Teaching the Short Story in Spanish: Literary Analysis and Commentary

The problem of this study was to develop a simplified Spanish teaching guide for analytical commentaries about contemporary short stories in Spanish. To realize this study, major approaches in analytical commentary of short story instruction in classes of Spanish in American colleges and universities were identified through intensive research and have been incorporated into the guide. Consequently, general principles for the analysis and explication of the contemporary short story in Spanish are identified. The objectives in these major principles found in the literature are concepts which meet the needs of the present-day student in an ever-changing society. The analytical commentary on the short stories focuses on specific and essential elements of the short story. It is based on four selected representative authors from the Hispanic world—Juan Rulfo, Ana Maria Matute, Sabine R. Ulibarri, and Horacio Quiroga—and four short stories of their respective authors from anthologies used in Spanish classes in the United States of America. The linguistic analysis and commentary on the short story are basically limited to the linguistically cultural aspect. Those educators of the Spanish language and Hispanic literatures having a personal interest on the subject may find useful the reference list constructed. It was compiled from resources obtained through a computer search and the card catalogs in their respective places: Biblioteca Municipal de Salamanca, Espana, Biblioteca Nacional de Espafia, Madrid; Dallas Public Library; ERIC; Fondren Library, Southern Methodist University; Texas Woman's University; and Willis Library, University of North Texas. Recommendations for instructional evaluators and educators in Spanish are enumerated in Chapter V. Also, based on the results of the development of the teaching guide, recommendations for further research and studies are suggested