AP Spanish Literature
Course Description:
This course is comparable to a fifth or sixth semester college course in
advanced Spanish composition and/or conversation. In literature, the students will
read works of the required authors while analyzing prose, poetry, and drama both
orally and in writing. The fifth year course is even more challenging because it
presupposes a high level of language ability and requires a considerable amount
of reading as well as the acquisition of analytical skills. Only Spanish is used in
both instruction and student participation.
Course Objectives:
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Understand literary analysis through class discussions and compositions
implementing basic vocabulary of critical terms suggested by the College
Board website.
Make connections of authors and cultural time periods.
Comprehend the historical happenings and literary movements that
influence the authors’ themes and styles.
Enhance the students’ knowledge of traditions and cultural values.
Course Outline:
This course is divided into two semesters. The students are required to
read the authors suggested by the AP Spanish reading list in the AP Spanish
Course Description. The semesters are organized by authors and their works.
Before reading each piece, the students investigate the history of the time period
and the authors’ background to better understand the authors’ point of view. The
students are asked to analyze the pieces through class discussions and
compositions using advanced grammatical constructions and literary terms. There
is a continuation of grammar instruction to enable students to express their ideas
using a variety of higher order grammatical constructions.
Semester 1
Isabel Allende "Dos palabras"
Jorge Luis
Borges - "El sur"
Jorge Luis
Borges - La
muerte y la
brújala"
Julia de Burgos
- "A Julia de
Burgos"
Julio Cortázar "Continuidad de
los parques"
Julio Cortázar "La noche boca
arriba"
Gabriel Garcia
Márquez - "La
siesta de martes"
Gabriel Garcia
Márquez - "La
viuda de Montiel"
Gabriel Garcia
Márquez - "El
ahogado más
hermoso del
mundo"
Gabriel Garcia
Márquez - "Un
día de estos"
Gabriel Garcia
Márquez - "La
prodigiosa tarde
de Baltazar"
Gabriel Garcia
Márquez - "Un
señor muy viejo
con unas alas
enormes"
Semester 1 (continued)
Horacio Quiroga
- "El hijo"
Sabine Ulibarri "Mi caballo mago"
Juan Manuel,
Infante de
Castilla "Conde Lucanor:
Exemplo XXXV"
José de
Espronceda "Canción del
pirata"
José María
Heredia "En una
tempestad"
Emilia Pardo
Bazán -"Las
medias rojas"
Carlos Fuentes "Chac mool"
Nicolás Guillén "Balada de los
dos abuelos"
Anónimo "Romance del
Conde Arnaldos"
Gracilaso de la
Vega - "Soneto
XXIII ("En tanto
que de rosa y de
azucena")
Francisco de
Quevedo y
Villegas
"Heráclito
cristiano: Salmo
XVII ("Mire los
muros …"
Gabriel (Tirso de
Molina) Téllez El burlador de
Sevilla y
convidado de
piedra"
Anónimo "Romance de la
pérdida de
Alhama"
Gustavo Adolfo
Bécquer "Rimas IV".
Gustavo Adolfo
Bécquer "Rimas XI".
Gustavo Adolfo
Bécquer "Rimas LIII".
Nicolás Guillén "Sensemayá"
Semester 2
Anónimo "Lazarillo del
Tormes" Tratados 1,2,3, 7
Cervantes Capítulos I, II, III,
IV, V, VIII
Sor Juana Inés
de la Cruz - "En
perseguirme,
¿qué interesas?
Sor Juana Inés
de la Cruz "Hombres necios
que acusáis"
Julia de Burgos
- "A Julia de
Burgos"
Rosario de
Castellanos "Autorretrato"
Luis de Góngora
y Argote "Soneto CLXVI
("Mientras por
competir con tu
cabello")
Juan Manuel,
Infante de
Castilla "Conde Lucanor:
Exemplo XXXV"
Alvar Núñez
Cabeza de Vaca
- "Naufragios Cap. XII"
Alvar Núñez
Cabeza de Vaca
- "Naufragios Cap. XX"
Alvar Núñez
Cabeza de Vaca
- "Naufragios Cap. XXI"
Miguel de
Unamuno y
Jugo - "San
Manuel Bueno,
mártir
Antonio
Machado - "La
primavera
besaba"
Antonio
Machado "Caminante, son
tus abuelos"
Pablo Neruda "Oda a la
alcachofa"
Alfonsina Storni
- "Peso
ancestral"
Alfonsina Storni
- "Tú me quieres
blanca"
Antonio
Machado - "He
andado muchos
caminos"
Juan Rulfo "No oyes ladrar
los perros"
José Martí "Dos patrias"
José Martí "Versos
sencillos"
Ricardo Palma "El alacrán de
Fray Gomez"
Federico Garcia
Lorca - "La casa
de Bernarda Alba"
Mariano José de
Larra - "Vuelva Ud.
