Zamora-Melgoza: MLO3
MLO 3: Literary and Cultural Knowledge
As an undergraduate CSUMB Spanish major student I had the opportunity to choose between two emphasis, literature and culture or language and linguistics, I decided on the latter. This emphasis allowed me to attain knowledge and understating of the ways of thinking, behavioral practices and cultural products of Hispanic cultures; it also shaped me as a person and my way of thinking and perceiving the world as a whole. I was able to do all this through taking an ample and diverse amount of literature and Hispanic culture courses (Spanish 304, 306, 309, 310, 321, 426 and SBS 348) that allowed me to explore various time periods, cultures and their traditions.
The course of Introduction to Hispanic Literature (SPAN 304) introduced me to literary texts from Spanish America and it gave me the principles of and how to do a literary analysis; it also gave me the base to continue studying and thoroughly understanding Spanish language literature. In addition to this, in SPAN 304 I also learned about the history of Spain and how its literature has evolved and been influence by different ethnic groups. To do this I read texts from different time periods (Middle to Modern Age) that included fiction, drama, essay, and poetry from Spain and Spanish America. Some of the texts that I read and that contributed to my knowledge about literature include las Jarchas Mozarabes (IX-XII Century) which are poems of impossible love stories between Christians, Jews and Muslims. El cantar de Mio Cid (about XIII century), the oldest preserved Castilian epic poem which is based on Castilian hero El Cid, it takes places during the period of la Reconquista of Spain from the Moors. La Celestina, (XVI Century), the first tragicomedy of Spanish literature, it’s consider to be one of the greatest Spanish literary works, its appearance marked the end of Middle Age literature and the beginning of the literary renaissance in Spain. I also read: El mester de Clerecía,Coplas de Don JorgeManrique por la muerte de su padre, Lazarillo de Tormes. Through reading this various styles of literature I was not only able to learn how to understand and analyze literature but I also learned the history, backgrounds and cultures of Spain and how this literature influence the development of literature from Spanish Speaking countries.
Spanish 306, Culture/Civilizations of Spanish Latin America, was a particularly interesting and enriching course that allowed me to learn about Latin America through a broad range of topics as well as to make historical and cultural connections between present day Latin America and its pre-Columbian origins. Some of the topics that I learned about include the great Mesoamerican cultures of los Olmecas, Mayas, Quiches and Incas. I also learned about the conquest and its meaning, geography and people, the wars of Independence, music, architecture, and other arts in Latin America. I was able to do this through readings, videos, and research, as well as by holding class discussions and group projects.
Spanish 309, History and Politics of Latin America, helped me broaden my knowledge about politics in Latin American countries, especially because previous to taking this course I did not know much about the topic, I had studied it vaguely in SPAN 306. I was able to gain knowledge about this topic through exploring the history and politics of Latin American countries all the way from the Spanish conquest to modern day. Two of the countries that I truly enjoyed learning about were Cuba and Mexico. I enjoyed learning about Cuba’s history and politics because Cuba is a country that I have always had curiosity to visit and to learn about, and I enjoyed learning about México because it’s my home country, and I believe that in order to know about other countries one first has to know about its own.
Spanish 310, Hispanic Children’s Literature, allowed me to understand the complexity and the importance of Spanish language children’s literary works: fairy tales, essays, dramas, etc. Before taking this course I was not aware of the importance of this type literature, I thought it was just an entertainment medium for children but now after having taken this course which presents the elements of children's narrative: characterization, setting, narrative structure, pictures, and drawings I was able to see that literature is important through each and every stage of life. Not only did I learn about these elements through reading a vast amount of children books but also through writing about what I read and also by working individually and collaboratively with others. Some of the works in class that truly attributed to my knowledge about Hispanic Children’s Literature are: developing a theme presented on the book that can also be found outside on today’s society, developing a lesson plan and a play from a book and also a book to life through making a movie.
Spanish 321, Masterpieces of Hispanic Literature, is a continuation of Spanish 304. In Spanish 304 I was introduce to Spanish language literature but in this course I was able to study Spanish language literary texts from X-XX century more in depth. Here I revisited las Jarchas Mozarabes, la Celestina, el Cantar el Mio Cid, y Lazarillo deTormes. I also studied new texts from Alfonso X el Sabio, Cantigas, Las siete partidas, Juan Ruiz, El libro del buen amor, Don Juan Manuel, El conde Lucanor, San Juan de la Cruz, Canciones del alma, Garcilaso de la Vega, Bernal Díaz de Castillo, Historia verdadera de la conquista de Nueva España, José Zorrilla, Don Juan Tenorio, Mariano José de Larra, Don Timoteo el Literato, Miguel de Unamuno, San Manuel Bueno, mártir, Federico García Lorca, Romancero gitano among many others. All this texts helped me to understand Spanish literature as well as to see how it has evolved throughout the centuries.
