MLO 3: Literacy and Cultural Knowledge
The student develops a reasonable understanding of the ways of thinking (ideas, beliefs, attitudes, values, philosophies), the behavioral practices (patterns of social interactions) and the cultural products – both tangible and intangible (for example, art, history, literature, music) — of Hispanic cultures.
● The student completes between two and six courses (depending on his or her choice of emphasis, as either in language and linguistics knowledge or literary and cultural knowledge) in Hispanic literature, culture or society. General areas to choose from are: literature, the social sciences (anthropology, geography, history, political systems), art history, music history, religion or other non Spanish courses specific to Hispanic culture or society.
● The student completes between two and six courses (depending on his or her choice of emphasis, as either in language and linguistics knowledge or literary and cultural knowledge) in Hispanic literature, culture or society. General areas to choose from are: literature, the social sciences (anthropology, geography, history, political systems), art history, music history, religion or other non Spanish courses specific to Hispanic culture or society.
Integrated Narrative
By choosing an emphasize in literary and cultural knowledge, I accepted the responsibility of taking a heavier amount of literature and culture classes in comparison to grammar and linguistics. I chose this emphasize, because I feel in order to fully understand a language, one must also fully understand the culture.
The courses I took to fulfill the requirements of MLO 3: Literary & Cultural Knowledge are, SPAN 321: Masterpieces of Hispanic Literature, ESE4036: Chilean Poetry of the Turn of the Century, SPAN 325: Hispanic Cinema, LET064E: Culture, Internet, and Society, and SAE002C: Chilean Culture. Through these classes, and my time studying abroad, I excelled in the literary and cultural knowledge emphasize.
Beginning with the classes I took in California: SPAN 321 and SPAN 325, 2 different modes of culture were analyzed. The written masterpieces from the literature class along with the visual stimulation that was Hispanic Cinema I was able to absorb some critical themes of historic culture and modern day controversies not only in Spain, but in South America as well. Various epochs of literature were reviewed and analyzed in Masterpieces of Hispanic Literature, broadening my views of historical, political and social events of Spain through classic works. Through the semester, the main periods we covered were La Edad Media (Middle Age), El Misticismo (Mysticism), Siglo de Oro (Golden Century), Siglo XIX (19th Century), and Siglo XVIII (18th Century). I must admit, the literary half of this emphasize proved to be much more difficult to me than the cultural aspect. I overcame these challenges by studying hard and never giving up. I loved the Hispanic Cinema class that covered movies from Spain, Italy, Argentina, Brasil, Cuba, and Mexico. It is a great way to see recent events and conflicts brought to life in film. By writing a page reflection on each movie, I will always have a way to look back and remember the main themes of each film.
Moving on to when I studied in Chile, I took a Chilean Poetry class, a Culture, Internet, and Society course, and a Chilean Culture class. During this time I was absorbing culture 24 hours a day in and out of the class room. What I found most interesting about the Chilean Poetry class was learning about the histories of the poets, because they all seemed to have an interesting story. For example, the author Rodrigo Lira killed himself, but during his life loved being on TV reciting Shakespeare. He hardly liked to publish his poetry, and was a very strange slightly dark character. My favorite part of the Culture, Internet, and Society class was our analysis of Jorge Luis Borges' "El jardín de los senderos que se bifurcan". We had to represent the story with only photos, and what we found was cultural differences between each individual in the photos they chose. The Chilean Culture class, in my opinion, could have been taught better. There was no homework, and just one large exam at the end of the semester causing many students to crunch at the end without learning a lot. The class itself has some great information involved with the Mapuche, astronomic beliefs throughout Chile's history, the military coup in 1973, and various other interesting topics. These classes, along with my great experience in Chile, really helped my literary and cultural knowledge and my general understanding of a second continent.
Sample 1: SPAN 321 Exam
Sample 2: Pablo Neruda
Sample 3: Hispanic Cinema Journal 1
Sample 4: Jorge Luis Borges
The courses I took to fulfill the requirements of MLO 3: Literary & Cultural Knowledge are, SPAN 321: Masterpieces of Hispanic Literature, ESE4036: Chilean Poetry of the Turn of the Century, SPAN 325: Hispanic Cinema, LET064E: Culture, Internet, and Society, and SAE002C: Chilean Culture. Through these classes, and my time studying abroad, I excelled in the literary and cultural knowledge emphasize.
Beginning with the classes I took in California: SPAN 321 and SPAN 325, 2 different modes of culture were analyzed. The written masterpieces from the literature class along with the visual stimulation that was Hispanic Cinema I was able to absorb some critical themes of historic culture and modern day controversies not only in Spain, but in South America as well. Various epochs of literature were reviewed and analyzed in Masterpieces of Hispanic Literature, broadening my views of historical, political and social events of Spain through classic works. Through the semester, the main periods we covered were La Edad Media (Middle Age), El Misticismo (Mysticism), Siglo de Oro (Golden Century), Siglo XIX (19th Century), and Siglo XVIII (18th Century). I must admit, the literary half of this emphasize proved to be much more difficult to me than the cultural aspect. I overcame these challenges by studying hard and never giving up. I loved the Hispanic Cinema class that covered movies from Spain, Italy, Argentina, Brasil, Cuba, and Mexico. It is a great way to see recent events and conflicts brought to life in film. By writing a page reflection on each movie, I will always have a way to look back and remember the main themes of each film.
Moving on to when I studied in Chile, I took a Chilean Poetry class, a Culture, Internet, and Society course, and a Chilean Culture class. During this time I was absorbing culture 24 hours a day in and out of the class room. What I found most interesting about the Chilean Poetry class was learning about the histories of the poets, because they all seemed to have an interesting story. For example, the author Rodrigo Lira killed himself, but during his life loved being on TV reciting Shakespeare. He hardly liked to publish his poetry, and was a very strange slightly dark character. My favorite part of the Culture, Internet, and Society class was our analysis of Jorge Luis Borges' "El jardín de los senderos que se bifurcan". We had to represent the story with only photos, and what we found was cultural differences between each individual in the photos they chose. The Chilean Culture class, in my opinion, could have been taught better. There was no homework, and just one large exam at the end of the semester causing many students to crunch at the end without learning a lot. The class itself has some great information involved with the Mapuche, astronomic beliefs throughout Chile's history, the military coup in 1973, and various other interesting topics. These classes, along with my great experience in Chile, really helped my literary and cultural knowledge and my general understanding of a second continent.
Sample 1: SPAN 321 Exam
Sample 2: Pablo Neruda
Sample 3: Hispanic Cinema Journal 1
Sample 4: Jorge Luis Borges