Department of Italian

Paper IT C2

Essay in Italian

Download the 2005 exam paper
Download the 2006 exam paper
Download the 2007 exam paper
Download the 2008 exam paper
Download the 2009 exam paper
Download the 2010 exam paper

Exam papers which have been set since 2010 can be downloaded from CamTools, but please note that the format of this paper is changing for TRIPOS 2013. See this page for details and this link for a specimen paper.

In your Part II essay you will be required to write in Italian on a theme relating to one of your Part II scheduled papers (including the linguistics papers and comparative papers). The examiners will be looking for grammatical and syntactical accuracy, the presentation of an accurate and sophisticated argument, fluency, and a sensitivity to register (the gap between what is appropriate in speech and what is appropriate in writing is notoriously greater in Italian than in English).

Departmental Teaching for the Language Essay takes the form of 4 classes (in the Michaelmas term), conducted by Dr Natali, in which he will both explain the strategies and give practical help by discussing and analysing good models, written by Italians, and by appraising and rephrasing specimen essays written by your predecessors.

However, the only way to learn how to write good essays in Italian is to write them regularly and often, and to submit your own efforts to sympathetic criticism and recasting. In other words the most important part of the course will be the supervisions you take with Dr Natali (and other experienced native speakers teaching for the Department)

Ideally, you should aim to write six essays in the course of the year - at least one in the Michaelmas term, two or three in both the Lent and Easter terms.

Your most successful predecessors have come to an arrangement with their supervisors for one or more of the scheduled papers by which they write alternate essays in English and Italian. The content of the Italian essays is deepened and refined with the aid of the relevant specialist; the form and language are honed and polished with the aid of Dr Natali. No matter how you organise your year's work, you must practice essay writing steadily. So, as they say in Newcastle, 'Be told!' and do not let things slide. You cannot master the art of the Italian Essay in a last frantic rush.