Syllabus Development Guide: AP® Spanish Literature and Culture
The guide contains the following sections and information:
Curricular Requirements
The curricular requirements are the core elements of the course. Your syllabus must provide clear evidence that
each requirement is fully addressed in your course.
Scoring Components
Some curricular requirements consist of complex, multipart statements. These particular requirements are broken
down into their component parts, and restated as “scoring components.” Reviewers will look for evidence that
each scoring component is included in your course.
Evaluation Guideline(s)
These are the evaluation criteria that describe the level and type of evidence required to satisfy each scoring
component.
Key Term(s)
These ensure that certain terms or expressions, within the curricular requirement or scoring component that may
have multiple meanings, are clearly defined.
Samples of Evidence
For each scoring component, three separate samples of evidence are provided. These statements provide clear descriptions of what acceptable
evidence should look like.
Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Contents
Page
Curricular Requirement 1
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Curricular Requirement 2
4
Curricular Requirement 3
5
Scoring Component 3a
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Scoring Component 3b
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Scoring Component 3c
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Scoring Component 3d
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Scoring Component 3e
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Scoring Component 3f
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Curricular Requirement 4
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Curricular Requirement 5
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Curricular Requirement 6
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Curricular Requirement 7
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Scoring Component 7a
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Scoring Component 7b
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Curricular Requirement 8
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Scoring Component 8a
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Scoring Component 8b
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Curricular Requirement 9
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Curricular Requirement 10
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Curricular Requirement 11
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Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Curricular Requirement 1
The course is structured to allow students to complete the entire required reading list published in the AP®
Spanish Literature and Culture Curriculum Framework.
Evaluation Guideline(s)
The syllabus must cite the entire reading list including authors, titles, and required selections of longer texts.
Key Term(s)
None at this time.
Samples of Evidence
1. The syllabus includes a complete list of all of the required readings with the names of the authors, the titles of the required works, and in the
case of the longer works, the specific selections to be read.
2. The course planner lists in chronological order all required names of authors, titles of works, and selections to be read.
3. The entire AP® Spanish Literature and Culture reading list appears as Lecturas obligatorias, and it includes all required works and selections.
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Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Curricular Requirement 2
The teacher uses Spanish almost exclusively in class and encourages students to do likewise.
Evaluation Guideline(s)
The syllabus must explicitly state that both the instructor and the students use Spanish almost exclusively in
class.
Key Term(s)
None at this time.
Samples of Evidence
1. All communication in the AP Spanish Literature and Culture class is carried out in Spanish, and class participation grades reflect the
requirement that students use Spanish almost exclusively in the classroom.
2. The course is conducted completely in Spanish, and it provides students with the opportunity to demonstrate proficiency in Spanish across
the three modes of communication: interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational.
3. The syllabus states that, “I teach the course in Spanish and require all students to speak Spanish at all times”. All assignments and activities
are conducted in Spanish.
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Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Curricular Requirement 3
The course explicitly addresses each of the six course themes: Las sociedades en contacto, La construcción del
género, El tiempo y el espacio, Las relaciones interpersonales, La dualidad del ser, and La creación literaria.
Scoring Component 3a
The course explicitly addresses the theme: Las sociedades en contacto.
Evaluation Guideline(s)
The syllabus must tie at least one work from the reading list to an activity that prompts students to focus on this
theme. Simply stating that Las sociedades en contacto is covered is not sufficient evidence.
Key Term(s)
None at this time.
Samples of Evidence
1. To better understand the theme Las sociedades en contacto, students will read “Romance de la pérdida de Alhama” and listen to selections
from Noches de Encuentros: Alhambra. In connection with this activity, students also take a virtual walking tour of the Alhambra and write a
journal entry that connects the theme to what they have listened to and read.
2. After studying Martí’s and Darío’s works, students will compare messages from these selections related to the theme of Las sociedades en
contacto to the lyrics of the song “América” by José Luis Perales.
3. Lazarillo de Tormes will be used to present the theme of Las sociedades en contacto. The students write a composition, analyzing how the
theme is expressed in this work.
