SPA 270: ANÁLISIS TEXTUAL (TEXTUAL ANALYSIS)
Prof. Melissa M. González
E-mail: megonzalez@davidson.edu
SPA 270, Fall 2013, T/Th
Sections B (12:15-1:30) & C (1:40-2:55)
Chambers 2230
Telephone: 894-2245
Office Hours
Drop-in: Tues. & Thurs. 3:10-4:45
By appointment: Wed. 9:15-10:30 & 2:30-5
(schedule Wednesday visits via Outlook
meeting request)
Office: Chambers 2256
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course introduces students both the methodologies of literary and cultural analysis as well as
to a selection of canonical and contemporary texts, in the field of Hispanic Studies. While we will
focus primarily on literary texts and the art of the close reading, we will also analyze other cultural
forms, including films.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES







Acquire an introductory knowledge of central concepts in literary and cultural theory
Practice and perfect close reading techniques
Use literary and rhetorical terms correctly for the purposes of analysis
Apply literary analysis to other cultural forms
Familiarize oneself with major literary and historical trends as well as canonical works
Develop academic reading and writing skills in Spanish
Produce a cogent argument about a text supported by appropriate evidence
REQUIRED TEXTS

www.rae.es (diccionario de la Real Academia Española), a Spain-focused dictionary that
includes etymologies

Our class site, http://sites.davidson.edu/spa270bfall13/, with links to PDFs of articles and
short readings
Other recommended dictionaries:
www.wordreference.com (Use the forums, and your good judgment, for hard-to-find idioms)
María Moliner. Diccionario de uso del español (Available in the library)
Gran diccionario español-inglés, Larousse (Available in the library)
The Oxford Spanish-English Dictionary (Available in the library)
PARTICIPATION
Consistent participation is crucial to the goals of the class and weighs heavily upon your final grade. If
you are unsure of how your participation is being evaluated, come speak to me in office hours. I
realize that speaking a language other than your native one can be anxiety-inducing, regardless of
what level you’re at, but learning to overcome your own affective barrier is an important component
of learning Spanish. Please come speak to me in office hours about strategies for dealing with these
issues. If you are unsure about how I am evaluating your participation at any time, please come to
office hours.
Completing the reading and marking up the text with notes is a key part of participation. There may
be unannounced reading quizzes during the semester, which will test your grasp of the material and
be factored into the participation grade.
EMAIL POLICIES
 You are expected to check your email daily to read important announcements regarding our
class.
 I aim to reply to all e-mails within 48 hours during the semester, not including weekends. If
ever I do not respond to an e-mail within 48 hours, please e-mail me again. Sometimes e-mails
get caught in the spam folder or get buried under the sometimes very large number of e-mails
I receive daily.
 If you want a quick response, e-mail during office hours. Please do not expect a quick
response in the evening or on the weekends.
 Please do not send e-mails asking for information that you could find with minimal effort on
the syllabus, our site, or the web. I may or may not respond to such e-mails. If you need
information about anything you missed because you were not in class, please come to office
hours instead of e-mailing.
DISABILITY POLICY
Full accommodations are the legal right of students with all types of disabilities. If you are a student
with a disability documented by Davidson College who might need accommodations, please identify
yourself to me within the first week or two of class so that I can learn from you as early as possible
how best to work with your learning style. Students with other disabilities are also encouraged to
self-identify so that we can explore accommodations that will enhance your learning experience. All
such conversations will be fully confidential unless you otherwise stipulate.
ELECTRONICS IN THE CLASSROOM
Because computer screens block faces and provide distraction, please take notes by hand. Tablets and
iPads are acceptable devices for referring to your text during class because they are flat and do not
block faces. On the other hand, because marking up our readings is a crucial part of your work for the
course, you may only use digital reading devices if you also know how to use them to annotate.
If you feel that special circumstances warrant your bringing a laptop to class, please speak with me
about it. Please remember to silence your cell phones and always refrain from text messaging
during class.
ATTENDANCE
Regular and prepared attendance is a course requirement; if you must be absent, always give me an
honest explanation before or immediately after the absence via e-mail. More than three unexcused
absences will result in your final grade being lowered by a third (a B becomes a B-), and this
will repeat for each additional absence. According to College Policy, missing a substantial
number of classes will result in automatic failure of the course. You are responsible for
determining and completing any work that you miss because of an excused or unexcused absence.
LATE ASSIGNMENTS & EXTENSION POLICY
You are expected to complete all readings, viewings, and assignments on time; even if you are not in
class the day it is due, it is still due. Grades on late assignments will be reduced 10% for every day
they are late. Extensions will not be granted at the last minute, but if you have several projects
due at the same time and contact me at least 5 days in advance, you may have one extension per
semester. You must set up an alternative due date when you take your extension. Use it wisely.
HONOR CODE
It is not against the Honor Code to use Spanish spell-check for this class. You may also use Spanish
grammar check, but use both with discretion. As electronic tools, these resources do not serve as
substitutes for the human brain. It is your good judgment that will enable these tools to work for you.
I recommend you pay close attention to the suggestions so that you can learn from them, rather than
allowing the tools to do the work for you. If you have any questions about the readings, please use
them as an opportunity to deepen your learning by visiting my office or sharing your questions with
the class. All written assignments involving research must follow MLA research guidelines. Never
take credit for someone else’s ideas or words and always document your sources. Cheating,
plagiarism, lying, and stealing will not be tolerated. All violations of the Honor Code will be reported
to the Honor Committee.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Visit http://sites.davidson.edu/ctl/students/ for information about the services provided by the
Writing and Speaking Centers as well as other types of tutoring available to all students for free
during drop-in hours. Ask about special hours with Spanish tutors who work for the Writing and
Speaking Centers.
COURSEWORK SPECIFIC TO THIS CLA SS
Comentarios de texto
Beginning in Week 3, after we have practiced close reading, students will be required to post
“comentarios de textos” and analyses that apply recently acquired theoretical terms on the class blog
on a weekly basis.
Instructions will be posted on the blog. Half of the class will sign up to post on Tuesday, and the other
half on Thursday.
Students will come to Office Hours to discuss their comentarios de texto before Thanksgiving Break.
Three Reviews/Exams
There will be two in-class reviews during the semester, and one take-home review at the end. Each
counts for 10% of the final grade. Basic information about the material covered is listed on the
Schedule of Readings; more detailed information will be given before each exam during class.
Paper
Students will write a paper, in two stages, applying the theoretical knowledge and close reading skills
they have acquired throughout the semester, on a topic of their choice. Detailed instructions will be
posted on the course blog.
GRADING
The final grade will be calculated in the following manner:
Class Participation & Blog Comments ....................................15%
Blog Posts with Close Readings ................................................15%
First Draft ...........................................................................................15%
Final Paper.........................................................................................25%
Three Exams .....................................................................................30%
Grade Scale:
100-95 A
90-94.9 A88-89.9 B+
83-87.9 B
80-82.9 B76-79.9 C+
72-75.9 C
68-71.9 C63-67.9 D+
59-62.9 D
54-58.9 D0-54 F
Week 1: August 27
Week 2: September 3
Week 3: September 10
Week 4: September 17
Tuesday
 Introducción al curso


