MLO 3: Literary 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.
The Courses
The courses I took to fulfill the requirements of MLO 3: Literary and Cultural Knowledge are: SPAN 304: Intro to Hispanic Literature, SPAN 306: Cultures and Civilizations of Spanish Latin America, Span 308: His/Cultr Aztlan: SW US, SPAN 321: Masterpieces of Hispanic Literature, HVM 108: The History of Spanish Cinema, SLL 113: Latin America Literature, SSC 109: Spanish Civilization and Culture, SLL: Literary Authors Granada, SLL 120: The Image of Women in Spanish Literature, HST106: History of Contemporary America, and SLL 111A: Spanish Literature: Renaissance and Baroque. My emphasis is literary and cultural knowledge, and I feel that I have learned a lot, but there is always more to learn.
MLO Narrative
Before attending California State University Monterey Bay I only knew about Don Quixote, and other novels, but did not know the foundation of Spanish literature. Learning about Medieval Spanish literature; reading about Las Jarchas, Cantar de Mio Cid, Mester de Junglaría, Mester de Clerecía, Spanish Prose, Lyric Poetry of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Enlightenment, Romanticism, Realism, Modernist literature and 20th century literature has been eye opening for me, and I keep reading about all of these, because there is so much to read from and still a lot to learn.
By taking all of these courses I learned the history of Spanish Literature, and how it has been evolving with time. Through the readings, you can imagine what people were going through in certain years. I also saw the difference between the Spanish language and how it has evolved. It was kind of challenging to try to read some texts, some because of the language of the time, and some because of the style of the writer. For example The Poem of the Cid, it is the oldest preserved epic poem, and if you try to read the original, its really hard because its written in Medieval Spanish, but now a days you can find the modern version to compare and see how Spanish has evolved. Another example is the poems written by Luis de Gongora, his style is characterized by culteranismo which is also known as Gongorismo. Cuteranismo (Gongorism) is a stylistic movement of the Baroque period in Spain, is characterized by a very ornamental vocabulary and a message that it’s complicated to figure out. This movement is to use as many words as possible to conceal the meaning. I was able to understand the texts and poems, but they are still hard and challenging.
This MLO contributed a lot with my intellectual growth, because I barely knew some novels, and I learned about the medieval literature to today’s literature. Not only did I learn about the literature, but also the history and how it has evolved to today’s literature. There has been many novels that I did not know existed, but everything that I learned in my classes was connected, one class helped me to understand the other ones. So when I was taking the Muslims in Spain course, I already knew of some of their literature. I also knew about the battles that they fought and of their expulsion in 1614.
All the courses I completed for MLO 3 have been invaluable; my personal intellectual growth in one semester was amazing. Not only did I love the courses, but also I wanted to learn more. Throughout the courses I went from an overview to learning detailed information. From the introduction of Hispanic literature, to Master Pieces of Hispanic Literature, to Latin America literature, Literary Authors of Granada and other courses that have given me so many tools to continue learning.
By taking all of these courses I learned the history of Spanish Literature, and how it has been evolving with time. Through the readings, you can imagine what people were going through in certain years. I also saw the difference between the Spanish language and how it has evolved. It was kind of challenging to try to read some texts, some because of the language of the time, and some because of the style of the writer. For example The Poem of the Cid, it is the oldest preserved epic poem, and if you try to read the original, its really hard because its written in Medieval Spanish, but now a days you can find the modern version to compare and see how Spanish has evolved. Another example is the poems written by Luis de Gongora, his style is characterized by culteranismo which is also known as Gongorismo. Cuteranismo (Gongorism) is a stylistic movement of the Baroque period in Spain, is characterized by a very ornamental vocabulary and a message that it’s complicated to figure out. This movement is to use as many words as possible to conceal the meaning. I was able to understand the texts and poems, but they are still hard and challenging.
This MLO contributed a lot with my intellectual growth, because I barely knew some novels, and I learned about the medieval literature to today’s literature. Not only did I learn about the literature, but also the history and how it has evolved to today’s literature. There has been many novels that I did not know existed, but everything that I learned in my classes was connected, one class helped me to understand the other ones. So when I was taking the Muslims in Spain course, I already knew of some of their literature. I also knew about the battles that they fought and of their expulsion in 1614.
All the courses I completed for MLO 3 have been invaluable; my personal intellectual growth in one semester was amazing. Not only did I love the courses, but also I wanted to learn more. Throughout the courses I went from an overview to learning detailed information. From the introduction of Hispanic literature, to Master Pieces of Hispanic Literature, to Latin America literature, Literary Authors of Granada and other courses that have given me so many tools to continue learning.