The following syllabus is preliminary and subject to change. This advance copy draft syllabus is provided to students for the purpose of giving them a general idea of the course. SPANISH 4313-01 (TR 5:30-6:50 PM). POETRY AND CULTURE: PABLO NERUDA THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS ARLINGTON, SPRING 2012. DR. CHRISTOPHER CONWAY DEPARTMENT OF MODERN LANGUAGES HAMMOND HALL 329 Email: Conway [at] uta [dot] edu Office hours: Please see Blackboard for announcement of my Office Hours. *This syllabus is in English for administrative purposes. This internet course will be held in Spanish. **Please use our Blackboard Learning Management System Page as your primary syllabus DESCRIPTION OF COURSE CONTENT: The Chilean Nobel Laureate Pablo Neruda is arguably the most popular poet in the Spanish language, and one of the most popular poets of all time. In this course we examine poems from his major periods, tracing changes in his style and themes as well as continuities. We consider poetic influences and echoes, and explore the iconicity of Neruda as a symbol in Latin America. Learning new vocabulary and how to interpret poetry will be important components of this course. To this end, students will be assigned writing exercises, learn active reading and note taking skills, and develop confidence as literary critics. Students will also be expected to write poetry and reflect on the experience. PREREQUISITE: SPAN 3315 with a grade of C or better. STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES: 1. Students command the key themes in the poetry of Pablo Neruda. 2. Students command the key elements of the life of Pablo Neruda. 3. Students exercise and build skills in reading comprehension and vocabulary development by reading poetry.
4. Students exercise and build writing skills in Spanish by writing analytical essays, response papers and/or assorted homework assignments on the poetry of Pablo Neruda. TEXTBOOK: Students are required to purchase the book Pablo Neruda: Selected Poems, translated and edited by Anthony Kerrigan. This is a bilingual book with poems in English and in the Spanish original. In our course we will be exploring issues of translation and Kerrigan's translations will give us a starting point for our conversations about translation. This book is on order at the UT Arlington Bookstore. COURSE REQUIREMENTS/ASSIGNMENTS: Open Notebook Exams. These tests cover all reading assignments, lectures and course discussions from weeks 1-13. Students are permitted to use handwritten lecture notes and handwritten reading notes for these exams. In the first two weeks of the class, we explore principles of note-taking and active reading for the purpose of performing well in these exams. I am assigning these tests to develop effective reading and thinking habits. There are three tests, each one counting 20% of the final grade. Critical Response Papers. A short, analytical response paper is a common type of academic assignment in the Social Sciences and the Humanities, and typically runs 450-700 words. A response paper presents analytical insights with specificity but without having to formally develop them into a full-fledged argument for an essay. The most important thing to remember about a successful response paper is to be specific, make analytical insights and avoid description and/or summary. There are three response papers, each worth 5% of the final grade, for a total of 15% of the final grade. Poetry Chapbook. Students prepare a poetry chapbook with their original poems for submission at the end of the semester. Each chapbook should be composed of at least 5 poems and be accompanied by a personal essay relating the poems to the course material. This is worth 15% of the final grade. Participation. Participation is worth 10% of the final grade. Make-ups etc. Students will only be considered for make-ups or for recovering points lost for tardy work, if they maintain a B average in the rest of their work and if they do not miss further assignments or turn in further assignments late. These accomodations will only be given in week 13 or 14 of the course if a student requests them, after I have evaluated whether or not the above conditions have been met. Make-ups and special accommodation for late work are privileges to be earned, they are not automatic.
Attendance Policy: Students are only allowed three absences. Upon the fourth absence, the student will receive a five point deduction from his or her final grade. Upon the fifth absence, the student will receive a ten point deduction from his or her final grade. A sixth absence will trigger a fifteen point deduction from their final grade. Upon the seventh absence, the student will fail the class. Students who are regularly tardy will be called upon to meet with the professor. If tardiness becomes a recurring problem with certain individuals, the professor may assign attendance penalties in the form of counting each tardy as a half absence or a full absence, depending on how tardy the student is. DROP POLICY: Students shall follow University drop policy. It is the responsibility of the student to drop the class in a timely fashion, by the drop date of November 4. INCOMPLETE POLICY: Students must complete most of the course with at least a grade of B in order to be considered for an incomplete. ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION POLICY: (1) Students are responsible for regularly checking their UTA email address in the event of Blackboard outage or some such disaster. I will send all official message to your UTA email address. (2) Students should write their general course questions on the message board in Blackboard and not in a personal message to me. We want to learn from everybody s questions, the way we do in a normal class. Use individual messages to me for the purpose of talking about something private, like a grade, or a personal problem. Everything else about the class and how it works and the content, must go on the Blackboard message board. GRADE GRIEVANCE POLICY: Students with questions about their grade should talk to me first. A face-to-face meeting is recommended. If, after this meeting, a student is not satisfied, he or she should speak to Dr. Sonia Kania, the Head of the Spanish Program in the Department of Modern Languages. If the student still wishes to complain, he or she then goes to the Department Chair, Dr. Antoinette Sol. IMPORTANT UNIVERSITY POLICIES: AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT: The University of Texas at Arlington is on record as being committed to both the spirit and letter of federal equal opportunity legislation; reference Public Law 92-112 - The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. With the passage of federal legislation entitled Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), pursuant to section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, there is renewed focus on providing this population with the same opportunities enjoyed by all citizens. As a faculty member, I am required by law to provide "reasonable accommodations" to students with disabilities, so as not to discriminate on the
basis of that disability. Student responsibility primarily rests with informing faculty of their need for accommodation and in providing authorized documentation through designated administrative channels. Information regarding specific diagnostic criteria and policies for obtaining academic accommodations can be found at www.uta.edu/disability. Also, you may visit the Office for Students with Disabilities in room 102 of University Hall or call them at (817) 272-3364. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: It is the philosophy of The University of Texas at Arlington that academic dishonesty is a completely unacceptable mode of conduct and will not be tolerated in any form. All persons involved in academic dishonesty will be disciplined in accordance with University regulations and procedures. Discipline may include suspension or expulsion from the University. Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or in part to another person, taking an examination for another person, any act designed to give unfair advantage to a student or the attempt to commit such acts." (Regents Rules and Regulations, Series 50101, Section 2.2) Please Note: Upon beginning this class and receiving this syllabus, the professor will expect students to understand (1) what plagiarism is and that (2) plagiarism is a form of academic dishonesty. Plagiarism is the copying of the words and arguments of another person, whether it be from a traditional print or from a web source, and presenting such material as one s own work without attribution. Any student who does not understand what plagiarism is should contact me before commencing work on any written assignment. All students who commit plagiarism will be reported to the University for disciplinary action. STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES: The University of Texas at Arlington supports a variety of student success programs to help you connect with the University and achieve academic success. These programs include learning assistance, developmental education, advising and mentoring, admission and transition, and federally funded programs. Students requiring assistance academically, personally, or socially should contact the Office of Student Success Programs at 817-272-6107 for more information and appropriate referrals. Tentative schedule of work: Weeks 1-2: Overview of Major Periods and Themes. Weeks 3-4: Neruda's love poems. Test 1.
Weeks 5-8: Neruda's hermetism. Test 2. Weeks 9-13: Neruda and Ideology. Test 3. Week 14-15: Neruda and translation.