Spanish 426, Narrativa Hispanoamericana, was one of the courses that I enjoyed the most while at CSUMB, it was a very intense class that somewhat challenge me because I had to read, understand and analyze texts on the daily basis. Here I learned about many Spanish American writers from the 20thcentury as well as about Latino cultures, societies, and values. To do this I read novels and short stories from Spanish American writers as well as watch Spanish American movies and documentaries. Some of the authors and texts that I read include: Gabriel García Márquez. Cien años de soledad, Carlos Fuentes, Aura, Julio Cortázar, Final del Juego. Luis Rafael Sánchez, La Guaracha de Macho Camacho, Jorge Luis Borges, El Aleph, Maria Luisa Valenzuela, Aquí pasan cosas raras, Elena Garro, La semana de colores, Miguel Ángel Asturias, El señor Presidente, Alejo Carpentier, Guerra del tiempo, and Adalberto Ortíz, Juyungo.
In SBS, 348, Mayan Civilization, I learned about the art, ideology, society, and culture of ancient Maya as well as from other Mesoamerican civilizations. Learning about this helped me to broaden my vision about the importance of ancient pre-Colombian cultures. To do this I read books, conducted research, presented in class and worked in team projects. My favorite projects and one that help me broaden my knowledge was studying, writing and presenting about Teotihuacan. As a whole the sum of these courses helped me to develop my understanding of the ways of thinking, behavioral practices and cultural products of Hispanic cultures.
Work Samples:
SPAN 304
Coplas
Mio Cid Campeador
Mester de Clerecia
SPAN 306
Test 1
Test 2.1
Test 2.2
Test 3
La historia oficial
Presentacion
Span 309:
Cuba_essay
La historia oficial_essay
Test 1 (Mexico)
Test 2 (Cuba)
Test 3 (South America)
Span 310:
Literary analyis
Adaptation of Son de Africa
Son de Africa movie
Presentation
SPAN 321
Exam 1
Exam 2
Literary Analisis Hispananic Masterpieces
SPAN 426:
Aura
La funebre en El Llano en llamas
100 años de soledad
Examen
Presentacion
As an undergraduate CSUMB Spanish major student I had the opportunity to choose between two emphasis, literature and culture or language and linguistics, I decided on the latter. This emphasis allowed me to attain knowledge and understating of the ways of thinking, behavioral practices and cultural products of Hispanic cultures; it also shaped me as a person and my way of thinking and perceiving the world as a whole. I was able to do all this through taking an ample and diverse amount of literature and Hispanic culture courses (Spanish 304, 306, 309, 310, 321, 426 and SBS 348) that allowed me to explore various time periods, cultures and their traditions.
The course of Introduction to Hispanic Literature (SPAN 304) introduced me to literary texts from Spanish America and it gave me the principles of and how to do a literary analysis; it also gave me the base to continue studying and thoroughly understanding Spanish language literature. In addition to this, in SPAN 304 I also learned about the history of Spain and how its literature has evolved and been influence by different ethnic groups. To do this I read texts from different time periods (Middle to Modern Age) that included fiction, drama, essay, and poetry from Spain and Spanish America. Some of the texts that I read and that contributed to my knowledge about literature include las Jarchas Mozarabes (IX-XII Century) which are poems of impossible love stories between Christians, Jews and Muslims. El cantar de Mio Cid (about XIII century), the oldest preserved Castilian epic poem which is based on Castilian hero El Cid, it takes places during the period of la Reconquista of Spain from the Moors. La Celestina, (XVI Century), the first tragicomedy of Spanish literature, it’s consider to be one of the greatest Spanish literary works, its appearance marked the end of Middle Age literature and the beginning of the literary renaissance in Spain. I also read: El mester de Clerecía,Coplas de Don JorgeManrique por la muerte de su padre, Lazarillo de Tormes. Through reading this various styles of literature I was not only able to learn how to understand and analyze literature but I also learned the history, backgrounds and cultures of Spain and how this literature influence the development of literature from Spanish Speaking countries.
Spanish 306, Culture/Civilizations of Spanish Latin America, was a particularly interesting and enriching course that allowed me to learn about Latin America through a broad range of topics as well as to make historical and cultural connections between present day Latin America and its pre-Columbian origins. Some of the topics that I learned about include the great Mesoamerican cultures of los Olmecas, Mayas, Quiches and Incas. I also learned about the conquest and its meaning, geography and people, the wars of Independence, music, architecture, and other arts in Latin America. I was able to do this through readings, videos, and research, as well as by holding class discussions and group projects.
