Span 427: Latin American Women Writers
Taught in Spanish, the course focuses on reading and analyzing works from Latin American women writers. Examines fiction by and about women from varied sociocultural backgrounds to discover the diversity and the commonality of female experience in different geographical regions. Students examine the narrative strategies employed by these writers in interpreting social, political, cultural, and religious forces that create gender, class, and ethnic barriers in Latin American society.
Course Reflective Narrative
As my last requirement for MLO 4: Literary and Cultural Knowledge, I chose to enroll in Span 427: Latin American Women Writers during the fall of 2013. This was one of the most intense courses of my Upper Division work and literary theme classes. The objective of the course was to read and analyze works from Latin American women writers and through them interpret the social, political, cultural, and religious forces that create gender, class, and ethnic barriers in Latin American society; particularly when it comes to the role of women in this society. I read a series of novels and created literary analysis papers for each and one of them. The courses lead us to truly examine every piece of work with such an insight that we truly understood all the aspects that came together in a single piece of writing. In addition, discussion was constantly encouraged and promoted. The small classroom setting made it much easier for every student ti conveys its thoughts in regards to every reading. The writing pieces that were required from us were structured I such a way that conducted us to become critical thinkers and critical analyst of the Spanish literature. The course truly emphasized on our literary knowledge and met every aspect of the major learning outcome. After this course, I have been encouraged to look into the work of Latin American women writers. I could also say that the research topic for my Capstone derived from my experiences in this particular class. The book that I have incorporated in my Capstone (Hasta no verte Jesus mio) and the concept of the Bildungsroman, were first introduced to me by Dr. Zielina in her course of Span 427. Also, the way in which I have developed my literary analysis has been much influenced by the standards of this class. I have definitely continued to expand upon what I learned in this course and I do plan to continue focusing my reading and analysis on mainly the work of Latin American women writers.