Spanish 34 Syllabus. Prerequisites: One of the following: Spanish 18, Appropriate Placement Examination score, or Permission of Department.

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1 Spanish 34 Syllabus Prerequisites: One of the following: Spanish 18, Appropriate Placement Examination score, or Permission of Department. Statement of Philosophy/Course Rationale Latin America s plentiful literature has produced many celebrated writers who employ literature as an important tool for social, political and cultural change. The many students at Kingsborough whose background is Latin American will learn about their cultural roots and thus benefit from the knowledge acquired in this course. It will also benefit Spanish-speaking non-latino students who wish to learn about the culture of the majority of people that live on the American continent. Course Description This course will provide a survey of Latin American literature from the sixteenth century to the present, with particular attention given to the 20th century and the relationship between literature and social change. Students will read poetry, short stories, plays, testimonial literature, and one short novel. They will learn about these different genres of literature and how to analyze each of them using literary terminology. They will also learn about Latin American history, geography, politics, human rights, social activism, and gender roles through the lens of fictional and non-fictional characters, including the voices of women writers representing diverse class and ethnic backgrounds. The instructor will encourage introspection in the analysis of literary texts through class discussions, occasional lectures, and written and oral assignments. In addition to engaging in literary analysis, students will be asked to imagine the context in which the author wrote and the author s thinking at that time. In this manner, the student will be able to understand the literature more clearly, as well as the relationship between language and the socio-political reality represented in the works studied. Learning Objectives Students will: *Become familiar with important authors and common themes in contemporary Latin American literature. *Identify different literary periods and movements in Latin American literature. *Demonstrate an understanding of the different literary terminology employed in the analysis of different types of narratives, such as poetry, short stories, and plays. *Use literary terminology in their own analysis of Latin American literature. *Articulate a basic understanding of Latin American history, politics, human rights, social activism, and gender roles, as seen through the lens of fictional and non-fictional characters. *Discuss the social and political impact of Latin American writers in the struggle for social change. *Improve their written and oral expression in Spanish.

2 *Expand their Spanish vocabulary. STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES (SLO S): Upon completion of the course, students will be able to: Identify, analyze, and evaluate major themes and literary techniques in the reading of Latin American literature. Critically read, discuss, and interpret texts Write coherent, analytical, and original responses to course content Demonstrate technical polish in writing based on an in-depth understanding of grammatical concepts. Example: After writing an essay, students may polish the final draft discussing the Romantic ideals expressed in the poetry of José María de Heredia, targeting correct use of coordinating conjunctions. Write with attention to the author s craft, demonstrating style, grace, and a distinctive personal voice. Example: After an independent reading of Pablo Neruda s Isla negra, students may write a short memoir. Recognize and interpret ambiguity. Example: Students may write an in-class essay discussing the purpose of ambiguity in the presentation of a selected character in one of Horacio Quiroga s Stories of Love, Madness, and Death (Cuentos de Amor, de Locura y de Muerte). Demonstrate the habits of a self-directed learner. Example: Students independently use note-taking skills both in and out of class to deepen critical thinking while reading Alejo Carpentier s The Lost Steps. Engage independently in high levels of critical thinking. Example: Students may generate questions for class discussion on The Lost Steps that focus on themes and ideas, rather than plot. Read challenging and abstract texts with insight. Example: Students may read Azul, identifying and explaining Rubén Darío s poetical conventions. Demonstrate competency in skills of inference, analysis and evaluation. Example: Students may consider one of the many ideas or philosophies introduced in Domingo Faustino Sarmiento s Facundo, discussing an understanding of the idea or philosophy. Make personal connections to texts. Example: Students may consider how an idea or philosophy in Facundo (see above) affects them as present or future citizens of the global society. Create sophisticated products (e.g., essays, creative pieces, oral presentations, multimedia projects) that make visible an understanding of the relationship between form and content. Example: Students may write "The Lost Story of Horacio Quiroga," using some conventions of the short story genre. Demonstrate a high level of inventive and original thinking. Example: Students may write an exploratory essay after reading José Martí s Mi raza, considering the role of race in artistic creations. Identify and employ appropriate literary devices to analyze prose and poetry. Example: Students may discuss Julián del Casal s Bustos y rimas in terms of imagery and extended metaphor. Expand spoken and written vocabulary through a systematic plan of study. Example: Students will learn approximately three hundred words stemming from their reading and

