Italian: Reading and Writing Workshop (A)

About ITAL 3110 A

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

Notes

Prerequisite ITAL 2200 or by instructor permission; PACE students with permission and override

Section 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.

Classrooms are places for the exploration of ideas, sometimes controversial or uncomfortable. In order to protect that exploration and to foster an environment where everyone feels free to participate, recording of class sessions (audio or video) is not permitted without my prior permission. If permission is granted, recordings are for personal, educational use only and may not be shared or posted online. Students who need recordings as part of an approved accommodation should contact Student Accessibility Services (A170 Living/Learning, (802) 656-7753).

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, 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.

GC2 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.

OC: Oral Communication
Oral communication refers to how speakers create and use messages to generate meanings across a wide variety of contexts and cultures. This includes the use of verbal and nonverbal communication practices. The oral communication general education requirement aims to enhance students’ ability to speak and listen effectively and ethically. Students will develop effective speaking skills, including crafting messages that are appropriately adapted to purpose, audience, context, and occasion. In addition, students will gain proficiency in information literacy, including understanding the ethical uses of information and how to find, use, evaluate, and appropriately cite relevant, reliable, and useful information. In addition, students will gain proficiency in practices of effective listening and the critical analysis of oral presentation. Furthermore, competency in oral communication will demonstrate students’ abilities to understand and synthesize theories of human communication and how to utilize and apply these theories to crafting effective speaking and listening practices. Courses in this category provide students with an understanding of the form, content, effectiveness, and ethical dimensions of verbal and nonverbal communication; they are not required to be delivered in English.

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.

Section Expectation

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.
AI: Chat GPT is a wonderful instrument to help you practice Italian and I encourage you to use it as further grammatical explanations, if needed. However, for reasons that should be obvious but that I am happy to discuss with you, nothing that receives a grade in this class may be completed with the help of AI in any form. This is a developing policy as we all figure out the costs and benefits of this new technology.
Technology: In ITAL 3110, the use of phones, tablets, and laptops is prohibited, unless students provide an official excuse to this rule by the Dean’s office of their college.

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.
Class participation and Homework: 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 is due on the day indicated on the syllabus; homework consists of doing the readings carefully, answering in writing the questions on the readings listed in the syllabus, and composing the assigned essays. The homework for each class meeting is not collected, though it is gone over in class and counts as part of your class participation grade.
At the end of February, March, and April, you will receive a grade on your class participation.
The last two will be averaged into the grade for the calculation of your final grade in this course.
Unlike the October and December ones, the September grade is only meant to help you figure out
whether some change in your class participation is necessary. Feel free to come talk to me about it.
Papers: Each student will hand in 5 essays (500) on an assigned date (see Course Schedule). Topics and/or questions will become available on Brightspace (under Announcements) one week in advance and will be dealing with material discussed in class. Each essay will undergo two separate drafts. You will be graded on the first draft (30%) and the second (70%: based on addressing all the issues I raised on the first draft). 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 of each essay. Submit your essays by email after you save your Word document in the following way: Student’s last name S26 ITAL 3110A Saggio 1 Stesura Preliminare (o Saggio 1 Stesura Finale).
Presentation: With a classmate, you’ll present for 15-20 minutes on a topic of your choice related to a theme discussed in class. Prior to your class presentation (see Course Schedule), you and your partner need to submit the title and the outline (see Course Schedule).
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.

Evaluation

Grading Policy:
Class participation 30%
5 Saggi 40%
Presentation 15%
Final paper 15%

Important Dates

Courses may be cancelled due to low enrollment. Show your interest by enrolling.

Resources

• Parking
• PACE Course Pricing
• Textbooks