Eagleton, “What is Literature?”
Wordpress basic training


W.K. Wimsatt y Monroe Beardsley,
“The Affective Fallacy,”
“The Intentional Fallacy”

“Introducción a la poesía”

Sor Juana, selected poems



Góngora, selected poems
Quevedo, selected poems
Schlovsky, “Arte como artificio”

Harold Bloom, “Prologue” and
“introduction” to The Anxiety of
Influence (“Prólogo” e
“Introducción” a La ansiedad de
la
influencia[http://tinyurl.com/aeqk
u4b])

Rubén Darío, “El cisne”


Delmira agustini, “El cisne”
Molloy, “Dos lecturas del cisne: Rubén
Darío y Delmira Agustini”

Bécquer, selected poems
Week 5: September 24 First Review (in class)
Covering:
Week 6: October 1

Concepts from Weeks 1-4

Cervantes, selections from Don
Quijote
Spitzer, “On the Significance of
Don Quijote”

Ortega y Gasset, selections from
Meditaciones del Quijote
Unamuno, San Manuel Bueno,
mártir (primera mitad)

Unamuno, San Manuel Bueno, mártir
(segunda mitad)

Week 7: October 8
Week 8: October 15
Thursday
 Don Juan Manuel “Lo que sucedió a un
mozo que casó con una muchacha de
muy mal carácter”
 Saussure, “The Nature of the Linguistic
Sign”

NO CLASS (Fall Break)
Second Review
Covering:


PROGRAMA DE LECTURAS
Metric analysis of poetry
Concepts from Weeks 5-6

Dates from Weeks 1-7
Week 9: October 22

Marx and Engels, “The
Communist Manifesto”

Neruda, selected poems
Week 10: October 29

Emilia Pardo Bazán, “Las medias
rojas”

Rosario Ferré “La autenticidad de la
mujer en el arte”
Nancy Morejón, selected poems

Week 11: November 5

Gabriela Mistral, selections from
Sonetos de la muerte
Licia Fiol Matta, selections from
Queer Mother for the Nation

Carpentier, “Prólogo” a El reino de este
mundo


Barthes, “El mensaje fotográfico”
Cortázar, “Las babas del diablo”

García Márquez, selections from Cien
años de soledad

Dorfman y Mattelart, “Para leer al
pato Donald”
Fuguet y Gómez, “Presentación
del país McOndo”


Amores Perros
Cómo analizar cine

Week 12: November
12
Wednesday, Nov. 11:
Section B First Draft
due. Sign up for a 30
min appt. this
Wednesday 9:00am7:00pm
Week 13: November
19

Wednesday, Nov. 20:
Section C First Draft
due. Sign up for a 30
min appt. this
Wednesday 9:00am7:00pm
Week 14: November 26 Reading TBD
NO CLASS (Thanksgiving)
Monday, November
25: Deadline to select
your Final Paper due
date.
Week 15: December 3

Griselda Gambaro, Antigona
furiosa
December 13-19 (Final Review 3 during the Final Exam Period
Exam Period)
(take-home)
Covering:

Concepts, dates, and readings
from Weeks 9-15


Griselda Gambaro, Antigona furiosa
Diana Taylor, “Caught in the Spectacle”