SPAN 321: Masterpieces of Hispanic Lit
Reading and discussion of selected masterworks of literature as they reflect the historical, political, and social context of the Peninsular Spanish experience. Students will be introduced to reading and writing critically, and discussing both form and content within these works. All discussions will be carried out in Spanish. (Prereq: SPAN 304)
Units: 4
Reading and discussion of selected masterworks of literature as they reflect the historical, political, and social context of the Peninsular Spanish experience. Students will be introduced to reading and writing critically, and discussing both form and content within these works. All discussions will be carried out in Spanish. (Prereq: SPAN 304)
Units: 4
Course Reflection SPAN 321
One of the most interesting classes I could take at CSUMB was SPAN 321 with Dr. Rafael Gómez. We started the class learning about the average age and age of the Catholic kings that took place between the V-XV centuries. In this chapter of the book we saw many important concepts as they were, the jarchas, which were verses written in Hebrew or Roman and normally their theme was love frustrated. We learned about the epic, a type of lyric poetry that usually tells the story of a hero. An example is El cantar del mío cid. The first authors who were introduced to the class were, Gonzalo de Berceo, Alfonso X the wise, Juan Ruiz among others. Then we continue the class learning about the principles of modernity or golden age... This part I think was my favorite because the teacher uses a very good technique so that we could remember the authors and their important works. He took us to places and in each place he gave us the name of a work and the author. This is what I remember best in the class. Place number one was Garcilaso de la Vega with the rebirth of poetry. Place number two was Bernal Díaz del Castillo with The True Story of the Conquest of the New Spain. In place number three was the father of the theater Lope de Rueda with his work The cuckold and happy. In place number four was Jorge Montemayor with the novel of The Seven of the Diana and The famous narrative of Lazarillo de Tormes. In number five was mysticism, and didactic and moral literature. With Fray Luis de León, Santa Teresa and Don Juan. In number six was the Spanish national theater with Lope Felix de vega and his famous play The punishment without revenge. In number seven was Luis de Góngora with his sonnets representing the Baroque. For me this was the best technique we could have used in the class. The mind has more power to remember something when we relate it to a place. In the nineteenth century: from romanticism to naturalism most authors write about love, they give the romantic a special place. During this time, love can do everything. Also several authors of this movement had suffered romantic disappointments and others had died very young. Here, writers like José de Espronceda, Mariano José de Larra, José Zorrilla, Carolina Coronado, Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Juan Valera and others stand out. One of the last epochs that we will study in the class is the Generation of '98 and Modernism. At this time I had the desire to renew the Spanish literature Here is born what we know as "art for art." The writers begin to study the great archetypes of Spanish literature. Here we studied Miguel de Unamuno, Ramón del Valle Inclán, Pío Baroja, José Martínez Ruiz, Antonio Machado and others. This course was very important because I learned a lot about Spanish literature something never studied before.