SEMINAR IN HISPANIC STUDIES

FLS 492

EL  QUIJOTE

(EL INGENIOSO HIDALGO DON QUIJOTE DE LA MANCHA)

Required  Texts
José Calvo, Así vivían en el Siglo de Oro.  Madrid: Anaya, 1989.
MIguel de Cervantes, El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha.  Ed. Andrés Amorós. Madrid: SM., 1999. (This is the only edition will be using in the class)

Reserve Materials

• José Calvo, Así vivían en el Siglo de Oro.  Madrid: Anaya, 1989.
• MIguel de Cervantes, El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha. Andrés Amorós. Madrid: SM., 1999
• Don Quixote.  Trans. Burton Raffel.  Ed. Diana de Armas Wilson.  New York: Norton, 1999.
• (PQ 6329. A2 1999)
• Don Quixote's Dictionary. Comp. Tom Lathrop.  Newark: Juan de la Cuesta, 1999.
(PQ 6330. A5. D667. 1999)
• MIguel de Cervantes, El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha. Ed. Tom Lathrop. Newark: Juan de la Cuesta, 1997.  This edition has two volumes. The library is searching for the first one, the second is availabe.  This edition provides a useful vocabulary.
• (PQ 6323. A1.1997)

•  Quijote preguntas
• Thinking, Reading, and Writing
•  Reference: Dictionaries, Britannica online
• Diccionario de la Real Academia Española
•  Reading Narrative Fiction
•  Literary Analysis Questions
• Don Quijote
• Versión bilingue de Don Quijote
•  Cervantes (Journal of the Cervantes Society of America)
•  Literatura del Siglo de Oro
•  Castillos y fortalezas

Course Description

    Miguel de Cervantes (1550-1616) is considered  the most acclaimed  writer in Spanish.  Cervantes's masterpiece , El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha (1605, 1615), is the most significant book of the Spanish letters.  What is this novel about?  At the very beginning of the first chapter we meet Alonso Quijano, a gentleman who has no productive activity to occupy his fertile mind.  He devotes his time to reading books of chivalry, most of them bad, and this hobby catapults him into the unreal world of those books, leaving him utterly confused about himself and about his perception of the world around him.  The protagonist decides to become a knight-errant with the name don Quixote de la Mancha.  The protagonist of a romance of chilvary is always young handsome, and strong.  Yet, don Quixote is middle age, rides a broken-down horse, and wears an old armor patched with cardboard.  He does not travel to exotic lands, but rather he tries to be a knight in Spain, in the desert like and underpopulated plain of La Mancha. Knights perform useful deeds---helping kings repel invaders and eliminating menaces of the public order. Whereas don Quixote sets prisoners free, and attacks windmills,  armies of sheep, and wineskins.  He is also a knight in love.  Don Quixote falls in love not with a beautiful noble woman, but with a peasant girl who, according to Sancho Panza, don Quixote's squire, has a strong voice and smells like a man.
    This seminar will explore the sharp contrast between the society of Alonso Quijano and don Quixote's idealistic and archaic world of chivalry. This main theme originates an array of related topics such as madness, love, parody, gender, the interaction of reality and fiction, metafiction, and literary genres.

The capstone course, beyond providing an extensive study of a specialized literary topic, is intended to be the culminating intellectual  experience for the student and should:

-- Include ethical issues, teach research methods, develop decision-making and problem-solving skills, and promote critical thinking.
-- Pull together concepts, ideas, skills, and subject matter that the student has learned in previous courses.

-- Allow students to analyze their strengths and weaknesses.

-- Allow students to demonstrate their Computer Literacy. The major paper must be written using (1) a word processor; (2) on-line library references; and (3) Internet resources.

-- Allow students to undertake a substantial research project and give an oral presentation of the material. The presentation should demonstrate the student's ability to interpret critically and analytically.

