SPAN 49oo: Don Quijote 1 SPAN 4900 Don Quijote Spring 2016 Utah State University T/Th 3:00-4:15 p.m. Old Main 326 Felipe Valencia [email protected] Office: Old Main 002A Office Hours: Th 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Pablo Picasso, Don Quijote (1955) BANNER COURSE DESCRIPTION Select topics of Spanish cultural production, such as literature, art, cinema, or music. Prerequisite/Restriction: At least two of the following: SPAN 3600, SPAN 3610, SPAN 3620, SPAN 3630, SPAN 3640, SPAN 3650, SPAN 3660; or permission of instructor. Repeatable for credit when topics change Semester(s). EXTENDED COURSE DESCRIPTION What is it about Don Quixote’s tilting at windmills and acting as if life followed the rules of fiction that has captivated the imagination of so many writers and thinkers ever since it was written in Spain four hundred years ago? This course explores Cervantes’s Don Quijote (1605 and 1615) by paying special attention to its literary and historical context in early modern Spain, and the theoretical problems it has raised in literary theory. We will think about Cervantes’s innovations in narrative technique, the possibility of interpretation, and the nature of fiction and reality. Students will acquire tools of literary analysis and theory. In Spanish. COURSE OBJECTIVES By the end of the semester, students in this course will have learned: • Thorough knowledge of the text and main interpretations of Cervantes’s Don Quijote. • Familiarity with the literature and history of Spain in the early modern period. • Strategies for close reading, literary analysis, critical thinking, and interpretation of cultural artifacts. SPAN 49oo: Don Quijote 2 • Improved oral, aural, writing and reading skills in Spanish. REQUIRED FOR PURCHASE AT THE USUBOOKSTORE Cervantes, Miguel de. Don Quijote. Ed. Tom Lathrop. Ill. Jack Davis. Newark, Del.: Juan de la Cuesta, 2013. All other required readings will be available through the library or Canvas. COURSE WEBSITES Moodle Site: <https://usu.instructure.com/courses/395577> COURSE COMPONENTS Components Percentage of the Grade 1. Class participation 25% 2. Discussion questions 25% 3. Presentation in class 20% 4. Final exam 30% 5. Meetings with the professor 1. Class participation: Students are expected to come prepared, having read all the assigned texts and completed the required homework, and ready and willing to discuss ideas in a collegiate atmosphere. This means that students will have a firm grasp on the material and actively talk— pose questions, offer and challenge interpretations, and formulate hypotheses—in the discussions facilitated by the professor. The grade for class participation will be the average of four separate grades, one for each month. 2. Discussion questions: The discussion questions will be short and very clear questions that reflect students’ own queries or thoughts on the reading assigned for the day, raising issues that s/he would like to have discussed in class. The questions will be uploaded to Canvas by 11:30 a.m. before the indicated session. The professor needs time before his classes and lunchtime to examine the questions and incorporate them to the lesson plan. Any question posted after 11:30 a.m. will not count, and the grade for that question shall be 0. Given the size of the class, students will be divided into three groups (A through C) at the beginning of the semester. For each indicated class, only one group is responsible for formulating questions. All students, however, must read the questions of the day and be prepared to address them before coming to class. The grade for discussion questions will be the average of the grades for each of the nine questions. 3. Presentation in class: On the indicated class, a group of 2 or 3 students will present on a passage or topic, determined by the professor. The students are free to choose the format: from a formal presentation to leading discussion. They will be expected to carefully research and read at least 3 or 4 pieces of criticism on the subject of the presentation. Without exception, they must send the instructor a full outline of what they intend to do 48 hours before class, including the bibliography they have consulted. SPAN 49oo: Don Quijote 3 4. Final exam: Students will have three hours to answer two questions from a choice of four. The exam will take place on the date assigned by the registrar. 