Two topics are offered Fall 2009. Students may take one or both for credit. Topic for Section A1: El Cid: Epic and Romancero. Studies the legend, history, and myth of the Cid and theories regarding the origin and development of epic poetry and the Romancero. Close reading of Poema de mio Cid, Mocedades de Rodrigo, and Romancero del Cid. Topic for Section B1: Epic and Satire in the Spanish American Colonies: Sixteenth and and Seventeenth Centuries. Works by Ercilla (Chile), Silvestre de Balboa (Cuba), Mateo Rosas de Oquendo (Peru), Juan del Valle y Caviedes (Peru), and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (Mexico). The question of the polarization of the two genres of epic and satire is explored.