi di Cirò, Il Grappolo, 2000 <br />
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M. Cassini, Risate lunghe. Racconti umoristici, Campanotto, 2004 <br />
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M. Cassini, All'alba canterò, Le Mani, 2008. <br />
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Teaching methods
12. Teaching methods: Oral lecture <br />
13. Assessment methods: Oral exam <br />
Description of teaching and assessment methods: The course will consist of classroom lectures and seminar-based moments during which passages, motifs and characters of Cuore will be discussed and appraised, subsequently moving on to a comparison with Mario Cassini’s books for children, from an ethical, content and values perspective as well as an aesthetic, literary and linguistic one, also incorporating the aspect of comprehension. During the guided visit to the Children’s Book Fair in Bologna students will survey and subsequently discuss developments in publishing for children and adolescents. The course will include short translations and subsequent joint discussion of a number of pieces concerning essential issues in children’s literature taken from essays by foreign scholars. <br />
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The exam will take the form of an interview, the purpose of which is to assess both students’ critical knowledge of Cuore and the work of the writer Marino Cassini and the narrative genres in which he has successfully established himself, as well as students’ pedagogical, psychological and aesthetic/literary capacity to critically evaluate past and present narrative for growing readers and its potential effects on their developing personality. To this end students may freely conduct empirical surveys among representative samples of children and/or adolescents. This exam too will assess students’ argumentative rigour, expository ability and language appropriateness. <br />
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Assessment methods and criteria
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Other information
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