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Survey of Spanish American Literature I

SPAN 3260

Valdosta State University

College of Arts & Sciences
Department of Modern and Classical Languages

THIS IS A HYBRID COURSE

Course Information
Course Name: Survey of Spanish American Literature
Course Number: SPAN 3260
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: SPAN 3200 or permission of the instructor

Course Description
Study of representative literary texts of Latin America within their historical context, from the pre-
colonial times to the present. The development of poetry, drama, and narrative prose will be
emphasized. Lectures and readings are in Spanish, and include introduction to historical and cultural
processes that defined the literary production of the time period studied.

Required Materials
1. Raquel Chang-Rodríguez, Malva Filer. Voces de Hispanoamérica. Antología literaria.
4th ed. Boston: Heinle & Heinle, 1996. (3rd ed. will also be OK)

2. Handouts, videos and web based activities

3. Spanish/English dictionary (including synonyms/antonyms).

(It may be online)

4. Students are required to have a webcam and headsets (headphones with built-in microphone) for use
with Voice Thread and Blackboard Collaborate.

5. Internet Access: High speed Internet access is needed to access the audio and video files, and to take
quizzes. Late assignments and assessments will not be accepted due to connectivity issues.

Technology Prerequisites
This course requires some basic knowledge of computer technology. You will gain some skill and
knowledge during this class; however, at a minimum, you need to be able to:
• navigate in and use D2L; contact Tech Support if you need help: 1-855-772-0423;
https://d2lhelp.view.usg.edu/
• create and save MS Word documents; see MS Word tutorials for PC users (all versions); Word
Help for Mac users
• find basic resources on Internet; see Internet Tutorials
• create and organize files & folders on your computer
• send, receive, and manage email
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• be able to create oral presentations with a webcam using such resources as VoiceThread
(instructions will be provided)

Student’s Responsibility
It is the student’s responsibility to know the administrative procedures established by the University that will
be observed in this class. This is especially important regarding dropping or withdrawing from courses of
instruction. Students must adhere to deadlines for drops and withdrawals in order to avoid academic and
financial penalties. Remaining enrolled in the course after being presented with this syllabus implies
acceptance of, and a willingness to abide by, the policies, requirements, and penalties described herein.

Access Statement
Students with disabilities who are experiencing barriers in this course may contact the Access Office for
assistance in determining and implementing reasonable accommodations. The Access Office is located in
Farbar Hall. The phone numbers are 229-245-2498 (V), 229-375-5871 (VP) and 229-219-1348 (TTY). For more
information, please visit VSU’s Access Office or email: [email protected].

Title IX Statement
Title IX Statement: Valdosta State University (VSU) is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive work and
learning environment free from discrimination and harassment. VSU is dedicated to creating an environment
where all campus community members feel valued, respected, and included. Valdosta State University
prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex (including pregnancy status,
sexual harassment and sexual violence), sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age, national origin,
disability, genetic information, or veteran status, in the University's programs and activities as required by
applicable laws and regulations such as Title IX. The individual designated with responsibility for coordination
of compliance efforts and receipt of inquiries concerning nondiscrimination policies is the University's Title IX
Coordinator: Director of the Office of Social Equity, [email protected], 1208 N. Patterson St., Valdosta State
University, Valdosta, Georgia 31608, 229-333-5463.

MCL, ACTFL, FLED Standards, Goals and Outcomes

At MCL, we follow the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Proficiency Guidelines (ACTFL),
which are described in the following documents:
http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/languagelearning/OtherResources/ACTFLProficiencyGuidelines/contents.htm
and: http://www.actfl.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=4236
This courses goal is to achieve the skills within the range of Intermediate-High to Advanced Low/Advanced Level.
The summary of FLED Conceptual Framework can be found in the Appendixes E1 and E2 to this syllabus.
Future and prospective teachers (Foreign Language Education majors) may consult the Conceptual Framework
of the College of Education at:
http://www.valdosta.edu/coe/ecre/documents/COEConceptualFrameworkELEMENTSANDINDICATORS2.doc
Course Goals:
The main goal of this course is to introduce the advanced undergraduate to literary movements and to
some of Spanish America’s most representative authors, and to increase students reading, listening and
speaking proficiency in the language, as well as enable them to write about and discuss literature in
Spanish.

Course Objectives and Aims:

This course will . . .
– provide students direct contact with some of the most important texts in the history of Spanish
American literature.
– introduce students to the principal concepts of the history of Spanish American literature.
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– illustrate and teach students to apply critical reading skills.
– develop reading and writing skills through analysis and discussion of literary texts.

