The material developed for Italian 102 is mainly centered on a TPRS adaptation of one of the most important novels of the Italian literature: I promessi sposi, entitled The Betrothed in the English version.
I choose I promessi sposi, written in the 1800s by Alessandro Manzoni for many reasons. It is the first and the most famous Italian novel; it is a mandatory reading for all Italian high school students, no matter the type of high school in which they chose to enroll; it is a love story that could take place at any time in history; the synopsis is not complex but yet interesting for all ages (compelling, I hope); it is filled with historical and cultural references; the story is copyright free because the author died in 1873. Moreover, approaching a “sacred monster” as Italians would say, of the our literature, students might be able to find a connection and spark the intellectual curiosity to keep reading the integral work, either in English or Italian.
You can also access the audio files that you can listen to when reading: AUDIO FILES 102 here.
You are welcome to make copies of the stories, use all or part of them, make changes. But please, use the blog page to leave a link to the modified version you used and also some comments on the reason of the changes.