Leyendas: Tesoros del mundo hispano

Susan Bacon, Emerita, University of Cincinnati, Ohio
Aitor Bikandi-Mejías, Saint Louis University, Madrid Campus
Gregg Courtad, University of Mount Union, Ohio

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“Se dice que el alma de una civilización se traza en sus leyendas y mitos.”
—from the Authors

Perhaps no other story is as compelling, as universal, or conveys so much about a culture as a legend. Leyendas: Tesoros del mundo hispano is a completely digital reading experience intended for intermediate and advanced students of Spanish. It offers 12 Hispanic legends from Mexico, Colombia, El Salvador, Spain, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Paraguay, and the United States. The stories illustrate the blending of cultures (Spanish, Indigenous, Mestizo), and the creation of new legends—as well as the evolution of legends.

Popular in a variety of college courses, Leyendas has been combined with a grammar text or as a stand-alone resource in intermediate or advanced conversation and composition classes. Although there is no explicit presentation of grammar, the authors reinforce both grammar and vocabulary through the telling of the legends and the variety of activities. Leyendas can also be used to provide a richer context for Hispanic civilization courses, and Spanish Phonetics, through the use of the audio program.

The opening text explores popular stories such as Davy Crockett and Johnny Appleseed to help learners understand the importance of, and differences between, legends and myths. Interesting, accessible readings with universal themes—e.g., questions of money, power, honor, and revenge; fidelity and courage; star-crossed lovers; good and evil; friendship and good will; the futility of the search for imagined treasure—make up this widely-used resource.

• Contexto cultural openers provide information to help students situate each legend within its historical and cultural context. This section encourages students to recall their studies in other courses and to make connections to previous knowledge.
• Preparación activities refer to information in the Contexto cultural, introduce new vocabulary and concepts, and supply advance organizers and global questions for each reading. Because the authors believe that learners can understand much more than they can produce, we employ a variety of tenses along with preparation and redundancy to make the stories comprehensible.
• Low-frequency vocabulary is glossed when it is not transparent from the context of the legend and not included in the pre-reading activities.
• Post-reading activities progress from convergent Comprensión activities to Aplicación, higher-order activities, requiring evaluation and defense of opinion. Comprensión activities vary from legend to legend. Aplicación activities include interpretive reading and role-play, further investigation, debate, reflection, and guided writing.

A version of these materials was formerly published by Pearson.

El Patio de los Leones, sitio de la matanza de los Abencerrajes.