Assessment 2021

  1. Attendance and participation (10%) 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.
  2. Weekly blog and comments (15%) 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.
  3. Two midterm exams 10% each (20% total). One midterm will focus on poetry, the other on prose. They will feature short commentaries on excerpts from texts that we have read. Below you will find examples of midterm exams from previous years. While this year’s exam will not be identical, and may have a slightly different format, it will not be vastly different.

    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.

  4. Final essay (15%) The final essay (3-4 pages, double-spaced) will be on García Lorca’s La casa de Bernarda Alba. It is due on the last 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 consult the FHIS learning centre. This is now optional: see the assessment adjustment.
  5. Group research/editing project (25%) The group research/editing project will be a contribution to the Antología abierta de literatura hispana. It will include an annotated bibliography, in which you find relevant articles/books and provide brief summaries of them. The bibliography is due after Reading Week; the finished project is due at the end of the semester.
  6. Final exam (15%) The final exam will cover material studied across the semester. It will feature brief definitions plus a short essay.