Course objectives:
This course studies three Spanish Golden Age classics; works that are equally known outside Spain as in Spain. All named after its main characters, they tell human stories which appeal to readers in all countries and in all times. Don Quixote is a founding work of modern Western literature and one of the earliest canonical novels, which regularly appears high on lists of the greatest works of fiction ever published. Lazarillo de Tormesis is credited with founding a literary genre, the picaresque novel from the Spanish word pícaro, meaning "rogue" or "rascal." In novels of this type, the adventures of the pícaro expose injustice while amusing the reader. El burlador de Sevilla is an anthology favourite and the main source of the myth of the iconic lover Don Juan.
What do these characters and these works of literature tell us in Guelph, Ontario at the turn of the twenty first century?
Learning outcomes:
- to discuss the notion of a classic
- to understand questions of practicality, idealism, and morality
- to analyze how artistic works represent and fashion visions of the world
- to assess the importance of literature
- to ask important questions
- to develop informed arguments centred on a single thesis statement
- to learn to build on one’s work, and the importance of editing
Requirements:
HISP*2990 [1] or SPAN*2990 [2]
Restrictions:
None
Textbooks:
TBA
Method of presentation:
Interactive lectures, and student presentations.
Evaluation method:
TBA
More information about the courses can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar [3]
