Italian: Reading and Writing Workshop

Improvement of reading and writing skills through the analysis and discussion of increasingly complex texts -- literary, filmic, cultural. Prerequisite: ITAL 2200 or equivalent.

Prerequisite ITAL 2200 or by instructor permission

ITAL 3110 Reading & Writing Workshop – 3 credits Paolo Pucci ppucci@uvm.edu 512 Waterman Building Office Hrs: By appointment in Waterman 512 or on Teams Meeting Days, Times and Class location: Course Description: Italian 3110 is a course normally taken after the 51-52 intermediate Italian sequence; more advanced students who have not yet taken this course are welcome to do so. Like all of the advanced Italian courses at UVM, the composition of the class is diverse in skills and backgrounds. Although this diversity may initially make some students uncomfortable, the amount of previous time spent in Italian courses has little to do with anyone's learning effectiveness and final grade. Rather, it is effort and interest in this course, combined with one's past efforts in previous Italian courses, that determine your success in this class. The University of Vermont respects the Department of Education’s definition of a credit hour: for every hour spent in a classroom, a student is expected to complete approximately 2 hours of coursework outside of it. Thus, in ITAL 3110, a 3-credit course, a student should expect to work at least 6 hours a week outside of the classroom. GC2 (= Developing Global Citizens) courses develop skills necessary to participate effectively as a citizen in local communities and the world at large. To be effective and responsible members of a diverse and interconnected global community, students need to be able to communicate across cultural boundaries, to think deeply and creatively about shared responsibilities and injustices, and to collaboratively effect change. The courses in this pathway are therefore designed to impart at least one of the following core skills: language proficiency, ethical reasoning, and civic engagement. Course objectives: Through at-home readings, at-home writing assignments (single-draft as well as multiple-draft), in-class discussion, and in-class conversation, grammar review, pronunciation, and vocabulary practice, the following objectives will be achieved: - Read easily and with enjoyment contemporary fictional/ non-fictional works of in Italian with minimal external help; - Identify the main themes of a text and make reasonable assertions about their meaning; - Recognize and interpret images and symbols to infer their relationship to the main themes of the text; - Write short personal texts and analytical essays on previously discussed texts in Italian with minimal grammatical mistakes; - Have an improved speaking ability in everyday Italian; - Demonstrate an improved command of target-language grammar. Course Materials: Trame. A Contemporary Italian Reader. Ed. by Cristina Abbona-Snyder, Antonello Borra, and Cristina Pausini. New Haven and London: Yale University, 2010. Each student is required to bring to class his/her own copy of the textbook. Grading Policy: Class participation 15% Homework 30% 5 Essays 40% Final paper 15% REQUIREMENTS Class participation: Your active participation for this course is essential and based on the completion of the homework assigned for almost every class meeting. You are expected to come to class having prepared the homework assignments (to be found on Brightspace) and to take an active part in the activities and exercises suggested. PLEASE, always check Brightspace two days before our next class meeting for the most updated homework assignments (after 4pm). You are responsible for missed work and handing in late assignments. Homework: A few times during the semester, I will collect the homework assignments. Which ones? It will be announced on the same day of the collection! Therefore, always print (or have it available on your laptop) and bring to class your homework assignments. The grade you will receive on it will contribute to your HW final grade. Absences: Absences must be avoided, as they will adversely affect the final grade. For anything serious, you should contact your Dean's Office: they will then inform me about the seriousness of your absence. The same is true of medical emergencies. Tardiness: I expect everyone to be in class on time: tardiness disrupts the entire class and will result in a lower grade. All written assignments (homework, essays, and final paper) must be in Times Roman 12, double spaced, and 1” each margin. You will need to use Microsoft Word to type your assignments. Papers: Each student will hand in 5 essays (500) on an assigned date (see Course Schedule). It will undergo two separate drafts. You will be graded on the first draft, but you will have the possibility of improving your grade through a careful rewrite of your work. Both grades will count towards your final evaluation. It is your responsibility to check the spelling and the grammar of your text before handing in the first draft. Final paper: Each student will answer a few questions in a 650 word paper. You may choose between writing a cohesive essay or answering the questions in single paragraphs.