HSC Italian Extension flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Passato remoto function

The tense of completed narrative events distant from the speaker, standard in literary narration. Example: 'Partì nel 1943 e non tornò mai più.' It advances plot rather than describing background.

Imperfetto in narrative

The imperfect describes habitual actions, ongoing background states, and physical or psychological description in the past. It sets the scene while the passato remoto moves the action forward.

io narrante

A first-person narrator who participates in the story as a character. Their knowledge is limited to what they witness, so their account may be partial or unreliable.

narratore onnisciente

A third-person narrator who knows characters' thoughts, pasts and futures. This voice can move between locations and minds, creating authority and broad perspective.

Quotation integration

Introduce a short quotation, then comment on its effect. Formula: brief phrase in quotation marks, colon, then analysis of word choice, imagery or syntax.

Similitudine

A comparison using 'come', 'simile a' or 'paragonabile a'. It explicitly links two things while keeping them distinct, unlike a metaphor which fuses them.

Metafora

A figure substituting one thing for another without a comparative marker. It transfers meaning by implied resemblance, as in 'il mare di cemento' for a city.

Personificazione

Attributing human qualities, actions or speech to non-human entities such as objects, nature or abstract ideas. It often carries emotional or symbolic weight in poetry.

Allitterazione

Repetition of the same consonant sound across nearby words, producing rhythmic or emphatic effect. It is a sound device, not a grammatical pattern.

Denotazione e connotazione

Denotation is a word's literal referent; connotation is its cultural or emotional charge. 'Casa' denotes a dwelling but connotes warmth, family and belonging.

Paratassi e ipotassi

Parataxis coordinates short clauses without subordination, creating speed or plainness. Hypotaxis builds subordinate clauses into long periods, producing reflection, formality or slowness.

Ironia testuale

A gap between stated and intended meaning, often signalled by hyperbole, understatement or contradiction with context. The reader must infer the author's real attitude.

Register markers in Italian

Formal register uses 'Lei' with third-person verb forms and subjunctive, plus elevated lexis. Informal register uses 'tu', colloquial vocabulary and shortened syntax.

Thesis statement rule

A critical response opens with a contestable claim about the text, not a summary. The claim must be supportable by specific evidence and revisited in the conclusion.

Anchored personal response

Personal evaluation must cite specific textual evidence. 'I found the ending unsettling because the final sentence withholds the character's name' is anchored; bare preference is not.

Author, narrator, character

Three distinct entities: the real writer, the constructed voice telling the story, and the person acting within it. Conflating them produces unsupported claims about intention.

Counter-reading requirement

A strong analysis acknowledges an alternative interpretation, presents its evidence, then explains why the preferred reading remains stronger. This demonstrates critical control.

Hedged interpretation

Use 'suggests', 'may be read as', 'arguably' when evidence permits multiple readings. Absolute claims about authorial intention exceed what textual evidence can support.

Neorealismo

A post-1945 Italian movement in film and fiction using documentary-style realism to address war, resistance, poverty and social injustice, often with non-professional actors and regional settings.

Verismo

A late nineteenth-century Italian literary movement applying detached, naturalist observation to southern and Sicilian life. Verga is its central figure; impersonality and dialect influence define it.

Unification of Italy

Achieved in 1861, with Rome added in 1870. Standard Italian remained largely literary until schooling, military service and broadcasting spread it in the twentieth century.

Regional languages status

Dialects such as napoletano, siciliano, veneto and sardo are independent linguistic systems with their own grammar and literature, not corrupted versions of standard Italian.

Italian emigration waves

Mass emigration from the late nineteenth century to the Americas, then post-1945 internal migration from the Mezzogiorno to northern industrial centres such as Turin and Milan.

tu, Lei, voi

Italian address pronouns encoding social distance: 'tu' for intimates and peers, 'Lei' for formal respect with third-person verbs, 'voi' historically formal and still regional.

campanilismo

Strong loyalty to one's own town and its traditions, from 'campanile' (bell tower). It expresses intense local identity that can coexist with or rival national belonging.

Congiuntivo triggers

Conjunctions such as 'benché', 'sebbene', 'purché', 'affinché', 'prima che', and verbs of opinion, doubt or emotion, require the subjunctive rather than the indicative.

Congiuntivo present forms

Singular forms: che io sia, che tu sia, che egli sia; che io abbia; che io vada; che io faccia. First-conjugation verbs shift from -a to -i: che parli.

Participle agreement with pronouns

A past participle agrees with a preceding direct object pronoun: 'Li ho visti', 'Le ho scritte'. It does not agree with indirect object pronouns such as 'gli'.

Accento distintivo

Accent marks distinguish homographs: 'e' (and) versus 'è' (is); 'ne' (of it) versus 'né' (neither); 'si' (oneself) versus 'sì' (yes).

Periodo ipotetico dell'irrealtà

Unreal conditions pair congiuntivo trapassato with condizionale passato: 'Se avessi studiato, avrei superato l'esame.' It describes a past that did not happen.

Cohesive devices for range

Connectives such as 'pertanto', 'tuttavia', 'd'altronde', 'inoltre', 'di conseguenza', 'in tal senso' raise textual range. Vary them instead of repeating 'ma' and 'però'.

False friends in Italian

Words resembling English but differing in meaning: 'attualmente' means currently, 'eventualmente' means possibly, 'parente' means relative, 'morbido' means soft.