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Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Curricular Requirement 3
The course explicitly addresses each of the six course themes: Las sociedades en contacto, La construcción del
género, El tiempo y el espacio, Las relaciones interpersonales, La dualidad del ser, and La creación literaria.
Scoring Component 3b
The course explicitly addresses the theme: La construcción del género.
Evaluation Guideline(s)
The syllabus must tie at least one work from the reading list to an activity that prompts students to focus on this
theme. Simply stating that La construcción del género is covered is not sufficient evidence.
Key Term(s)
None at this time.
Samples of Evidence
1. After reading Sor Juana’s “Redondillas,” students compare them to the lyrics of “Dime que no” by Ricardo Arjona; a group discussion
will follow. Students then create a dialogue (interview, poem, one-act play) between Sor Juana and Don Juan to address the theme of La
construcción del género.
2. As students read Morejón’s “Mujer negra,” they are provided with a list of questions that will lead to student short responses related to the
theme of La construcción del género.
3. Students will complete a graphic organizer on gender stereotypes based on their reading of Storni’s poem and their listening to Pedro
Fernández sing “Dicen que los hombres no deben llorar.” Students will then discuss their notes in small groups.
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Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Curricular Requirement 3
The course explicitly addresses each of the six course themes: Las sociedades en contacto, La construcción del
género, El tiempo y el espacio, Las relaciones interpersonales, La dualidad del ser, and La creación literaria.
Scoring Component 3c
The course explicitly addresses the theme: el tiempo y el espacio.
Evaluation Guideline(s)
The syllabus must tie at least one work from the reading list to an activity that prompts students to focus on this
theme. Simply stating that El tiempo y el espacio is covered is not sufficient evidence.
Key Term(s)
None at this time.
Samples of Evidence
1. F
or a deeper understanding of Quevedo’s concept of Memento mori, students research the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and look
at Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg’s 1796 painting. Students then write a short essay analyzing the theme of El tiempo y el espacio as
reflected in these works.
2. The theme will be introduced by studying Salvador Dalí’s 1931 painting La persistencia de la memoria. Definitions of time and space will be
presented and a discussion will follow about how these are perceived. Students will do research on famous quotes on carpe diem. A brief
oral presentation will be required.
3. Students will view and discuss Carlos Fuentes’s “Conflict of the Gods” from his series El espejo enterrado. This episode focuses on the
rediscovery of the ancient Aztec temples. His quote “Entonces supimos que lo que habíamos creído muerto en realidad estaba vivo” will be
analyzed and connected to “Chac Mool.” Students will answer the question: How does Fuentes’s perspective change between this short story
(1954) and the documentary (1992)?
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Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Curricular Requirement 3
The course explicitly addresses each of the six course themes: Las sociedades en contacto, La construcción del
género, El tiempo y el espacio, Las relaciones interpersonales, La dualidad del ser, and La creación literaria.
Scoring Component 3d
The course explicitly addresses the theme: Las relaciones interpersonales.
Evaluation Guideline(s)
The syllabus must tie at least one work from the reading list to an activity that prompts students to focus on this
theme. Simply stating that Las relaciones interpersonales is covered is not sufficient evidence.
Key Term(s)
None at this time.
Samples of Evidence
1. S
tudents will read a selection from La casa de Bernarda Alba and then analyze scenes from the 1987 Spanish film version with the goal of
enhancing their understanding of the theme: Las relaciones interpersonales.
2. Students have a small-group discussion to consider how the theme of Las relaciones interpersonales in Rulfo’s and Quiroga’s short stories
relates to the Essential Question: ¿Cómo se transforman las personas en sus relaciones con otros? Students then share their findings with
the class.
3. After studying “Las medias rojas,” students will analyze the lyrics of the 2005 song “Malo” by Spanish artist Bebe in order to write a short
comparative essay on the theme of Las relaciones interpersonales.
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Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Curricular Requirement 3
The course explicitly addresses each of the six course themes: Las sociedades en contacto, La construcción del
género, El tiempo y el espacio, Las relaciones interpersonales, La dualidad del ser, and La creación literaria.
