Hispanic American Literature

Hispanic American Literature
COURSE DESIGNATOR VENZ 3251
NUMBER OF CREDITS 3 credits
Language of Instruction Spanish
Contact Hours 45 hours
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The purpose of this course is to study essential authors of contemporary Hispanic American Literature. In
this course the focus will be on analyzing fiction and prose as a construction bearing information about the
world, the forms life, the value systems, and the beliefs of a culture.
INSTRUCTOR
Venusa Staff (TBD)
COURSE OBJECTIVES
*To gain knowledge of the essential authors and works of Contemporary Hispanic American Literature.
*To study the lives of the authors and the sociocultural and historic context that surrounds current Hispanic
America Literature
*To perform comparative analyses that demonstrates the similarities and differences between works of
different authors in current Hispanic American Literature.
*To develop a holistic view of the genre that allows the students to understand the value of modern
Hispanic American literary production.
METHODOLOGY
In this course the student will read and discuss various texts in class as well as information about
their authors. Class participation is essential and the student is expected to really engage their text
and think critically about the sociocultural and historic background in which each work was
produced.
Throughout the class, the student will write summaries of works and occasionally short essay done
during class time. As their final project, each student will create a personal private literary blog in
which they will discuss Hispanic American Literature using the tools of analysis learned in class.
COURSE PREREQUISITES
Spanish 1004
REQUIRED READING/MATERIALS
Bravo V. Letras en el sueño, ensayos sobre poesía. Mérida – Venezuela: Solar, 1994.
Damaso, A. et al. Primavera y flor de la literatura hispánica. Madrid: Selecciones del Reader´s Digest,
1996.
Díaz S. Pedro. Selección de Lecturas hispanoamericanas, con biografías. Caracas: Distribuidora Escolar,
1961.
Neruda, P. Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada. Santiago: Editorial Nacimiento, 1924
Stavans I. Schiminovich F. La Pluma mágica: Cuentos de América Latina. Heinle & Heinle Publishers,
1994.
Rulfo J. Pedro páramo / El llano en llamas. Colombia: oveja negra, 1987.
GRADING
CRITERIA FOR GRADING AND GRADING STANDARDS
Grading Rubric
A
93-100
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
F
90-92
87-89
83-86
80-82
77-79
73-76
70-72
67-69
60-66
0-59
Achievement that is outstanding relative to the level necessary to meet course requirements.
Achievement that is significantly above the level necessary to meet course requirements.
Achievement that meets the course requirements in every respect.
Achievement that is worthy of credit even though it fails to meet fully the course
requirements.
Represents failure (or no credit) and signifies that the work was either (1) completed but at a
level of achievement that is not worthy of credit or (2) was not completed and there was no
agreement between the instructor and the student that the student would be awarded an I.
Summary of how grades are weighted:
Class Participation
10%
Homework
15%
Oral Presentations
20%
Essays
30%
Final Project
25%
Overall Grade
100%
CLASS SCHEDULE
WEEK 1



Part I: Poetry
Unit One
Cesar Vallejo “Los Heraldos Negros”
José Lezama Lima “Muerte de Narciso”
Vicente Gerbasi: “Poema de la Noche”
WEEK 2



Pablo Neruda “Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada”
José María Eguren “Motivos”
Jorge Luis Borges “Ausencia”
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WEEK 3




Unit Two
Octavio Paz “Luna Silvestre” y “Salamandra”
Mario Benedetti “Táctica y estrategia” y “Viceversa”
Nicolás Guillen “Cuatro canciones para el Che”
WEEK 4


Álvaro Mutis “Los elementos del desastre”
Ernesto Cardenal “Epigramas”
WEEK 5


Unit Three
Gabriela Mistral. “Besos” “Canción amarga”
Ma. Mercedes Carranza “Sobran las palabras”
WEEK 6


Laura Restrepo “Delirio”
Reinaldo Arenas “Antes de que anochezca”
WEEK 7
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


Part II: Prose and Fiction
Unit Four
Fiction as knowledge and reconstruction
Literary tendencies and the avant-garde in Hispanic American Literature
WEEK 8


Latin America and the new generation of writers
Prose /Non Fiction Culture
WEEK 9





Unit Five
Rómulo Gallegos “Cantaclaro”
Julio Cortazar “Historias de Cronopios y de Famas.”
Gabriel García Márquez “El coronel no tiene quien le escriba”
Horacio Quiroga “Cuentos de la selva.”
WEEK 10
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


Octavio Paz: “La llama doble”.
Salvador Garmendia “Difuntos, extraños y volátiles”.
Carlos Fuentes: Aura
WEEK 11



Unit Six
Mario Vargas Llosa: “Los Cachorros”
Álvaro Mutis: “La Mansión de Araucaíma”
Isabel Allende “La casa de los espíritus”
WEEK 12



Juan Rulfo: “El llano en lamas”
Arturo Uslar Pietri “Las lanzas coloradas”
Roberto Bolaños “El Gusano”
WEEK 13


Felisberto Hernández “El cocodrilo”
Alfredo Bryce Echenique “Un mundo para Julius”
WEEK 14


Final Project
Course Evaluation
ATTENDANCE POLICY
Regular attendance and punctuality are mandatory in order to earn full marks. The final grade will take into consideration
preparation required for class (i.e. readings) and participation in class discussions. If you miss any meetings without an
excused absence from the on-site director, your final grade will be dropped accordingly. In the case of absences, it is the
student’s responsibility to find out what information was given in class including any announcements made.
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Academic integrity is essential to a positive teaching and learning environment. All students enrolled in University courses
are expected to complete coursework responsibilities with fairness and honesty. Failure to do so by seeking unfair
advantage over others or misrepresenting someone else’s work as your own, can result in disciplinary action. The
University Student Conduct Code defines scholastic dishonesty as follows:
SCHOLASTIC DISHONESTY:
Scholastic dishonesty means plagiarizing; cheating on assignments or examinations; engaging in unauthorized
collaboration on academic work; taking, acquiring, or using test materials without faculty permission; submitting false or
incomplete records of academic achievement; acting alone or in cooperation with another to falsify records or to obtain
dishonestly grades, honors, awards, or professional endorsement; altering forging, or misusing a University academic
record; or fabricating or falsifying data, research procedures, or data analysis.
Within this course, a student responsible for scholastic dishonesty can be assigned a penalty up to and including an “F” or
“N” for the course. If you have any questions regarding the expectations for a specific assignment or exam, ask.
STUDENT CONDUCT
The University of Minnesota has specific policies concerning student conduct and student needs. This information can be
found on the Learning Abroad Center website.
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