Course Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this course, within the range of listening, speaking, reading, and writing
proficiency at the Intermediate-High to the Advanced Low/Advanced Level, students are expected to
have acquired. . .
– familiarity with principal texts, authors, and literary movements in Spanish American literature from
the colonial times to present.
– critical approach to given literary work with an understanding of the context in which it was created.
– understanding of and ability to apply critical reading and analytical skills.
– improved ability to express themselves in Spanish both orally (through presentations) and in writing
(through homework assignments, web discussions and essays).

Course Organization
This course is hybrid: meetings are face-to-face twice a week, and online once a week - asynchronous.
The course is organized in sixteen (16) weekly Modules and one (1) Semester Projects Module. All
activities specified in the weekly Modules have to be completed within that specific week unless
specified otherwise.

Module 1 is dedicated to personal and course introductions. In the first week, there will be also an OPI
test – not for a grade, as it is intended to assess students’ language abilities at the beginning of the
course, for internal use only.
Modules 2-15 are organized in chronological progression, following the textbook Voces (see information
above), and consist of a combination of the following:
1. Readings and lectures about the socio-cultural panorama of the literary periods.
2. Readings and analyses of texts.
3. Comments – written and/or oral
Assessment in the first two areas will require Quizzes, Exams, Oral Presentation and a Paper.
Comments do not require assessment, however basic criteria of content and form will be
applied to pass or fail the attempts.
Module 16 is reserved for the closing of the course, including the final discussion and the review for the
second exam. The second OPI exam will take place in that week – again, not for a grade; for internal use
only.

Semester Projects Module contains three Semester Projects: Oral Presentations, Oral Comments on
Presentations and Final Paper. You shall start working on the completion of these projects from the
beginning of the semester. See the instructions in Appendixes A,B,C.

Assessments and grade distribution

Your course grade will be calculated based on the following grade distribution.

Attendance and Participation 10%

Oral Presentation (1) 10%
Oral Comments (2) 5%
Written Comments (10) 15%
Quizzes (10) 25%
Exams (2) 20%
Final Paper 15%
TOTAL 100%
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Grading Scale
The following grading scale will be used:

A: 100 – 90% B: 89.9 – 80 % C: 79.9 – 70 % D: 69.9 – 60 % F: Below 60%

Course Expectations and Students Responsibilities

This class will require a great deal of dedication and hard work on your part. Your success in this class
will depend on your active involvement and completion of the various course assignments. Therefore, it
is expected that you:
 Participate in class actively
 Frequently visit Blazeview D2L
 Read the assigned texts before class, as indicated
 Listen actively to the lectures in virtual space and take comprehension quizzes before class
 Turn in all required assignments on time
In order to accomplish all tasks and assignments, students should plan to spend at least four hours per
class day working on course assignments. This should include reviewing materials covered in the
textbook, reading the assigned texts, completing assignments (responding questions, studying
vocabulary, making oral and written comments, taking online quizzes and preparing projects such as oral
presentation and final paper.)

Class Attendance & Participation: 10%

Attendance:
In order to meet the course objectives, you must attend and actively participate in class. I record
absences and lateness in each class. Students are expected to keep a record of personal attendance as
well and not depend on the Professor for this information. Please note: Students are allowed three (3)
unexplained absences before the final grade is affected. For every unexcused absence, you will lose 5
points out of your final grade. With doctor’s excuse, you will be allowed to miss up to five (5) classes.
Students are expected to be on time and not leave class before it ends. Two tardies (late arrival or
departures) of 10 minutes or more will count as an absence.
Participation:
Participation is an important component of your class. There is no grade for participation, however you
may receive a poor participation mark if you do not participate actively in a class or incur in disruptive
behavior. Participation is based on Professor’s observation of a student’s:
• attention to lectures and presentations
• full participation in the peer group work
• willingness to respond when called upon as well as to ask pertinent questions
If you do not participate actively in a class, you may receive a poor participation mark for that class. For
disruptive behavior you may also get a poor participation mark or be expelled from the class*.
Poor participation works like a tardy: when added to another one, it will count as an absence in class.

Oral Presentation: 10%

Each student is required to make one oral presentation using free online tool of Voice Thread or other
suitable media (upon my previous approval). Topics will be given from the very beginning of the semester.
These presentations are linked to the class schedule, so you shall submit yours in a timely manner in order to
contribute to the class development. If you don’t submit your presentation by the expected day, you will lose
twenty (20!) percent of your grade in this category. All presentations shall be informative, in Spanish, with a
lot of visual aids and last no less than 3 and no more than 8 minutes.
Find Guidelines for Oral Presentations and other information in Appendixes A1, A2, A3 and A4 (general
guidelines, analysis guidelines, topics, and instructions for using Voice Thread).
You will receive my comments on your presentation within a week. If you are not happy with the
received grade, you may re-submit your presentation, but this time, you will start with ten (10!) points
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less out of the next score, unless you re-submit it still before the due date. All presentations are in
Spanish and will be placed by the Profesor in Blazeview for comments by class participants.
- Personal Introduction (1) Students can choose to make an extra presentation, for extra points: up to 3%
of your Final Grade. This presentation is all about yourself, so we can learn more about each other and build
a stronger community. It is also meant for you to learn early in the semester to use the Voice Thread tool, so
you don’t have to struggle later, when preparing the literary presentation and posting comments on the
presentations of your peers, which are for grade. Once you have completed your oral introduction in
VoiceThread, you shall copy the link and send it to me electronically (use Blazeview email). I will then post it
on our course site, so that others can add comments.