Scoring Component 3e
The course explicitly addresses the theme: La dualidad del ser.
Evaluation Guideline(s)
The syllabus must tie at least one work from the reading list to an activity that prompts students to focus on this
theme. Simply stating that La dualidad del ser is covered is not sufficient evidence.
Key Term(s)
None at this time.
Samples of Evidence
1. S
tudents will read a brief selection from Martín Fierro by José Hernández. They will write a short response, answering the question: ¿Por qué
es Martín Fierro el gaucho que desea ser el Juan Dahlman de Borges? They will watch the last five minutes of the RTVE production of El sur
and compare it with their own response to the short story.
2. After reading “Borges y yo,” students write an analytical essay responding to the Essential Question: ¿Cómo afectan los contextos culturales
e históricos la manera en la que un individuo expresa su identidad?
3. Once Julia de Burgos’s text has been read and analyzed, students will study Frida Kahlo’s 1939 painting Las dos Fridas; then, by using a
graphic organizer, students will prepare an oral presentation comparing and contrasting the theme of identity in both works.
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Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Curricular Requirement 3
The course explicitly addresses each of the six course themes: Las sociedades en contacto, La construcción del
género, El tiempo y el espacio, Las relaciones interpersonales, La dualidad del ser, and La creación literaria.
Scoring Component 3f
The course explicitly addresses the theme: La creación literaria.
Evaluation Guideline(s)
The syllabus must tie at least one work from the reading list to an activity that prompts students to focus on this
theme. Simply stating that La creación literaria is covered is not sufficient evidence.
Key Term(s)
None at this time.
Samples of Evidence
1. A
fter reading the “Romance de la pérdida de Alhama,” students will write a romance, present it orally in class, and describe their creative
process.
2. Essential questions such as “¿Qué motiva o influye al escritor a crear literatura?” and organizing concepts such as the creative process, the
writing and its context, and intertextuality, provide the framework for small-group discussions based on the work San Manuel Bueno, mártir.
3. Don Quijote will be used to present the theme of La creación literaria, and students will write a composition analyzing the theme and how it
is expressed in this work.
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Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Curricular Requirement 4
The course provides opportunities for students to discuss literary texts in a variety of interactive formats.
Evaluation Guideline(s)
The syllabus must describe more than one activity or assignment where students engage in discussions of literary
texts. It must also include more than one type of interactive format.
Key Term(s)
Interactive formats: examples could include debates, class discussion, group discussions, etc.
Samples of Evidence
1. Students will participate in rotating groups to discuss how La casa de Bernarda Alba represents a “documento fotográfico de las mujeres
en los pueblos de España”; working in pairs, they will draw parallels between the depiction of women in this work and their portrayal in
“Hombres necios que acusáis.”
2. Students will debate whether the death of Ignacio at the end of “No oyes ladrar los perros” constitutes poetic justice or not, and will divide
into pairs to determine which, in their opinion, are the two special words in “Dos palabras.”
3. Working in groups of three, students will devise three questions related to “Chac Mool” and then exchange the questions with another group
who will provide answers; the class will discuss dream versus reality in “La noche boca arriba.”
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Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Curricular Requirement 5
The course provides opportunities for students to analyze the relevance of literary texts to historical,
sociocultural, and geopolitical contexts.
Evaluation Guideline(s)
The syllabus must describe at least one activity or assignment where the presence of historical, sociocultural, and
geopolitical contexts from the works is studied.
Key Term(s)
None at this time.
Samples of Evidence
1. After reading Quevedo’s poem, students will discuss its content as it relates to the defeat of the Spanish Armada (Memento mori).
2. Students research background information on a specific author’s life and time period. They will then produce a PowerPoint presentation that
connects the author to the cultural and historical content in his or her particular literary work.
3. In an essay, students will analyze Lazarillo in relation to his three masters and 16th-century Spanish society.
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Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Curricular Requirement 6
The course provides opportunities for students to learn and apply literary terminology to the analysis of a variety
of texts representing different genres and time periods.
