Possible subjects for term papers

1. Berceo (1197?-1264)
   • Milagros de Nuestra Señora
2. Other works from the mester de clerecía
   • Libro de Alejandre
   • Libro de Apolonio
   • Poema del Conde Fernán González
3. Don Juan Manuel (1282-1348)
   • El Conde Lucanor
4. Sem Tob (1290?-1369)
   • Proverbios morales (in verse)
5. Romancero
   • (i.e., study several romances)
6. Arcipreste de Talavera (1398?-1470?)
   • El Corbacho, Pt. II (prose)
7. Diego de San Pedro
   • Cárcel del amor (1492) (novela sentimental): Mateo
8. Gil Vicente (1470?-1536)
   • Auto da barca da Gloria (auto)
   • Auto da Sibila Casandra (auto)
9. Amadís de Gaula (1508; chivalresque novel, abbreviated version)
10. Lope de Rueda (1510?-1565)
    • “Las aceitunas”, “El convidado”, “El rufián cobarde” (pasos - short plays)
11. Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)
    • “La gitanilla” (novela ejemplar): Gladys
    • “La fuerza de la sangre” (novela ejemplar): Alicia
    • “Rinconete y Cortadillo”¹ (novela ejemplar):
    • “La ilustre fregona”² (novela ejemplar)^: Sheri
    • “El amante liberal”³ (novela ejemplar)
    • “La española inglesa”⁴ (novela ejemplar)
    • “El celoso extremeño”⁵ (novela ejemplar)[que se podría comparar con el entremés El viejo celoso, , una obra drámatica de Cervantes que se leyó en el curso S302]
    • “El casamiento engañoso” y “El coloquio de los perros” (novelas ejemplares): Judith
    • “El licenciado vidriera” (novela ejemplar)
    • *La Numancia
12. Lope de Vega (1562-1635)
    • *Peribánez y el comendador de Ocaña
    • *El mejor alcalde, el rey
    • *El caballero de Olmedo
    • *Amar sin saber a quién: Mari
    • *La dama boba
13. Anónimo
    • *La estrella de Sevilla
14. Guillén de Castro (1569-1631)
    • *Las mocedades del Cid
    • *El perfecto caballero
15. Ruiz de Alarcón (1581-1639)
    • *La verdad sospechosa
    • *Las paredes oyen
16. Francisco de Quevedo (1580-1645)
    • Historia de la vida del Buscón (novela picaresca)
17. Tirso de Molina (1583-1648)
    • *El burlador de Sevilla: Dustin
    • *El condenado por desconfiado
    • *El vergonzoso en palacio
18. Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600-1681)
    • *La vida es sueño: Lisa
    • *El alcalde de Zalamea
    • *El médico de su honra
19. Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla (1607-1648)
    • *Del rey abajo, ninguno
      

*Three act plays (in verse form) from the Spanish Golden Age

Note: This list is not exhaustive; it is merely a list of suggested works. The works which have been grayed out are possible topics, but not recommended for the typical student. In general, almost any Golden Age play or any novela ejemplar would be an acceptable choice, provided you have not read it or done a term paper on it for another course. Before you get serious about a topic, please check with the instructor.

In view of the number of students in the class, I've added a few more novelas ejemplares to the list. Here are some brief summaries which I e-mailed to a student:

• ¹ “Rinconete y Cortadillo” resembles a picaresque novel: two young men meet and go to Seville where they join up with the underworld there, so we get a glimpse of the world of pickpockets, cardsharps, pimps and prostitutes, etc.
• ² “La ilustre fregona”: two young men of noble birth go in search of adventures. In Toledo they find an inn where there is a beautiful kitchen maid (fregona) with whom one of them falls in love. In the end, she turns out to also be of noble birth, so things end up happily.
• ³ “El amante liberal”: the story of a love triangle with two young noblemen and the young woman they both love. The “loser” in love manages to rescue the young lady after she is abducted by moorish pirates. Upon their return to Spain, he generously offers her to the other young man, the original “winner”.
• ⁴ “La española inglesa” deals with a girl of noble Spanish birth brought up in the court of the monarch of England.
• ⁵ “El celoso extremeño”: similar to Cervantes' entremés entitled El viejo celoso, this is the story of an old man who marries a young girl, and is insanely jealous. He keeps her locked up in his house, but a young man manages to get in. The endings of the two versions are quite different, however.

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