Cervantes
SPAN 236
Spring 2012 not offered
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| Crosslisting:
COL 327, MDST 254, IBST 236 |
Cervantes is known chiefly for DON QUIXOTE, often described as the first modern novel and fountainhead of one of the great modern myths of individualism. In fact, besides the chivalric novel, he reimagined virtually every fashionable genre of his time: verse, theater, novella, the pastoral, and the Greek adventure novels. Cervantes' art remains fresh and unsettling, distinguished as it is by its revaluation of humor, invention, make-believe, and play; seriousness in his textual world is not to be confused with solemnity, the typical ploy of political, religious, and intellectual orthodoxies then as now. Characteristic themes: social reality as artifact or fiction, the counterintuitive or paradoxical character of truths, the irreducible diversity of taste and perception, the call for consent in politics and love, and personal identity (including gender) as a heroic quest. We will read, discuss, and write about DON QUIXOTE, along with a sampling of critical, philosophical, literary, and artistic responses it has inspired. |
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Essential Capabilities:
Interpretation, Writing
The readings, the oral presentation, class discussion, and the papers are mutually reinforcing activities designed to help you develop your ability to recall and interpret your readings, and to make sense of another culture's past through its literary legacy in Spanish. The course is also designed to improve your own spoken and written Spanish. Supplementary readings will be brought in regularly to introduce concepts and interpretive gambits, to model ways of reframing and nuancing your responses to the readings, and to encourage a deeper--at once historically informed, textually grounded, and playful--engagement with this complex text and its historical circumstance. Writing is improved by thoughtful reading, previous discussion, and revision. The course is structured to provide you with practice in the use of your reading, class discussion, and revision to improve your writing and public speaking skills (argument, organization, and rhetorical pertinence and flair). The main focus will be the development of a formal, yet personal register of Spanish writing, but you will find that your writing in English also improves as a result of this kind of reflection on what goes into good writing.
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA RLAN |
| Course Format: Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (COL)(HISP)(MDST-MN)(MDST)(MDST-Art/Arch)(MDST-History)(MDST-Lang/Lit)(MDST-Phil/Reli)(RMST) |
Major Readings:
Miguel de Cervantes, DON QUIJOTE
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Examinations and Assignments:
Three short papers (3-5pp.), one longer final paper (5-7pp.), and one short
oral presentation that can be used as the basis for the final paper. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
SPAN 236 is intended for students who have completed SPAN 221 or the equivalent. Students who have not done so should consult with the professor before preregistering. An additional semester of upper-level Spanish beyond 221 (or the equivalent), taken earlier or concurrently, is recommended but NOT required. Readings, written assignments, and class discussions will be in Spanish. Only COL students may take this course CR/U. |
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