Evaluation Guideline(s)
The syllabus must describe more than one activity or assignment in which students apply specific literary
terminology to texts representing different genres and periods.
Key Term(s)
None at this time.
Samples of Evidence
1. Students learn literary terms related to dramatic and poetic texts and apply them in a comparative analysis of passages from Lorca and Tirso.
2. Students are assigned a list of literary terms to identify and apply in their analysis of Rivera’s ... y no se lo tragó la tierra and Dragún’s El
hombre que se convirtió en perro.
3. Students are assigned to read the poem “En una tempestad” and analyze it contrasting the literary devices in this poem with those in the
essay “Nuestra América.”
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Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Curricular Requirement 7
The course provides opportunities for students to relate artistic representations and audiovisual materials to the
course content.
Scoring Component 7a
The course provides opportunities for students to relate artistic representations to the course content.
Evaluation Guideline(s)
The syllabus must describe at least one activity or assignment where students connect artistic representations to
the course content.
Key Term(s)
Artistic representations: works created by known artists such as, paintings, sculptures, photographs, etc.
Samples of Evidence
1. S
tudents will compare the woman depicted in Sandro Botticelli’s 1486 painting The Birth of Venus to women described in Garcilaso’s and
Góngora’s poems.
2. Students select a work of art from a museum website that in their opinion best depicts the setting and mood in “No oyes ladrar los perros”
and then explain their choice in a short oral presentation.
3. Students will create an exhibit using different works of art, created by artists, that relate to the themes and the historical and cultural
contexts they read about in Lazarillo de Tormes. Students will then do a gallery walk to listen to their classmates’ presentations on these
connections between art and text.
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Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Curricular Requirement 7
The course provides opportunities for students to relate artistic representations and audiovisual materials to the
course content.
Scoring Component 7b
The course provides opportunities for students to relate audiovisual materials in Spanish to the course content.
Evaluation Guideline(s)
The syllabus must describe at least one activity or assignment where students connect audiovisual resources in
Spanish to the course content.
Key Term(s)
Audiovisual materials: examples could include interviews, recitations of poetry, documentaries, etc.
Samples of Evidence
1. As part of a presentation of the works by Cortázar and Borges, students view interviews with the authors on YouTube and relate the authors’
comments to another required reading for the course.
2. After watching scenes from the 1987 Spanish film La Casa de Bernarda Alba (directed by Mario Camus), students will analyze various themes
in Lorca’s play in their reader’s journals.
3. Students orally present a poem and then listen to the same poem as presented by a professional reading of the poem and compare the
differences through a short response.
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Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Curricular Requirement 8
The course provides opportunities for students to write short responses and analytical essays related to literary
texts, using language appropriate for literary analysis.
Scoring Component 8a
The course provides opportunities for students to write short responses in Spanish.
Evaluation Guideline(s)
The syllabus must demonstrate that students write more than one short response in Spanish.
Key Term(s)
Short responses: examples could include text explication, short personal responses to a text, responses to a
specific question, short text and art comparisons, etc.
Samples of Evidence
1. S
tudents regularly make entries in a journal in which they identify one or two significant quotations from a literary work and then explain the
quotation.
2. After studying different literary movements, students write short responses in Spanish in which they identify the author of a given passage
and explain the development of an important theme.
3. Students watch the last five minutes of the 1946 Mexican film Enamorada (directed by Emilio Fernández) and write a short response in which
they relate it to “Dos palabras.” Students then write another short response in Spanish where they identify a text of their choice and relate it
either to the film or “Dos palabras.”
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Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Curricular Requirement 8
The course provides opportunities for students to write short responses and analytical essays related to literary
texts, using language appropriate to literary analysis.
Scoring Component 8b
The course provides opportunities for students to write analytical essays in Spanish.
Evaluation Guideline(s)
The syllabus must demonstrate that students write more than one analytical essay in Spanish.
Key Term(s)
None at this time.