mañana"
Pablo Neruda "Residencia en la
Tierra 2,
"Walking around"
Federico Garcia
Lorca - "Dos
romances del
Romancero
gitano"
Pablo Neruda Veinte poemas de
amor… Poema 15
"Me gustas cuando
callas…"
Student Activities:
The goals for the student activities are:
1. Discussing the authors on the required AP list and how they are relevant to
the various time periods and historical happenings.
2. Studying the various authors’ lives and how their personal challenges are
reflected in the various themes found in their works.
3. Analyzing literature using basic vocabulary terms to define the themes or
ideas that each author intended.
4. Connecting the students’ previous knowledge of literature and expanding
it using the Spanish and Latin American literature.
5. Analyzing literature to connect the students’ experiences with the
universal themes reflected in the literary works.
6. Using literary analysis to expand the students’ knowledge by integrating
speaking and writing activities.
All course work is done in Spanish. The students and teacher are required to only
use Spanish in class discussions and writing activities. 30 % of the students’ grade
is class participation. Students are penalized if English is used.
Sample Student Activities:
1. The following is a sample from the packet given to each student at the
beginning of the school year. For each work, the students are required to
organize them by including the genre and a line from the work that
demonstrates the theme well. When the line is chosen, the students write a
reaction that explains the importance of it in comparison to the work. This
project allows the students to use critical and analytical skills to
communicate their ideas in the target language.
La Edad Media
Género
Cita de la obra
Página
Anónimo
“Romance de la pérdida de
Alhama” (“Ay de mi
Alhama”)
Escribe una reacción que explica la importancia de la cita escogida a la obra
(Composición de 75-100 palabras)
2. This class also uses team-building activities. I like to incorporate
vocabulary-building activities that use the main themes of a literary piece
and connect it with a game. For one game, we do the following:
a. We first brainstorm the various themes of a work.
b. Then, we choose a main theme of the reading.
c. The students are then put into two groups.
d. One student from each group is asked to be the secretary for
his/her group.
e. The students are allowed to use the text in this game.
f. The students are asked to look for words that demonstrate the
theme.
g. The two groups shout out the first word and the secretary writes it
on the board.
h. The next word chosen has to begin with the second letter of the
word written.
i. The teams continue shouting out words found from the text while
the secretary writes them down.
j. The team that cannot build a word from the previous one loses.
When we are finished, we look at each list to see if the words truly reflect
the theme. This allows the students to reconnect with the text and also
helps generate a great class discussion. We count up the amount of
relevant words and the team with the most words wins.
3. Compositions are also used in this class to demonstrate the students’
analytical skills. A variety of essay types is used each modeling after the
AP literature exam. The essay topics suggested by the Abriendo Puertas
book series are used frequently. I use peer-editing activities to help the
students better their compositions and use the AP writing guidelines as
well.
4. Timed essays are also used during class. The students receive the topic
and 40 minutes to write it. The AP writing guidelines are used along with
my own rubric.
5. Practice exams are used to help students analyze reading samples. The
students are also timed in these activities.
Bibliography
Abriendo Puertas Antología de literature en español Tomo I. Illinois: Nextext,
2003.
Abriendo Puertas Antología de literature en español Tomo II. Illinois: Nextext,
2003.
Adey, Margaret, and Louis Albini. Tesoro Literario. New York: Glencoe
McGraw-Hill, 1997.
Colbert, Ana, María Colbert, Abby Kanter, Marisol Maura, and Marian Sugano.
Azulejo. MA: Wayside, 2002.
Leech, Mary. Cracking the AP Spanish Exam. New York: Random House Inc.,
2006.
Zayas-Bazán, Eduardo, Susan M. Bacon, and Dulce García. Conexiones.
New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999.