MWF, 12-1pm, online
With the single exception of the very first class (January 11), Mondays will be asynchronous. I will upload a video, but we will not be meeting in “real time.” Wednesdays and Fridays, however, we will be meeting synchronously, online, via Zoom.
Description:
Major texts, authors, periods, and genres of Hispanic literature; key concepts, terminology, and practices of literary analysis that serve as a foundation for higher-level Spanish literature courses. We will focus on poetry, fiction, the essay, and drama from Spain and Latin America, from the fourteenth century to the present.
Language:
Though this course is taught in Spanish, it is not a language course and your Spanish proficiency will not be directly tested or assessed. You will not be penalized for mistakes in spoken Spanish. Your written Spanish will only be penalized if it is unintelligible (in the case of your blog entries and exams) or shows signs of carelessness (in the case of your final essay).
Required texts:
- Edward Friedman, Teresa Valdivieso, and Carmelo Virgilio, Aproximaciones al estudio de la literatura hispánica. Seventh Edition. New York: McGraw Hill, 2012.
- Julie Ann Ward, Antología abierta de literatura hispana
- A good Spanish dictionary
Assignments:
- Attendance and participation. 10%
- Weekly blog and comments. 15%
- Two midterm exams. 10% each (20% total)
- Final essay. 15%
- Group research/editing project. 25%
- Final exam. 15%
Notes:
- If you miss more than four sessions (two weeks), you will be docked a full letter grade. In class, participation is important. Do your best with the Spanish.
- The blog (200-300 words, in Spanish; details on how to set up a blog are here) is due on Tuesday evenings. It should comprise your reactions and comments on the upcoming reading assignment, plus at least one question for class discussion. Do not worry about imperfect Spanish: as long as I can understand you, it’s fine. You will also write comments on at least two of your classmates’ blogs; these comments are due Thursday evenings.
- One midterm will focus on poetry, the other on prose. They will feature short commentaries on excerpts from texts that we have read.
- The final essay (3-4 pages, double spaced) will be on García Lorca’s La casa de Bernarda Alba. It is due on the final day of class. Here you should try to ensure that your Spanish is as correct as possible, though ultimately your argument matters most. In preparing this essay, you are strongly recommended to visit the FHIS writing centre.
- The group research/editing project will be a contribution to the Antología abierta de literatura hispana.
- The final exam will cover material studied across the semester. It will feature brief definitions plus a short essay.
The exams will be “open book,” in that I will not be invigilating them and if necessary you can consult the texts or a dictionary etc. But what I am interested in is your ideas and thoughts, and so I advise against getting distracted by Internet research etc.
You will have 24 hours to complete each exam, though I do not expect the midterms to require more than an hour (an hour and a half maximum), or the final to require more than two hours (two and a half maximum) of focussed attention.
Instructor:
Jon Beasley-Murray, jon.beasley-murray@ubc.ca. Office hours, before and after class (I will enter the Zoom call early and stay late) or you can ask to meet at another time.
If you are having problems of any sort, get in touch before they have the chance to get out of control. I want you to do well in this course just as much as you do.