Samples of Evidence
1. S
tudents write an analytical essay where they evaluate the neoclassical and romantic elements in “En una tempestad”; students compose an
essay in which they compare the structure, themes, and rhetorical devices in the sonnets by Góngora and Garcilaso.
2. Students write an essay in which they explain the internal narrative structure of “No oyes ladrar los perros”; they write a second essay in
which they analyze the dramatic structure of El burlador de Sevilla.
3. Students write an essay in which they compare the structure and content of the medieval romance with the one by Lorca; students discuss
the mundonovista elements in “A Roosevelt.”
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Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Curricular Requirement 9
The course provides opportunities for students to analyze cultural products, practices, or perspectives referenced
in literary texts.
Evaluation Guideline(s)
The syllabus must include more than one activity focusing on products and practices seeking to foster an
understanding of perspectives referenced in literary texts. The syllabus includes activities that engage students in
their understanding of cultural perspectives as revealed in products and practices.
Key Term(s)
Products: cultural products may be tangible artifacts created by humans (e.g., a monument, a garment) or they
may be intangible results of human work or thought (e.g., an oral tale, a law). Products reflect the beliefs and
values (perspectives) of a culture.
Practices: cultural practices are patterns of behavior accepted by a society (e.g., rites of passage, child rearing, use
of linguistic register, and forms of address in a conversation). They represent the knowledge of “what to do, when,
and where” in a society.
Perspectives: cultural perspectives are the underlying beliefs and values of a society. These ideas and attitudes
serve as a base from which cultural practices are derived; they also justify the presence of cultural products.
For example, the beliefs and values of a culture concerning interpretations of death (perspectives) influence how
members of that culture mourn the loss of a loved one (practices) and the artifacts (e.g., an obituary) that are
created to mark the passing or commemorate the life of that person (products).
Samples of Evidence
1. In small groups, students discuss how different generations from La casa de Bernarda Alba view the relationship between men and women.
Students then write a response comparing what they discussed to their own perceptions of male/female relationships.
2. Students discuss the Essential Question: ¿Cómo se asimilan los miembros de una minoría cultural a las costumbres y las perspectivas de la
mayoría dominante? as they study Rivera’s text … y no se lo tragó la tierra and then analyze the similarities between the protagonists in the
work by Rivera and in Lazarillo de Tormes.
3. Students will analyze the different cultural perspectives found in “La siesta del martes” and relate it to the theme Las sociedades en
contacto.
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Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Curricular Requirement 10
The course provides opportunities for students to compare literary texts produced in different historical contexts.
Evaluation Guideline(s)
The syllabus must describe at least one activity where students compare literary texts produced in at least two
different historical contexts.
Key Term(s)
None at this time.
Samples of Evidence
1. Students analyze how protagonists overcome obstacles in Lazarillo de Tormes and “Dos palabras.”
2. Students will write an essay comparing and contrasting the ending in Tirso’s and Zorrilla’s plays.
3. Students analyze the theme La construcción del género using Sor Juana’s and Storni’s poems.
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Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Syllabus Development Guide: AP Spanish Literature and Culture
Curricular Requirement 11
The course includes activities within and beyond the classroom setting for students to reinforce their
understanding of literary texts.
Evaluation Guideline(s)
The syllabus must provide at least one example of how the students reinforce their understanding of literary texts
through activities that connect with communities within and beyond the classroom.
Key Term(s)
Activities beyond the classroom: examples could include attending a play in Spanish, visiting a virtual museum,
offering a recital of poems to music, participating in a poetry-writing contest, etc.
Samples of Evidence
1. In a “meeting of the minds” activity, students will play the roles of Francisco de Quevedo, Antonio Machado, and Pablo Neruda and will
discuss their perspectives on their disillusion with their respective societies. They will present this discussion to other AP Spanish Literature
students via the Internet.
2. Students will enhance their understanding of texts by using the Internet to visit the places depicted in one of the literary works studied in
class and will share this information with the class.
3. Students attend (in person or by viewing online) lectures, film nights, performances, or other cultural events conducted in Spanish and relate
the event to one of the required readings via a journal entry.
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