3 research during the semester and will demonstrate mastery through essays, quizzes and cumulative tests. Learn literary terminology in order to understand fiction and poetry. Example: students may identify the figurative language in José Enrique Rodó s Ariel and then write their own similes and metaphors. Compare and contrast literature from various genres, time periods, and cultures. Example: students may read the essay Ariel and identify the references to previous writers such as José Martí. Understand the influence of certain classics such as Ariel on the Latin American tradition of literature. Example: students may discuss what made Ariel a hero of sorts for XX century Latin American thinkers, if they view him as a hero today, and compare him to heroes in modern popular fiction and movies. Use literature to address thematic questions about human conflict, social justice, and individual empowerment. Example: students may read Armando Valladares s Against All Hope as an illustration of the rise of totalitarian states as well as an example of political satire. Monitor participation, effort, and learning and assess performances against established standards of achievement. Example: students may write an essay in which they assess their own learning. SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES: During the course, students will be asked to: Analyze and synthesize a variety of Latin American works of literature. Demonstrate understanding of the historical and literary context of a variety of works in Latin American literature. Example: in small groups students may research the effects of Latin American political and social turmoil on the works of various writers (Martí, Sarmiento, Arciniegas, Rodó, etc.). Draw sound inferences from the literature. Example: the students may consider the political implications inherent in the Ariel/Calibán dichotomy in José Enrique Rodó s Ariel. Demonstrate understanding of the relevance of the issues raised in the works of Latin American writers. Example: Identify in Germán Arciniegas s La América del Pacífico the differences between Atlantic Latin America and its Pacific Ocean counterpart, evaluating the modern consequences of such differences in an essay. Identify and analyze conventions of various literary genres. Explain how literary conventions inform the meaning of the text. Practice the skill of composing paragraphs that are clear, unified, coherent, and specific. Example: students may practice writing topic sentences, introducing and interpreting an excerpt from the text as support, and writing concluding sentences. Review and practice basic reading comprehension strategies for fiction and non-fiction. Example: students may generate questions as they read an Horacio Quiroga short story and share them with the class to promote class discussion. Become familiar with basic literary terminology in order to understand fiction and poetry. Example: students may review elements of plot in an Horacio Quiroga work in order to understand the basic structure of a short story.

4 Compare and contrast literature from various genres, time periods, and cultures. Example: students may read Ramón López Velarde s La suave patria and compare his concept of nation with that of José Martí in Mi raza. Write full length pieces which exhibit the following qualities of good writing: clarity, organization, coherence, effective use of details and examples, personal voice. Example: students may develop criteria for judging literature and write an essay that evaluates a text; their essay will be assessed on use of examples to support their position. Expand spoken and written Spanish vocabulary through a systematic plan of study. Example: students may learn 25 new words per week to which they will have been exposed in their readings. They will be tested on these words by writing context sentences. COURSE CONTENT: The course covers a representative sample of the entire range of Latin American writers works; it provides appropriate historical and literary backgrounds and analyses; it includes broad discussions of the students essays/research papers demonstrating their competence for independent analytical responses. Tasks/Grading Quizzes (25%): There will be five (5) quizzes during the semester; all will count towards the final grade. Note that it is not possible to drop a quiz that is not taken. A missed quiz counts as a zero. Quizzes will cover material from readings and lectures. Homework (20%): Homework will be assigned at least once a week and will be due at the beginning of the next class period. Assignments will deal with material covered in readings and lectures. Class activities (5%): These daily activities are based on lectures and homework assignments, and cannot be made up for any reason. Exams (50%): There will be a mid-term examination and a final examination. These are cumulative, given that a mastery of prior concepts is absolutely necessary for those concepts that follow. Course Design Unit I, week 1: Introduction to Latin American Literature Unit II, weeks 2, 3, 4 and 5: Short Stories and Testimonial Literature: A sampling of short stories and testimonial literature about historical events and key themes: land distribution, human rights, political autonomy, women's rights, and the rights of indigenous peoples Unit III, weeks 6, 7 and 8: Poetry: Poems that focus on love, death, beauty, and time Unit IV, week 8: Plays: An exploration of plays as extensions of daily life Unit V, weeks 10, 11 and 12: The Latin American Novel: A sampling of novels of different kinds and lengths

5 Textbook: BELLINI, Giuseppe, Nueva historia de la literatura hispanoamericana, (Madrid, Castalia, 1997). Selected Bibliography: ALEGRÍA, Fernando, Nueva historia de la novela hispanoamericana (Hanover, Del Norte, 1996). CARPENTIER, Alejo et al., Historia y ficción en la narrativa hispanoamericana (Caracas, Monte Ávila, 1985). FERNÁNDEZ, Teodosio, Selena Millares y Eduardo Becerra, Historia de la literatura hispanoamericana (Madrid, Universitas, 1996). ZEA, Leopoldo, El pensamiento latinoamericano, (Barcelona, Ariel, 1976).