This course analyses Charles Kingsley’s Water-Babies (1863) and compares it to Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), Christina Rossetti's 'Goblin Market' (1862) and Speaking Likenesses (1874), and George MacDonald's Princess and the Goblin (1872)  as works of Mid-Victorian fantasy. The course aims at providing students with a firm understanding of the literary, religious and cultural scene of the mid-Victorian Period. During the course students will acquire the necessary linguistic and critical tools to analyze works of literature, discuss literary works using the correct terminology, and be encouraged to make autonomous judgments.

1 - Victorian Fantasy - an introduction

2 - Charles Kingsley, The Water-Babies

3 - Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

4 - Christina Rossetti, 'Goblin Market'

5 - Christina Rossetti, Speaking Likenesses

6 - George MacDonald, The Princess and the Goblin

- Knowledge and understanding: students will acquire a good understanding of the essential social-historical and social-cultural factors underpinning the period of study, and will be able to approach English literary studies with the appropriate critical instruments and methods.  

- Applying knowledge and understanding: students will have the linguistic, cultural and critical abilities to describe and analyse English Literature.

- Making judgements: students will acquire the critical ability to judge and evaluate literary texts and will be able to express autonomous opinions on social-literary subjects of different historical periods. 

- Communication skills: students will be trained to have an open and unprejudiced attitude to different realities and periods and express themselves in appropriate language.

- Learning skills: students will possess the necessary methodological skills, the critical abilities, bibliographical knowledge and research skills to continue their studies in the field.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Students are invited to visit my page on Blended Learning Uniurb for further study materials. Use of audiovisual aids is an integral part of the programme. The course will be held in English.  

Teaching

Lectures. During classes students will be asked to present their own reading of some passages.

Innovative teaching methods

Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) 

Course books

• Charles Kingsley, The Water-Babies (Oxford, 2014 ISBN 978-0199685455)
• Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland  (Oxford 2009 ISBN 9780199558292)
• Christina Rossetti, 'Goblin Market' (https://archive.org/details/goblinmarketand00rossgoog)
• Christina Rossetti, Speaking Likenesses (https://archive.org/details/speakinglikeness00ross)
• George MacDonald, The Princess and the Goblin (reccommended edition: Broadview Press: ISBN-13 : ‎ 978-1554810079)
• Kate L. Turabian, Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams & Joseph Bizup, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Ninth Edition: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers (Paperback, 9th edition - Chicago, 2018 - ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0226430577)

Secondary literature will be indicated on Moodle Blended Learning at the beginning of the course.

Assessment

Written exam in English. Students are asked to comment on two of three given passages taken from the works of Kingsley, Carroll, MacDonald, or Rossetti and should explain their importance in the authors' oeuvre and/or what they reveal about the mid-Victorian spirit of the age. Students may refer to movie interpretations or illustrations where possible, or compare the given texts with passages in the other novels or poems on the reading list. Expected total length is about 400 words (200 words per question); allowed time is 50 minutes; printed versions of the texts on the programme only can be brought to the exam.

The exam must be written in English, and will be assessed on proper use of language, formal presentation (use of Chicago Style), adequate use of published criticism and research, and relevance and completeness of argument.

The final mark is made up of 10% for use of language, 10% for proper use of Chicago Style, 20% for use of sources, and 60% for relevance and completeness of argument.

The programme above is valid only till January/February 2025.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

self study: non-attending students are expected to check out criticism and historical and cultural contexts on the internet. They are also invited to visit my page on Blended Learning Uniurb for further study materials. 

Course books

• Charles Kingsley, The Water-Babies (Oxford, 2014 ISBN 978-0199685455)
• Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland  (Oxford 2009 ISBN 9780199558292)
• Christina Rossetti, 'Goblin Market' (https://archive.org/details/goblinmarketand00rossgoog)
• Christina Rossetti, Speaking Likenesses (https://archive.org/details/speakinglikeness00ross)
• George MacDonald, The Princess and the Goblin (reccommended edition: Broadview Press: ISBN-13 : ‎ 978-1554810079)
• Kate L. Turabian, Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams & Joseph Bizup, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Ninth Edition: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers (Paperback, 9th edition - Chicago, 2018 - ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0226430577)

Secondary literature will be indicated on Moodle Blended Learning at the beginning of the course

Assessment

Written exam in English. Students are asked to comment on two of three given passages taken from the works of Kingsley, Carroll, MacDonald, or Rossetti and should explain their importance in the authors' oeuvre and/or what they reveal about the mid-Victorian spirit of the age. Students may refer to movie interpretations or illustrations where possible, or compare the given texts with passages in the other novels or poems on the reading list. Expected total length is about 400 words (200 words per question); allowed time is 50 minutes; printed versions of the texts on the programme only can be brought to the exam.

The exam must be written in English, and will be assessed on proper use of language, formal presentation (use of Chicago Style), adequate use of published criticism and research, and relevance and completeness of argument.

The final mark is made up of 10% for use of language, 10% for proper use of Chicago Style, 20% for use of sources, and 60% for relevance and completeness of argument.

The programme above is valid only till January/February 2025.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

The course will be taught entirely in English. The final exam and the bibliography are in English.