Course Description

Course Name

Survey of Latin American Literature: Crónicas through Romanticismo

Session: VCSU1125

Hours & Credits

3 Credits

Prerequisites & Language Level

Advanced

  • Prior to enrolling in courses at this language level, students must have completed or tested out of a minimum of four semesters (or six quarters) at the college level.

Overview

Panorama de la Literatura Latinoamericana: desde las Crónicas hasta el Romanticismo [LIT/SPA 370S]
 
LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION:
Este curso será impartido en español, destinado para estudiantes con un nivel de Español Avanzado o superior.
 
CONTACT HOURS:
El curso tiene un total de 45 horas lectivas, repartidas en 30 sesiones de 90 minutos.
 
GENERAL COURSE DESCRIPTION AND COURSE OBJECTIVES:
Survey of literary and cultural contexts of Latin America from the pre-conquest, colonial and early-independence periods, covering texts from the pre-Hispanic, European exploration, and colonization of the Americas (1492-1826) periods in order to study a topic of interest in Spanish American literature and culture through reading and thinking critically about a wide variety of literary and cultural texts, including letters, chronicles, essays, poetry, and fiction.
 
Examination of literary genres in connection with concurrent cultural and historical events. Exploration of literature as a reflection of the experiences and events meaningful to Latin American society during this time period. Emphasis on the ways in which literature and other cultural artifacts give voice to value systems, traditions, and beliefs.
 
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
One of the objectives of this course is to acquire a basic but strong knowledge of the evolution of Spanish American literature from its beginnings (around 1492) through independence, and some corresponding literary movements, such as el barroco, el neoclasicismo, and others. Also to become acquainted with some of the best known authors of the period and the topics they wrote about. And finally to improve your ability to analyze literary texts and to read and discuss complex texts in Spanish.
 
By the end of the semester students will be able to:
- Interpret literary texts in their cultural, social, and historical contexts.
- Identify and explain themes encountered in Latin American literary texts from the conquest to independence periods.
- Evaluate the art of interpretation as a critical approach to the study of literature and culture.
- Using appropriate literary constructs, critically examine thematic intersections between Latin American texts from the pre-conquest to independence periods, and the cultural and historical contexts surrounding the texts.
- Identify and explain key cultural, social, and historical Latin American events from the pre-conquest to independence periods.
- Discuss literary and cultural topics in Spanish with grammatical and lexical precision and sophistication.
 
COURSE PRE-REQUISITES:
Se requiere que el estudiante domine un nivel de español propio de un aula universitaria. Por lo mismo el requisito para acceder al curso es que el estudiante tenga un nivel High Advanced, Superior, Native o esté cursando al mismo tiempo el curso de ?Advanced Spanish? en el programa de ISA Cusco.
 
EVALUATION CRITERIA:
Quiz 1: 20 %
Quiz 2: 20 %
Ensayo de El Matadero: 15 %
Examen final: 30 %
Asistencia y participación: 15 %
 
REQUIRED READINGS AND TEXTS:
-Voces de Hispanoamérica, Raquel Chang-Rodríguez y Malva E. Filer 4th edition.
- Añadido a esto los estudiantes recibirán material extra mediante el uso de un blog diseñado para la enseñanza de esta clase.
 
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIAL ACTIVITIES:
Adicionalmente, el profesor podría encargar actividades y lecturas adicionales. En tal caso siempre serían actividades voluntarias, con las que el estudiante podría aumentar su nota final hasta un máximo de 10%.
 
 

*Course content subject to change