Writing Literature: From Reading to Argument in Latin American Texts

Undergraduate

How do we write about literature? How do we move from reading to argument, from intuition to hypothesis, from response to analysis? Structured in three units, the writing-centered course introduces a range of critical lenses—formalist, archival, historical, feminist, ecocritical, comparative, and creative—through which the students are familiarized with different approaches to literary analysis. The main objective of the course is to develop students’ ability to formulate critical questions, construct hypotheses, and write coherent, persuasive academic arguments. To that end, the course combines theoretical reading, textual analysis of Latin American texts, and sustained writing practice. Readings include works by Jorge Luis Borges, Nicolás Guillén, Elena Garro, Clarice Lispector, João Guimarães Rosa, and Alejandra Pizarnik. The course is taught entirely in Spanish and is designed to strengthen students’ ability to engage critically with literary texts and produce clear, well-structured academic prose in Spanish. L5 placement or students or who have successfully completed an L4 course in Spanish. L5 , HU TTh 1:05pm-2:20pm