5. Meetings with the professor: Students will hold at least one mandatory meeting with the professor during his office hours throughout the semester: on March 15, 17 or 24. GRADING SCALE B+ = 87-89% C+ = 77-79% D+ = 67-69% A = 94-100% B = 84-86% C = 74-76% D = 64-66% A- = 90-93% B- = 80-83% C- = 70-73% F = 0-63% GENERAL POLICIES AND CLASSROOM CONDUCT • Absences: Students may have three unexcused absences (no questions asked), but must turn in the assigned work no later than two days after class. Students are responsible for keeping track of their absences. Each unexcused absence after the first three detracts 0.5% from the final grade. Only three types of absences are excused: a) the student is celebrating a religious holiday and has notified the professor at least one day in advance; b) the student has a medical or family emergency, and has either gone to the campus health center or spoken to a dean; and c) the student is representing USU in a sporting event off-campus, and has shown proper documentation from the athletics department at the beginning of the semester. • Deadlines: Turning in assignments past the deadline without a valid excuse is inadmissible, and students should not expect the professor to accept the late work. Students should also be aware that the professor is not responsible for reminding them of missed deadlines. • Grading: The professor will provide rubrics detailing the expectations for each assignment and how they are evaluated and graded. • Classroom conduct: Students are expected to behave in a respectful and attentive manner toward their peers and the professor. Students should arrive to class on time, refrain from engaging in personal conversations, texting or checking of personal e-mail during class, and listen to the professor and their peers in silence and with full attention. • Phones: Unless needed due to a disability, students are not allowed to use phones (smart or otherwise) or recording devices in the classroom. If the student expects an emergency call, the professor must be notified at the beginning of class. • Laptops and tablets: Devices are only acceptable for note-taking, but students are strongly encouraged to take notes by hand; research shows that it favors absorption. The professor reserves himself the right to ban the use of tablets or tablets in the classroom. Using a device during class for purposes different from those of the course will detract from the participation grade. USU HONOR PLEDGE Students must agree that they will not cheat, falsify, or plagiarize anybody’s work. Plagiarism includes “representing, by paraphrase or direct quotation, the published or unpublished work of another person as one’s own in any academic exercise or activity without full and clear acknowledgement. It also includes using materials prepared by another person or by an agency SPAN 49oo: Don Quijote 4 engaged in the sale of term papers or other academic materials” (Code of Policies and Procedures for Students, Article V, Section V-3.A). The penalties for plagiarism are severe. They include a verbal warning, written reprimand, re-writing the assignment, grade adjustment, and even failure of the course. Additionally, the University may impose probation, suspension, or expulsion (see Article VI, Section VI-1.A). DISABILITIES The professor will accommodate students with disabilities so that their participation in the course is comparable to that of their peers. The USU Disability Resource Center website advises that “Students with ADA-documented physical, sensory, emotional or medical impairments may be eligible for reasonable accommodations. Veterans may also be eligible for services. All accommodations are coordinated through the Disability Resource Center (DRC) in room 101 of the University Inn, 435-797-2444 or toll-free at 800-259-2966. Please contact the DRC as early in the semester as possible. Alternate format materials (Braille, large print or digital) are available with advance notice.” SPAN 49oo: Don Quijote 5 CALENDARIO Fecha Lección o actividad Lecturas antes de clase Tarea antes de clase La posición social de DQ parte I, capítulo 1 (hasta Martes 12/1 don Quijote p. 26) DQ parte I, preliminares y cap. 1 Pregunta de discusión Jueves 14/1 [Discusión] B. Ife, “The historical and 1A social context” DQ 1.2-5 J. L. Austin, How to Do Pregunta de discusión Martes 19/1 Los moriscos, parte I Things with Words, caps. 1-2 1B y 8 DQ 1.6-7 E. M. Gerli, “The Pregunta de discusión Jueves 21/1 Los judeoconversos antecedents of the novel in 1C sixteenth-century Spain” DQ 1.8-10 B. W. Wardropper, “DQ: Pregunta de discusión Martes 26/1 [Discusión] Story or History?” 2A G. Haley, “The Narrator in DQ” (pp. 241-45) DQ 1.11-14 Pregunta de discusión Jueves 28/1 La ficción pastoril B. Fuchs, Romance, pp. 1-11 2B y 78-93 La mujer en la España Pregunta de discusión Martes 2/2 DQ 1.15-19 del Siglo de Oro 2C DQ 1.20-22 Pregunta de discusión Jueves 4/2 La ficción picaresca L. Spitzer, “Linguistic 3A Perspectivism” Pregunta de discusión Martes 9/2 La melancolía DQ 1.23-27 3B Pregunta de discusión Jueves 11/2 La ficción sentimental DQ 28-32 3C DQ 1.33-35 Pregunta de discusión Jueves 18/2 La novela R.