Oral Comments on Presentation: 5%

Each student shall submit two (2) “Comentarios Orales” on another student’s presentation on a literary
topic, in Voice Thread. You are welcome to submit more, but only ten will be graded. All comments have
to be submitted by the end of November. If you miss the due date, you will receive only 50% of points
for it. In your comments, you shall express a point and demonstrate some background knowledge: if you
don’t know the text that is being presented, you can at least make an intelligent comment on the
connections you find between the presented topic with something else, for example explain how you
believe that this text fits within the literary movement, add some explanation about the historical
background or discuss other aspects, such as feminism, fight for freedom, parody, etc.). Short sentences
like: “Sí, estoy de acuerdo”, “No, no me parece bien esto”, “Tienes razón en lo que dices,” do not count,
unless you follow with an informed explanation. Remember to be kind.
See Guidelines and note about Netiquette in Appendix C1.
You can also react to the comments of others. In this case, you will be getting extra points within this
discussion. The reactions on the comments of other shall be also informative, not simple statements of
your agreement or disagreement with the remarks of others. You can make several of those extra
comments, but only one extra point will be given for each discussion.
Comments and reactions done after the due date will receive only up to 50% of points.

Written Comments: 15%

Each week, there is a comment required on the content of the class. You shall post your comments by
specified due dates. All posts are in Spanish, of course. See more information in Appendix C1. You are
required to make 10 (ten) comments, but you are welcome to make more, if you wish.
Like for Oral Comments, the Web Comments are open for your reactions to the comments of others. In
this case, you will also be getting extra points within the discussion. The reactions to the comments of
others shall fulfill the criteria of your own comment: be informative and not simple statements of your
agreement or disagreement with the remarks of others. Only one extra point will be given with each
discussion, but you are welcome to do as many comments as you wish in each of them.
Comments and reactions done after the due date will only up to 50% of points.

Quizzes (10): 25%

There will be ten (10) short quizzes every week. In order to pass them successfully, you will need to read
the assigned texts and / or watch the lesson online, as instructed each week. You can watch the video
lesson as many times as you wish, but once you start taking the quiz, there is no way back: you have to
finish it. There will be only one attempt possible and the grade will be given depending on your score.
The material tested includes an overview of the socio-cultural context of the literary texts and an
explanation about how do the literary texts fit into that picture. Some of the answers can be found also
in the textbook, in the explanatory portion at the beginning of each chapter. Questions about the
readings will also be included in the quizzes.

Exams (2): 20%

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There will be two exams, in which you will demonstrate your knowledge of the topics covered. The
exams will be targeting the chapters covered, but they will still include some comprehensive elements,
such as the general vocabulary for understanding texts, the tools for analysis, etc. Reviews will be
offered. The surest way to pass the exams is to study diligently during the semester, submit all the
assignments and quizzes, which shall give you some heads up for the upcoming tests.

Final Paper: 10%

Students will submit one written essay during the semester. The objective of the final essay is to express
in Spanish your critical perspective on an aspect of your choice of the Latin American literature. You can
use the same topic of your Oral Presentation. The grade for this activity is more focused on the content
(80%), but the syntax and orthography also matter (20%). See more details in Guidelines for the Final
Paper in Appendix B. Submissions are via Dropbox. If you submit at least one week before the due date,
you will receive 10 extra points for Early Bird, plus the benefit of my comments to improve your paper
before final submission. Late submission will cost you two points per day, and no paper will be received
after a certain date.

Course Policies
Missed Work and Late Assignments:
All assignments and test have due dates. Late submission is possible, but there will be penalties (see
specific categories).

Academic Integrity:
Cheating, copying and plagiarism are forms of academic dishonesty and constitute a very serious offence.
Participation in such violations may result in failure or even dismissal from your institution. No credit will
be given for the work done. Even if you study or practice with a classmate, be sure to prepare your own
individual work unless it is a group assignment. “Students are responsible for knowing and abiding by the
Academic Integrity Policy as set forth in the Student Code of Conduct and the faculty members’ syllabi. All
students are expected to do their own work and to uphold a high standard of academic ethics. “

PLAGIARISM POLICY
Plagiarism will not be tolerated under any circumstances. We consider plagiarism “the attempt to represent
the work of another as the product of one's own thought, whether the other's work is oral or written (including
electronic), published or unpublished. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, quoting oral or written materials
without citation on written materials or in oral presentations; submitting work produced by an on-line translation
service or the translation feature of an on-line dictionary as your own”. This definition applies equally to
electronic, print, and verbal sources.

