THE The packages have been opened and it’s official: the state exam topics are finally on the desks. The final exam has begun and the students are already dealing with the tracks chosen by the Ministry for the first test, the Italian writing. This year’s choices unite the nostalgic poetry of Cesare Pavesewith the famous lines of «I will pass through Piazza di Spagna», to the intimate prose of Vitaliano Brancati’s secret diarytaken from the work «The pleasures». Alongside literature, the gaze broadens to history with speech by president Giuseppe Saragatat the disclosure by Piero Bianucci and ai hot topics of the frontiers by Frank Furedi. There is also no shortage of more intimate and current reflections on the wonder of science and the profound value of daily effort.
Traces Maturity, the echo of memory and vulnerability in literary texts
Entering the heart of the first tracks, Cesare Pavese’s chosen poetry digs into the soul. With «I will pass through Piazza di Spagna», the Piedmontese writer offers children an invitation to look at pure beauty but also to the vulnerability of human feelings. It is a suspended text, full of anticipation, where physical places become a mirror of an interior state. A choice that touches intimate chords, especially for young people approaching adulthood in a world that is often too frenetic to stop and listen to nostalgia.
Memory as a living force for Brancati
On the other hand, the prose of Vitaliano Brancati with «The pleasures» introduces an equally confidential atmosphere. The proposed song is a page from his secret diary, a mental place made of meditations, fantasies, nostalgia and personal memories. The idea is not just an exercise in style, but becomes the basis for an essay on memory. Candidates are asked to elaborate a reflection on how memory is not a simple looking back, but a living forcea unique ability to connect generations to each other, allowing the past to dialogue with the future.
From intimate prose to disclosure accessible to all, this year’s traces of Italian. (Getty Images)
The courage to argue between history, science and borders
There type of exam dedicated to the argumentative textinstead delves into themes of great civil, social and cultural importance. However, the historic choice to propose is already being discussed the inauguration speech of President Giuseppe Saragatheld in the parliamentary session of 26 June 1936. It is a strong reminder of the roots of our institutions and the value of democracy.
Bianucci and the science that must be for everyone
Alongside politics, there is a strong reference to the link between humanistic culture and scientific thought. The second track actually starts from a passage by the journalist and writer Piero Bianuccitaken from the work «I’ll tell you in your own words. The science of writing to make yourself understood.” Here the focus is scientific creativity: the children are asked to summarize the text and express their point of view, arguing on how the art of speech is fundamental to making science understandable to everyone.
Even borders and frontiers in the traces of Maturity
Closing the argumentative section is the very current concept of «Borders». The starting point is a passage from essay by sociologist Frank Furedientitled «Borders matter. Because humanity must rediscover the art of drawing borders.” A reflection that forces us to question the psychological, anthropological and cultural meaning of limits and lines of demarcation in a global era.
The rediscovery of wonder
Current issues choose, instead, to investigate key words of our daily life. THEhe first proposal brings the concept of “enchantment” to school desks. The track comes from an article by the German journalist Wenke Husmann, entitled «It works like a charm» and published in the weekly International in January 2026. At the center of the theme is the relationship between science, scientific reasoning and the purely human ability to be amazedan invitation not to lose the wonder of the world’s discoveries.
The beauty of effort
Finally, the last chapter of this ideal generational tale addresses the value of “effort”. Through a passage by Mario Calabresi taken from his essay «Rise at dawn»students are asked to reflect on the meaning of commitment and perseverance. Not a condemnation or a burden as an end in itself, but the celebration of conscious sacrificeof the effort that gives value to the goals achieved in a society accustomed to demanding everything immediately.