Course Description
Conducted in Spanish, the course introduces the principles of literary analysis, based on reading and discussion of Hispanic literary texts. Includes fiction, drama, essay, and poetry from Spain and Spanish America. Taught in Spanish.
Reflective Narrative
In SPAN 304, we explored the most prominent literary movements in the Spanish-speaking world such as medieval narrative in Spain, naturalism, the literary boom, the Generation of '98, poetry, mysticism, romanticism, modernism, vanguardism and drama. Without a doubt, I consider this class to be one of my favorites since I learned to analyze and interpret the most famous literary pieces of all times in the Spanish language. One essential aspect of this class was the fluid, coherent and productive discussion of the literary pieces among the students. In this way, we proved that literature is subjective since it lends itself to an infinite number of interpretations which are based on our personal experiences. In my literary analysis called "La Resistencia al Poder" (Resistance to Power), I analyzed the short story La muñeca menor (The Little Doll), by the Puerto Rican writer Rosario Ferré, to explore the theme of the colonized body and the women's role during the early 20th century. The purpose of this work was to present arguments of the selected theme and support it with peer reviewed articles to form a deep and coherent analysis that would help us improve our literary and linguistic skills. After taking this class, I confirmed that I should read and analyze more poems, since it was a problematic genre compared to short stories and drama. Finally, this class helped me to understand the SPAN 322, where we expanded our literary knowledge and SPAN 330, where we read testimonials about social justice in the marginalized communities of Latin America. I found my love for literature in this class, because it fostered my interest in Hispanic literature, especially from Latin America.