Reading the text
Students will read Don Quijote de la Mancha in its original version, taking into account plot and character development, symbolism, cultural and literary context, literary antecedents, and subsequent influence.
Theory and Interpretation
Students will comment on different strategies for reading, writing and translating (using critical vocabulary) as discussed in the Quijote, and will explain the different critical stances, including the "hard" perspective and the "soft" perspective.
Genre
Students will trace the stylistic innovations introduced by Cervantes in the Quijote, and its intersections with other genres (e.g. theater, poetry).
Realism, Metafiction
Students willanswer the question of whether el Quijote really is the first modern novel as many claim it to be. Students will identify and analyze episodes in the novel that display realism and metafiction, and will recognize the impact the Quijote has had on the development of these modes in the subsequent development of the western novel.
