One of the most difficult Hispanic writers to understand is Jorge Luis Borges. His masterfully written works not only contain a wide variety of cultural references but also hide subtle metaphors. The reader of Borges’s work must be an informed, attentive reader with great literary sensitivity.
From the foregoing, it is easy to deduce that for an adolescent who is just beginning to live, and must read in a second language, Borges’s stories are complicated and a bit dark. However, the AP Spanish Literature students must read two Borges stories.
As you know and have seen, my purpose as a teacher of the AP Spanish Literature class has always been to facilitate reading. Look for ways in which students relate each reading to their lives and thus can be interested in literary and deeper aspects.
In the following video you can see my students telling the plot of “El Sur” in a very understandable way. Once they do this, then we move on to discussing the metaphorical and cultural aspects that allow a real literary analysis. I invite you to do activities like this, to work with comprehensible literature.
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS ALL MY COURSES FOR SPANISH TEACHERS
DIEGO OJEDA 