The instructor should invite at least one other faculty member to the presentation and, together, these faculty will confer on an evaluation of the student's oral, interpretative, and critical skills.

In this course you should focus on improving performance as a systematic learner, thinker, and writer; increasing your strengths and diminishing your weaknesses, not simply achieving a certain grade.  If you heed this advice, you will most likely receive the grade you wish.

•  Attendance: Attendance is required.  Please be on time.  After two absences your final grade is lowered by two points per each absence.  Coming to class more than 10 minutes late twice is equivalent to one absence.  Please refer to the University Attendance Policy regarding excuse absences. Examples of emergency absences are:

      a.Illness or injury when certified by an attending physician. Physicians on the Student Health Service staff do not provide written excuses. An instructor may call the Student Health Service (515-2563) to verify that a student was seen on a given date. The Counseling Center does not provide written excuses except in cases of crises.
      b.Death or serious illnesses in the family when certified appropriately. An attempt to verify deaths or serious illness will be made by Student Development (515-2441) at the request of the instructor.
For such absences you should notify me in advance.  Your input is essential to the course and to your learning experience.  Keep in mind that when I teach I am not repeating what you can find in a book.  I will take into account perfect attendance as a positive factor when calculating final grades.
• Active Participation[  20 %]  Explanation of class work:  A = Student comes to class prepared, on time and ready to participate. Student is attentive, always responds when called on. Student volunteers often w/ pertinent questions and comments. B = Student is usually prepared, always responds when called on, volunteers on occasion. C = Student shows evidence of being unprepared on occasion, arrives late or leaves early. Has trouble when called on , does not  volunteer often. D = Student is unprepared / inattentive, never volunteers. F = Student exhibits lack of concern for class. I enter into my grade book a participation grade after each class.  Participation also includes the preparation of presentations on the assigned readings.
• Analytical Journal [20 %] You will write 9, 1-page (typed, 12pt. font. double space, 1'' margins) throughout the semester.  They may be on a certain topic, but if no topic is given out, they may just be on the reading assigned to that day.  Keep in mind that this is a reading journal and it is the space to record your ideas, thoughts, insight, comments, and questions about your readings.
• YOU SHOULD NOT INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: a plot summary, a rephrasing of the story, textual descriptions of characters, personal opinions.
• BEFORE YOU WRITE YOU SHOULD: 1) identify the more important passages. 2) Identify the main topics and issues that are being discussed 3) Compare what you just read with previous readings 4) Identify what you find more interesting and explain why by drawing reasonable conclusions about establishing connections and their implications.
• PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR SPANISH GRAMMAR, SPELLING, AND VOCABULARY.
• Quizzes [10 %]: There will be short quizzes every week. These quizzes will consist of identifications and   short answers on material covered [course readings, lectures, presentations, and discussions].
• Midterm Exams [10% each]: There will be two take home midterm exams which will consist of short essay questions.
• Oral Presentation of the Final Project [10 %]. This grade evaluates the following aspects  of your presentation : clarity, organization, accuracy, and original intellectual quality.
• Final Research Project[ 20 %]:  A semester-long process that will culminate in the writing of a 8-page paper on a topic of your choice.  The project will involve: a) Journal 7: On the tenth week students will turn in a two page description of how you envision your final proyect, the topic you would like to write about, and the parts of the text that will be more useful for your paper.  You will give a presentation on this assignment; b) Journal 8:  On the twelveth week students will turn in the following 1) aneight page good quality draft ; 2) a four page summary of your project, you will present this material during your oral exam, which consists of a 15 minute presentation to the class and invited faculty. YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO START WORKING AHEAD OF TIME AND COMPLETE YOUR DRAFT VERSION WELL BEFORE THE POSTED DEADLINES: YOU WILL HAVE MORE TIME TO WORK IN YOUR FINAL VERSION.  NO LATE FINAL RESEARCH PROJECTS ACCEPTED.
• Late Work.  Late submissions of assignments are penalized by lowering your grade by a full grade letter per  day late.  For example, if you have written a wonderful paper and you got an A, but you turned in one day late, your final grade will be not A-, or B+, but B.
• Grade Scale. With the exception of late work, all the assignments and the final grade follow the +/- letter scale.
• Note: I adhere strictly to the University's Code of Student Conduct. Please read this information carefully.