Spanish 309, History and Politics of Latin America, helped me broaden my knowledge about politics in Latin American countries, especially because previous to taking this course I did not know much about the topic, I had studied it vaguely in SPAN 306. I was able to gain knowledge about this topic through exploring the history and politics of Latin American countries all the way from the Spanish conquest to modern day. Two of the countries that I truly enjoyed learning about were Cuba and Mexico. I enjoyed learning about Cuba’s history and politics because Cuba is a country that I have always had curiosity to visit and to learn about, and I enjoyed learning about México because it’s my home country, and I believe that in order to know about other countries one first has to know about its own.
Spanish 310, Hispanic Children’s Literature, allowed me to understand the complexity and the importance of Spanish language children’s literary works: fairy tales, essays, dramas, etc. Before taking this course I was not aware of the importance of this type literature, I thought it was just an entertainment medium for children but now after having taken this course which presents the elements of children's narrative: characterization, setting, narrative structure, pictures, and drawings I was able to see that literature is important through each and every stage of life. Not only did I learn about these elements through reading a vast amount of children books but also through writing about what I read and also by working individually and collaboratively with others. Some of the works in class that truly attributed to my knowledge about Hispanic Children’s Literature are: developing a theme presented on the book that can also be found outside on today’s society, developing a lesson plan and a play from a book and also a book to life through making a movie.
Spanish 321, Masterpieces of Hispanic Literature, is a continuation of Spanish 304. In Spanish 304 I was introduce to Spanish language literature but in this course I was able to study Spanish language literary texts from X-XX century more in depth. Here I revisited las Jarchas Mozarabes, la Celestina, el Cantar el Mio Cid, y Lazarillo deTormes. I also studied new texts from Alfonso X el Sabio, Cantigas, Las siete partidas, Juan Ruiz, El libro del buen amor, Don Juan Manuel, El conde Lucanor, San Juan de la Cruz, Canciones del alma, Garcilaso de la Vega, Bernal Díaz de Castillo, Historia verdadera de la conquista de Nueva España, José Zorrilla, Don Juan Tenorio, Mariano José de Larra, Don Timoteo el Literato, Miguel de Unamuno, San Manuel Bueno, mártir, Federico García Lorca, Romancero gitano among many others. All this texts helped me to understand Spanish literature as well as to see how it has evolved throughout the centuries.
Spanish 426, Narrativa Hispanoamericana, was one of the courses that I enjoyed the most while at CSUMB, it was a very intense class that somewhat challenge me because I had to read, understand and analyze texts on the daily basis. Here I learned about many Spanish American writers from the 20thcentury as well as about Latino cultures, societies, and values. To do this I read novels and short stories from Spanish American writers as well as watch Spanish American movies and documentaries. Some of the authors and texts that I read include: Gabriel García Márquez. Cien años de soledad, Carlos Fuentes, Aura, Julio Cortázar, Final del Juego. Luis Rafael Sánchez, La Guaracha de Macho Camacho, Jorge Luis Borges, El Aleph, Maria Luisa Valenzuela, Aquí pasan cosas raras, Elena Garro, La semana de colores, Miguel Ángel Asturias, El señor Presidente, Alejo Carpentier, Guerra del tiempo, and Adalberto Ortíz, Juyungo.
In SBS, 348, Mayan Civilization, I learned about the art, ideology, society, and culture of ancient Maya as well as from other Mesoamerican civilizations. Learning about this helped me to broaden my vision about the importance of ancient pre-Colombian cultures. To do this I read books, conducted research, presented in class and worked in team projects. My favorite projects and one that help me broaden my knowledge was studying, writing and presenting about Teotihuacan. As a whole the sum of these courses helped me to develop my understanding of the ways of thinking, behavioral practices and cultural products of Hispanic cultures.
Work Samples:
SPAN 304
Coplas
Mio Cid Campeador
Mester de Clerecia
SPAN 306
Test 1
Test 2.1
Test 2.2
Test 3
La historia oficial
Presentacion
Span 309:
Cuba_essay
La historia oficial_essay
Test 1 (Mexico)
Test 2 (Cuba)
Test 3 (South America)
Span 310:
Literary analyis
Adaptation of Son de Africa
Son de Africa movie
Presentation
SPAN 321
Exam 1
Exam 2
Literary Analisis Hispananic Masterpieces
SPAN 426:
Aura
La funebre en El Llano en llamas
100 años de soledad
Examen
Presentacion
