- Department: English and Related Literature
- Module co-ordinator: Dr. Kenneth Clarke
- Credit value: 30 credits
- Credit level: I
- Academic year of delivery: 2021-22
The Italian author Dante Alighieri is one of the most important figures in the history of European literature. His Divine Comedy has achieved a unique status as a classic of Western culture, and has inspired many important authors in English, from Chaucer down to Seamus Heaney.
In this module, we shall study the Comedy together, looking at its structure, how Dante makes his way through the three realms of the afterlife, Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, meeting a whole host of characters along the way, many of whom were well known to Dante and his contemporary readers. We shall concentrate on selected cantos in class, examining their particular contexts and characters, as well as listening to how the poem stylistically works in a range of registers. The poem will be studied in both English and Italian, and part of our class will be dedicated to the study of the basics of Italian grammar and vocabulary, allowing us to get close to Dante’s original text. No prior knowledge of Italian is required.
Major themes covered will be the use of the Florentine vernacular, the role of poetry, the idea of justice, the law, transgression, and what it means to live a good life in society.
Occurrence | Teaching period |
---|---|
A | Spring Term 2021-22 to Summer Term 2021-22 |
The aim of this module is to introduce you to the work of Dante, exploring in particular his great poem, the Divine Comedy, setting it into the context of some of his other writings, and understanding the overall structure and story of the poem. You will develop your close-reading skills, and acquire a good basic reading knowledge of Italian.
On successful completion of the module, you should be able to:
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Essay/coursework 2500 word Essay |
N/A | 70 |
Online Exam - 24 hrs (Centrally scheduled) Dante exam |
8 hours | 30 |
None
You will be given the opportunity to hand in a 1000 word formative essay in week 1 of the summer term. Material from this essay may be re-visited in your summative essay and it is therefore an early chance to work through material that might be used in assessed work.
This essay will be submitted in hard copy and your tutor will annotate it and return it two weeks later (usually in your week 3 seminar). Summary feedback will be uploaded to your eVision account.
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Essay/coursework 2500 word Essay |
N/A | 70 |
Online Exam - 24 hrs (Centrally scheduled) Dante exam |
8 hours | 30 |
Texts will be made available to you via the VLE twoards the start of the module and will include: