I'm running about a day behind schedule on the syllabus, and by now, I'm sure, this e-mail is too long, so I'll be brief. The two meetings this week were concerned with (1) the continuation and conclusion of our discussions of the Italian political crisis and its resolution, (2) the introduction of the "Matteo Voto" clip, the grammatical issue of when to use the passato prossimo and when to use the imperfect and the visit and discussion of the "Chi l'ha visto" Internet site maintained by RAI and (3) the beginning of student discussion of the clips which they have selected for translation, transcription and discussion for their final projects. I'll briefly expand upon each of these points.
The discussion of the Italian governmental crisis continued and concluded with the discussion of brief articles from Corriere della Sera, Repubblica and Manifesto. The political cartoons of Vauro from the Manifesto were also useful for our discussions. The students are still engaged in compiling a collective "piccolo lessico politico" which will be revised and refined in the coming days. The political expediency of Massimo D'Alema's extending an olive branch to Berlusconi and il Polo in order to prepare the way for negotiations concerning the electoral reforms was not lost upon the students.
The video courseware unit developed around "Matteo Voto" from the television series "Chi l'ha visto" is ideally suited for illustrating the use of the passato prossimo and imperfect and also for developing vocabulary and rhetorical strategies for the description of persons. We spent some time listening to the clip and discussing the case of Matteo Voto but then quickly turned to the RAI "Chi l'ha visto" site, which represents a rich and extensive source. I've asked the students to choose one of the missing persons from the "Chi l'ha visto" site and to translate a page of information concerning that missing person into English. I've also asked the students to write a composition in which they invent a fictional, missing person using characteristics of people from the "Chi l'ha visto" site. They are to use the vocabulary from our site and from the "Chi l'ha visto" site to compose such a composition. Next week I'll ask them to develop a narration or a fictional account of the circumstances leading to the disappearance of their fictional character, utilizing both the passato prossimo and the imperfetto in an appropriate manner.
Finally, the students have begun to show in class the clips that they have selected from the video archive (the video archive is located at the top of the OK Computer syllabus). One student has selected a series of Mulino Bianco advertisements focused around famous Italian cities. We began to discuss in a preliminary way the way which students can interpret advertising campaigns of this kind from a cultural perspective. In fact, besides transcriptions and translations, I will ask the students to provide some cultural commentary interpreting the clips that they select. Another student has selected an old RAI clip of a performance of Roberto Benigni's. Coincidentally, Benigni had just appeared on the David Letterman show, and several students were aware of the recent premiere of his film "La vita e' bella" in New York. This student will write up as a composition in connection with her transcription and translation of this clip a brief presentation of Benigni and his career. In the coming days, the other students will present briefly the clips they plan to develop in their final projects.