Week One

     August 21: Introduction & Overview La vida doméstica [Calvo 18-28]

     August 23: Town & Country [Calvo 6-17]; Travelling in 17th-century Spain [ Calvo 44-49]; Working & Leisure [Calvo 58-65]

Week Two

     August 28: Introducción a Cervantes [10-23; 30-32]  JOURNAL 1

     August 30: El tiempo de D. Quijote [Aspectos Culturales 914-23]; El ideal caballeresco
    [Aspectos Culturales 924-939]

  Week Three

     September 4: Prólogo [41-45]

     September 6: Cap 1 [51-54] Compara El tiempo de D. Quijote [Aspectos Culturales 914-23]

Week Four

     September 11: Caps 2,3,4,5 [55-73]  JOURNAL 2: Compara con El ideal caballeresco
    [Aspectos Culturales 924-939]

     September 13: Caps 6, 7, 8, 9,10 [75-93]

Week Five

     September 18: Caps 11,12, 13, 14,  [94-118]  JOURNAL 3

     September 20: Caps 16, 17,18,19, 20  [125-162]

Week Six

     September 25: Caps 21, 22, 23  [163-188]  JOURNAL 4: El baciyelmo

     September 27: Caps 24, 25, 26, 28  [189-234]
 

Week Seven

     October 2:   Caps  29, 30, 31,32  [234-265]

     October 4:  Caps 36, 37,38 [297-313].  TAKE HOME EXAM

Week Eight

     October 9: JOURNAL 5: FIVE MINUTE PRESENTATION.  Prepare a brief presentation about the chapter, section, passage, paragraph, that you find more interesting and why.  You are expected to state and defend any judgments you've made in your journal  concerning a particular topic from  what we have read so far.

     October 11: Caps 39, 40 [315-26]                 MIDTERM EXAM DUE at the beginning of the class
 
 

Week Nine

     October 18:   Caps  41,42, 43, 44  [327- 59]  JOURNAL 6

     October 23: Caps 45, 46, 47, 48  [360-86]

Week Ten

     October 25:  Caps 49, 50,51,52  [387-410]

     October 30:  JOURNAL 6: Topics and issues of Don Quijote I.  A two page description of how you envision your final proyect, and the topic you would like to write about, and the parts of the text that will be more useful for your paper.  You will give a presentation on this journal assignment.

Week Eleven   Don Quijote II

     November 1: Pr'ologo , Cap 1  [419-431]

     November 6:  Caps 3, 4, 5, 6, [432-461]  Dr. Vélez-Quiñones

Week Twelve

     November 8: Caps 8, 9, 10 [462-470]  JOURNAL 7 :  A)  complete outline of your final proyect.  B) a good quality draft.  You should include four library sources at least.

     November 13: Caps 12, 13, 14  [483-502]  TAKE HOME

Week Thirteen

     November 15: Caps 22, 23, 24 [546- 564]

     November 20:  MID TERM EXAM DUE  at the beginning of the class.  Class reading CapS 40 y 41
 
 

Week Fourteen

     November 27:  JOURNAL 8: A)  improved draft; B) a four page summary of your project, this is the material that will be presenting in your oral exam.

     November 29: Student Presentations / Semester Projects

Week Fifteen

     December 4: Student Presentations / Semester Projects

     December 6: Student Presentations / Semester Project

  FINAL VERSION OF THE FINAL PAPER AND JOURNAL 9 (3 pages) (Insights about the course, an overall self-evaluation, comments about other students presentations)  DUE Wed Dec 11 before noon at my office.