Liliana Segre, Giorgio Parisi and Oliver Sacks: what is needed for the traces of the argumentative theme at maturity

Liliana Segre, Giorgio Parisi and Oliver Sacks

Today, Wednesday 22 June, the final exam officially begins: around 520 thousand students will be involved throughout Italy in what is not only a verification of the knowledge acquired during the five years of high school but also a real rite of passage and initiation. And we start from the infamous first test, the composition of a so-called "theme" that is the same for all institutes of any address: after the absence for two years of the writings due to a pandemic, we start again with one of the most awaited tests and somehow feared.

For the first test, each student will have the possibility to choose one of the seven tracks which are divided into three different typologies: analysis and interpretation of the literary text (two tracks), analysis and production of an argumentative text (three tracks, one of which is historical), critical reflection of an expository-argumentative nature on topical issues (two tracks). "It is not so important that they demonstrate that they have studied, but that they know how to argue their point of view with an appropriate and responsible use of words," said education minister Patrizio Bianchi. Now that the topics of each track have been revealed, let's see what are the keywords to focus on in this first baccalaureate.

Maturity 2022, guide to the traces of the first test The high school exam yes opens with the classic "theme": here are the traces and some suggestions Literary text As we had anticipated, in the end it was Giovanni Pascoli and Giovanni Verga who were the protagonists of the analysis and interpretation of the literary text. The first has been assigned the poem La via ferrata, taken from the Myricae collection. While the novel Nedda was chosen from the second. We have talked about both texts in depth in this article.

Nedda and La via ferrata, the analyzes by Verga and Pascoli for the first test of maturity 2022 The authors were both in some way highly anticipated, because they were among the most studied in the fifth year of high school Argumentative text For the test of analysis and production of an argumentative text, on the other hand, an extract from the book The guilt of being born, by Senator Liliana Segre, the speech delivered in the Chamber by the Nobel Prize for physics Giorgio Parisi and an excerpt from the book Musicofilia, by the British psychologist, physician and author Oliver Sacks.

Giorgio Parisi's speech is the one delivered on 8 October 2021, before the United Chambers of the Italian Parliament. An intervention made on the occasion of the awarding of the Nobel Prize, but which the physicist used to underline the dangers of the climate crisis, the responsibilities and the inadequacy of the policies adopted by the various governments to address the environmental emergency, as well as the importance of science teaching from kindergarten and to ensure substantial research funding. Also in this case, we have dedicated an in-depth article to the topic.

For the historical context, the text on the racial laws, desired in Italy by the fascist government starting from 1938, written by the former magistrate Gherardo Colombo and life senator Liliana Segre, survivor of the Nazi-Fascist concentration camp of Auschwitz.

Liliana Segre was born in Milan in 1930, from a family of Jewish origin. At the age of 8 she was expelled from the elementary school she attended, due to the introduction of racial laws in Italy. While she was 14, on January 30, 1944, she was deported to the concentration camp of Auschwitz, after being arrested together with her family while they were trying to take refuge in Switzerland. After the war she was an exceptional witness to the horrors of the fascist racial laws in Italy and of the Nazi-fascist concentration camps. In 2018, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the racial laws, she was appointed senator for life by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, "for having illustrated the homeland with very high merits in the social field". Gherardo Colombo was born in Briosco, Lombardy, in 1946. Currently retired from service, he became famous for having conducted or contributed to famous investigations such as the discovery of Loggia P2, the Giorgio Ambrosoli crime, Clean Hands and the investigations on the clash between entrepreneurs Silvio Berlusconi and Carlo de Benedetti for the possession of the Arnoldo Mondadori publishing house.

The text, written jointly, exposes a profound reflection on hatred within society and on the role of the law of nature with respect to rule of law. It is a frank and passionate dialogue between Segre and Colombo, in which the two question the differences between justice and legality, through considerations and memories of the most dramatic moments in life under the fascist racial laws. Conceived with the aim of strengthening and institutionalizing a racial discrimination already strongly present in fascist ideology, the racial laws were established to directly affect people of Jewish origin and native populations of Africa, in particular Ethiopians and Eritreans, subjected to the fascist colonial rule. Furthermore, even if only starting from 1940, the racial laws also affected the Romani people, whose members are also known as Roma or Sinti.

Oliver Sacks, finally, was a British physician, chemist, psychologist, writer and academic, who mainly dealt with neurology. Born in London in 1933, he moved to New York after obtaining his medical degree, where, in addition to practicing, he became the author of numerous best sellers on people with neurological disorders.

In the book Musicofilia, published in 2007 and proposed for the first test of Italian, the author reflects on the relationships between the brain, the auditory system and emotions, questioning the power that music can exert on human beings. According to Sacks, Musicofiilia was written in an attempt to broaden the understanding of music and its effects on the brain by the general public. In detail, according to the description given by publisher Adelphi, the author notes how strange it is to observe "an entire species" made up of billions of people "listening to combinations of meaningless notes and playing with them". From this premise, Sacks underlines how "musicophilia" is present in human beings from early childhood and is transversal to all cultures.

Topical text The text on the consequences of coronavirus pandemic Why a Constitution of the earth, by the former magistrate Luigi Ferrajoli, and an extract from the book on communication at the time of social media Keep it on. Mail. Comment, share without turning off your brain, of linguists Vera Gheno and Bruno Mastroianni.

Born in 1940 in Florence, Luigi Ferrajoli is a jurist, former magistrate and university professor, a pupil of the great Italian political scientist Norberto Bobbio. During his career he produced the work "Principia iuris. Theory of law and democracy", a monumental work of almost 3,000 pages and divided into three volumes, respectively dedicated to the Theory of law, the Theory of democracy and the Syntax of law .

Ferrajoli's text proposed to high school candidates is a reflection on the causes and consequences of the coronavirus pandemic and a proposal for action to avoid falling back into a similar crisis again. In the text, the author explains how Covid-19 has affected mankind indiscriminately, bringing the economy to its knees, altering the lives of all peoples, and forcing humanity to rethink politics and the economy, both at institutional and theoretical level, and to reflect on past and future.

Vera Gheno, born in 1975, is an Italian linguist, researcher at the University of Firenzae. You mainly deal with digital communication, and with issues relating to sexism and inclusiveness in the Italian language. She is a supporter of the use of the letter schwa (-ǝ) in the written and oral Italian language, instead of the universal masculine (ie the use of the plural masculine for nouns indicating groups of people including at least one male). Born in 1979, Bruno Mastroianni is a philosopher, journalist, social media manager of Rai3 and Rai1 broadcasts. He deals with online discussions, conflict and crisis communication.

In the text Keep it on. Mail. Comment, share without turning off your brain, the two authors try to analyze a characteristic state of contemporaneity, that is hyperconnection. To do this, the two take into consideration not only the technical use of technological means, i.e. social networks, but also the importance of language and the rules to follow to modulate a communication that risks overflowing with bullying and hating.