Mi último suspiro Notes
During the semester, students read Buñuel’s autobiography Mi último suspiro (originally published in French in 1982 as Mon dernier soupir), and each Friday, a student or students (collaboratively) write and place reading notes, in Spanish, on the class website. Each student only has to write reading notes once during the semester. Read more about the Mi último suspiro assignment (PDF).
Oral Reports
All students collaborate, at least in pairs, in teaching one of the six Spanish-language films indicated for the 10-page final papers. The oral presentations will consist of the most important points in your nearly finished 10-page paper and should last between 10 and 15 minutes. Each presentation will be followed by 10 to 15 minutes of class feedback, during which your audience will respond to your arguments, suggesting which points could be made more clearly, what needs to be further documented, etc. The audience will also be invited to suggest additions to your paper or simply to reflect on the implications of your ideas as presented. This will be the final opportunity for the class to discuss these six films by Buñuel: Los olvidados, El ángel exterminador, Ensayo de un crimen, El, Nazarín, and Viridiana.
Essay
A week after each student presents in class, each presenter will send the professor, a minimum of 750 words in Spanish, in essay form (double-spaced), explicating / interpreting one scene from the movie he or she taught in class. No two students should write on the same scene; thus students will consult each other and the professor well ahead of time about their scene of choice.
Further clarification on this Essay (PDF).
10-Page Paper
Students can choose among the following six Spanish-language films:
- Los olvidados
- El
- Ensayo de un crimen
- Nazarín
- Viridiana
- El ángel exterminador
Each student will independently write a 10-page paper in Spanish on the film on which he or she gave an initial report. Students will be expected to have read a minimum of three interpretative articles on their film, and these articles will be chosen from a list given them by the professor. In order to familiarize yourselves with the arguments of the films you haven’t seen yet, go to the library and consult the book by Agustín Sánchez Vidal. El mundo de Luis Buñuel. Caja de Ahorros Inmaculada Aragon, 1993. ISBN: 9788488305091. Go to the “Filmografía” on p. 281, and then read the resúmenes argumentales for these films. The summaries appear chronologically, according to the films’ release dates.
All final papers will include a bibliography, which must follow the format prescribed by the Modern Language Association of America (MLA). References to specific secondary texts can appear in the text, within parentheses (Author’s last name, date of text if there is more than one by the same author, and the relevant page number / s) or within foot or endnotes, which must also follow the format of the MLA. Where effective, points in your paper should be illustrated by fotogramas (still shots), which you can find on class website or Google Images. I recommend the use of at least five still shots, but these should be well chosen and should not be placed in the paper gratuitously.