All your written works will go through an anti-plagiarism software program.

There is no tolerance for cheating and academic dishonesty. Discipline for any plagiarism (whether
deliberate or negligent) can range from a zero on a specific assignment to expulsion from the class with a
grade of FF (which cannot be erased from a student’s record). Plagiarism is grounds for failing this course.
• Make sure you use quotation marks.
• Make sure you cite any sources from which you used data, ideas, or words, either quoted directly
or paraphrased.
• Make sure you cite all sources carefully so that anyone reading your text can access the material
and check it.
The full code of Academic Integrity is available at: http://www.valdosta.edu/academics/academic-affairs/vp-
office/academic-honesty-policies-and-procedures.php

Disruptive Behavior
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*Disruptive Behavior includes, but is not limited to:
• Eating in class
• Monopolizing classroom discussions
• Failing to respect the rights of other students to express their viewpoints
• Carrying on distracting side conversations
• Constant questions or interruptions which interfere with the instructor's presentation
• Overt inattentiveness (e.g., sleeping, reading the paper, using laptops for non-class-related
activities)
• Creating excessive noise with papers, book bags, etc.
• Entering class late or leaving early
• Use of cell phones in the classroom
• Inordinate or inappropriate demands for time and attention
• Poor personal hygiene (e.g., noticeably offensive body odor)
• Use of profanity or pejorative language
• Intoxication
• Verbal abuse (e.g., taunting, badgering, intimidation)
• Harassment (e.g., use of "fighting words," stalking)
• Threats to harm oneself or others
• Physical violence (e.g., shoving, grabbing, assault, use of weapons)
• Damaging property
Repetitive and seriously disruptive behavior, e.g., fighting, using profanity, personal or physical threats
or insults, damaging property, may result in your removal from class in accordance with policies and
procedures outlined in the VSU’s Code of Student Conduct and in consultation with Community Rights
and Responsibilities in the Dean of Student’s Office.

Additional Information
• Keep a record of all your grades.
• Check that your grades are correctly recorded in Blazeview and report any discrepancy
immediately.
• Complete all homework on a timely manner. It includes reading ahead of time texts that will be
discussed in class, taking the comprehension quizzes and submit required assignments.
• Be organized and avoid missing any due dates.
• If you fail a test, or if you need additional help, ask for help to your Instructor immediately. Do
not wait until it is too late. In addition, you can seek tutorial help available through the Student
Success Center in Langdale Hall. For more information on the Student Success Center, visit the
following website: www.valdosta.edu/ssc or call 333-7570. Please seek help early.
• Do not be afraid to speak Spanish in class, even if you make mistakes. By speaking badly you will
learn to speak well. Prepare. This will boost your confidence. Participate. This will increase your
proficiency.
• Do not use your cell phones in class for other reason than closely related to class.
• Avoid disrupting the class by arriving late or leaving the classroom before the end of class.
• Practice restraint, consideration and good manners.
• Contact your Instructor if you need further assistance with your work.
If you are to attain the expected level of proficiency in the language, exceptional commitment,
attention, time, study, practice and a positive attitude must be present.
YOU MUST ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR LEARNING.
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SOI:
At the end of the term, all students will be expected to complete an online Student Opinion of
Instruction survey (SOI) that will be available on BANNER. Instructors will be able to view only a
summary of all responses two weeks after they have submitted final grades. Complete information
about the SOIs, including how to access the survey and a timetable for this term is available at:
http://www.valdosta.edu/academic/OnlineSOIPilotProject.shtml

Disclaimer statement:
This syllabus is intended to serve as a guide to course expectations, policies, and grading procedures, which
serve as a guide for course direction. The syllabus is subject to modifications during the semester.

USEFUL LINKS:

Spanish Accents: http://www.spanishnewyork.com/spanish-characters.html

MLA Formatting: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
Study Spanish: http://www.studyspanish.com/lessons/days.htm
Señor Jordan: http://www.senorjordan.com/los-videos/
Spanish Flashcards: http://spanishflashcards.tripod.com/
Conjugador de verbos: http://conjugator.reverso.net/conjugation-spanish-verb-estar.html
Conjugador de verbos: http://www.conjugation.org/
Diccionario RAE: http://www.rae.es/rae.html
Diccionario WR: http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=

News in Spanish:
http://www.newsinslowspanish.com/?gclid=CJj2n6Kj378CFUcV7AodcSYAFQ
http://www.abc.es/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/
http://elpais.com/elpais/portada_america.html
http://www.lavanguardia.com/index.html
http://kiosko.net/es/
http://www.jornada.unam.mx/ultimas