MLO 3: Literary and Cultural Knowledge
When looking at literary and cultural knowledge, students follow a pathway that sets us up to understand the many ways in which the Spanish language is used to examine philosophical ideas, beliefs, and multiple attitudes and perspectives through pieces of Hispanic literature and when looking at the creation of art and how these cultural ideas are portrayed in such pieces of art and literature alike. When considering courses that embodied this spirit of cultural knowledge, I can count on two courses: Span 304 (Introduction to Hispanic Literature) and Span 336 (LGBTQ/Queer Hispanic Experiences). I can also rely on Span 424 (La Literatura Mexicana). In these courses, we were immersed in literature that also helped us understand the different cultural aspects in some pieces of literature. Some examples included looking at the different structures of how poems are composed and the way words are used in the poems. Another example can be displayed in one of my final assignments in my Span 336 class in which we created a digital magazine where we compared two different authors and showed how they displayed some form of LGBTQ+ topics in their writings. This is a clear example of how this course offers us a lens to look at topics that aid our cultural and literary knowledge of our major learning outcome. One more example that expands our literary and cultural knowledge is my final written report that was created in my Span 424 class in which I analyzed a piece of literature by Sor Juan Ines and annotated the many instances in which she uses greek mythology in her writings. In doing so, I am looking at a piece of literature created by the author and I am practicing my literary knowledge as well as building upon my cultural knowledge by observing the many aspects and patterns that are present in Mexican literature. Through these coursesy, I was able to expand my cultural and literary knowledge regarding various pieces of literature that build upon the cultural aspects of their respective regions and times in which they were written.