Decameron Web

• The Project
• Boccaccio
• Texts
• Brigata
• Plague
• Literature
• History
• Society
• Religion
• Arts
• Maps
• Themes/Motifs
• Bibliography
• Pedagogy
• Syllabus

• Main
• The Project
• Syllabus

Syllabus

Electronic Syllabus Academic Year 2010-11 Italian 1020: Boccaccio's Decameron Class meetings: Monday 3:00-5:20 (190 Hope Street, room 203) Prof. Massimo Riva Room 202, 190 Hope St. Tel. 863-3984/1561 e-mail: Massimo_Riva@brown.edu

WEEKLY SYLLABUS

Week 1: January 31, 2011

• Introduction to the Course: Overview of the Decameron Web. How to use the electronic syllabus. Role Play. The Reader's Guide suggested articles in English and Italian; sources on Reserve.

Week 2: February 7

• Boccaccio's Life and Works.
• The Author's Proem: Dante, Boccaccio,Ovid and the therapy of storytelling.
• First Day: The Author's Introduction. The Plague.  The Brigata and the Frame.  Numerology and narrative structure.
• Brigata roles assignement. Additional links and topics: Merchants, preachers and the origins of the novella.

Week 3: February 14

• First Day (under the rule of Pampinea). Religion and the clergy, Wit and clever remarks.
• Written assignment: review of the first novella told by your narrator.

Week 4: February 21 NO CLASS - LONG WEEKEND

Week 5: February 28

• Second Day (under the rule of Filomena). Jesters and popular culture in the Middle Ages.
• The Wheel of Fortune. Fortuna as topic.
• The World of the Decameron. Searching the electronic text.
• Written assignment: review of the second novella told by your narrator.

Week 6: March 7

• Third Day (under the rule of Neifile ). The Garden of Desire. Amore as a topic. Nature as Morality. Sexual desire.
• Written assignment: review of the third novella told by your narrator.

Week 7: March 14

• Fourth Day (under the rule of Filostrato). Love relics: Ghismonda's heart and Lisabetta's head.  Disguising gender: Lisetta's angel.
• Intro. to Motif Index Code. Historical Characters refashioned.
• Written assignment: review of the fourth novella told by your narrator.

Week 8: March 21

• Fifth Day (under the rule of Fiammetta). Visualizing the Decameron (Nastagio and Botticelli: Cassoni Paintings).
• Written assignment: review of the fifth novella told by your narrator.

Week 9: March 28 Spring Break

Week 10: April 4

• Sixth Day (under the rule of Elissa). Cult of Saints and Relics. In the Valley of Women.
• Seventh Day (under the rule of Dioneo). Who rules the domestic space?
• Written assignments: review of the sixth and seventh novellas told by your narrator.
• Draft proposal for final project (1-2 paragraphs on topic itself, structural breakdown, ideas for links, short bibliography).

Week 11: April 11

• Eighth Day (under the rule of Lauretta). Florentine lore: the Calandrino's cycle. Magic in the Middle Ages.
• Pier Paolo Pasolini's Decameron.
• Written assignment: review of the eighth novella told by your narrator.

Week 12: April 18

• Ninth Day (under the rule of Emilia).
• Written assignment: review of the ninth novella told by your narrator.

Week 13: April 25

• Tenth Day (under the rule of Panfilo).
• Written assignment: review of the tenth novella told by your narrator.

Week 14: May 2

• The Author's Epilogue.
• Final discussion and course evaluations.

Week 15: May 9

• Presentation and discussion of final projects.

Deadline for completion of all final projects: May 16

The Project

• About the Project
• Who Created the Decameron Web?
• Advisory Board
• Contributors
• Editorial Board
• Electronic Syllabus
• Related Links

The Decameron Web is a project of the Italian Studies Department's Virtual Humanities Lab at Brown University. Page last updated: March 07, 2011