4 min read•june 18, 2024
Alejandra Ramos
Alejandra Ramos
Welcome to AP Spanish Literature ✨
AP Spanish Literature shares the spot with AP English Literature for my favorite AP Class. AP Spanish Literature takes you on journeys and different Eras of, well, Spanish Literature. It is basically like the Taylor Swift Eras Tour, except instead of albums, it focuses on different time periods in which literature pieces were made. These different eras include:
We will be focusing on La época medieval in this section, and although it is the shortest one, it has been tested before and establishes an important historical foundation for everything else.
Additionally, it is very important to note that throughout the units, there are going to be different temas, or themes, that the story is about. The temas are very useful to be able to talk about the stories in the free-response questions (FRQs) on the AP Exam. It is also very important to not focus on just the general history of each time period but rather, the history of the time period that revolves around the literature piece. This was something that at first, I would get confused about, but looking at just the historical context of the story helped a lot with remembering the key details of each era! It is usually easier for people (it was for me!) to not group stories by temas but rather, associate the temas with a story as there can be various temas for a single story.
📝 Read: AP Spanish Literature - How Can I Be Prepared for the AP Spanish Literature FRQ?
El Conde Lucanor Ejemplo XXXV, was written by Don Juan Manuel approximately in the year 1335. During this time period, women were considered to not be on the same level of value as men—which is something, although not fair, very important to remember since it will help establish various temas. The temas del curso are "" and "La construcción de genero." These can then be broken down into other sub-temas.
“ is one of the few literature pieces in this class that does not have an author. This is because of the type of literature this is—it is talking about the downfall of a kingdom, which would have been very badly punished with the possibility of death. We will see the repetition of two temas from el Conde Lucanor Ejemplo XXXV in this poem—but they are connected in different ways.
Some things I wish I knew about the course are that you should be able to recognize not just the name of the story, but also the name of the author and the time period. I am usually a crammer for AP Tests, unfortunately, but I would go back time and time again and make flashcards early one quizzing me on the information of a story. Terminos Literarios are also super important to know—which is why I would recommend finding a literary term and associating it with some part of the literary piece you are reading. Finally, always be aware of the type of piece you are reading—whether it is a moraleja, a poema, or a soneto. Lastly, don’t just focus on the literary pieces but also focus on your writing and analysis skills.
This is genuinely the shortest unit so there is not much else to cover but please enjoy the Eras Tour! It is very enjoyable 😊