Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Arts and Humanities

The Essay

The essay is a literary genre characterized by digressions where the author expresses thoughts on a topic, or even without a specific issue. It has greatly influenced liberal thought and journalism.

Features:

• Free structure, form, and relatively brief extent
• Thematic variety
• Careful and elegant style
• Varied tone, reflecting the author's worldview

Types of Essays:

Literary Essay

Defined by the ideas it explores, covering disciplines like morality, science, history, and politics. It's a dynamic miscellany where the author expresses personal and subjective impressions and reflections about life. It is a critical product par excellence.

Scientific Essay

Blurs the boundaries between science and poetry. It's called a scientific-literary genre because... Continue reading "Understanding Essays: Characteristics, Types, and Journalistic Applications" »

Mendoza's Narrative Craft in The Savolta Case

Eduardo Mendoza's novel, The Truth About the Savolta Case, demonstrates a keen focus on technical literary treatment, equally valuing it alongside the compelling narrative. Mendoza champions the pleasure of storytelling, an element he feels is often forgotten in recent narrative trends.

Barcelona 1917-1919: A Tumultuous Backdrop

The novel collects the final memories of Javier Miranda, both a spectator and protagonist of events in Barcelona from 1917 to 1919. It delves into social tensions within a company headed by Lepprince, intertwined with a love plot. This narrative combines individual incidents with events characteristic of a collective historical novel.

Themes: Social, Political, and Existential

Understanding Dialogue

Dialogue is a text constructed in collaboration between several partners, sometimes acting as the issuer and other times as the receiver.

Characteristics of Everyday Dialogue

• Occurs in daily life.
• Relaxed pronunciation.
• Not prepared in advance.
• Uses common language.
• Often includes exclamatory sentences.

Setup of a Formal Dialogue

A formal dialogue (such as a discussion or interview) includes a moderator who directs and governs the conversation, and one or more participants who are experts in the field.

Literary Dialogues

Literary dialogues appear in literary works, including narratives, where they may be presented directly or indirectly.

Direct Speech

In direct speech, the narrator interrupts their narrative and uses a verb (e.g.,... Continue reading "Understanding Dialogue, Exposition, Argumentation & Linguistics" »

Minimalism: From Revolutionary Russia to Today

The origins of minimalism can be traced back to the Russian artists of the revolutionary period, particularly through movements like Constructivism and Suprematism. A prime example is White on Black (1917) by Malevich. At first glance, minimalist works may appear simple, but ambiguities complicate their perceptual reception, making them reflexively complex. This contradicts Morris's assertion that "what you see is what you see."

Key Figures and Their Perspectives

• Greenberg viewed minimalism as innovative, mistaking it for bizarre, strange effects rather than recognizing the essential qualities of art, particularly its exploration of three-dimensionality.

• Wollheim saw minimalism as having a minimum

Features of the Narrative Genre

Event and Plot

The events are the occurrences, past or present, in the story. These events form the plot.

• Closed Linear Structure: Has a beginning, middle, and end.
• Open Non-linear Structure: Episodes accumulate without following a strict timeline.

Characters

Characters develop the narrative action and intervene in the story.

• The protagonist is the principal character.
• The antagonist is the character who opposes the hero.
• Some works feature collective characters, involving many characters where none stand out above the others.

Based on characterization, characters can be:

• Archetypal: Representing universal patterns.
• Psychological Models: Described with multiple features and evolving throughout the work.

Time

Time is another... Continue reading "Narrative Genre: Elements, Structure, and Forms" »

Stylistic Analysis

Fortuny's work, while rooted in realism, diverges from French realism. It lacks social critique and, despite depicting different social classes, doesn't challenge oppression. His style, often termed Catalan-French realism, caters to bourgeois tastes with vibrant colors and intricate details.

Fortuny's influences include Impressionism, particularly in his use of color and light. However, unlike French Impressionists, he retains traditional chiaroscuro, albeit without using contrasting colors for shadows.

His time in Morocco significantly impacted his art, inspiring masterpieces like The Battle of Tetuan. This influence is evident in his portrayal of light and detail.

Fortuny's style also reflects Pintoresquismo, echoing Goya's... Continue reading "Mariano Fortuny's 'The Vicar's Office': Analysis and Interpretation" »

Illness and Disability in Ethan Frome

Ethan and those individuals close to him, including Mattie, suffer from sickness or disability. Caring for the sick and the lame defines Ethan’s life. He spends years tending to his ailing mother, and then he cares for his hypochondriacal wife, Zeena. After his and Mattie’s attempted suicide, Ethan is forced to spend his days as a cripple, living with a sick wife and the handicapped Mattie. Outward physical signs reflect inner realities, and the predominance of illness indicates that, inwardly, they are all in states of destitution and decline.

The Impact of Snow and Cold

The imagery of Ethan Frome is built around cold, ice, snow, and hues of white. The characters constantly complain about the cold, and... Continue reading "Ethan Frome: Illness, Cold, and Symbolic Red" »

During the Middle Ages, two prominent art schools emerged: Romanesque and Gothic. Romanesque art originated in the 10th century, while Gothic art followed in the 12th century. For a time, they coexisted before Gothic eventually replaced Romanesque across much of Western Europe. Spain, Germany, and France were particularly rich in Romanesque art. However, France transitioned early to the Gothic style, becoming, along with England and Spain, one of the countries with a less developed Romanesque style.

The Church's Influence on Medieval Art

The Church played a crucial role in both periods. As the highest authority during the Middle Ages, it influenced art in all its forms:

• Painting: Although not extensively developed, painting primarily depicted

Features of the Esperpento

The Esperpento. The word "grotesque" was popularly used with meanings of "extravagance" and "ugliness." Valle-Inclán (VI) uses it to refer to his theater. The esperpento is defined given the situation of the characters, unable to reach the height of tragedy, and how ridiculous they are in their situation.

The theory about the new genre appears in scene XII. In it, the main character says, "Our tragedy is not a tragedy." Tragedy is a genre too noble for the surrounding landscape. And from the impossibility of tragedy comes the *esperpento*. The nature of this *aesthetic deformans* is illustrated with reference to the concave mirrors that decorated the facade of a shop on Cat Street in Madrid.

In an interview in 1928,... Continue reading "Valle-Inclán's Esperpento: Features and Analysis" »

A View From The Bridge: Analysis of Themes and Characters

A View From The Bridge by Arthur Miller

Actions

When we see Catherine serve food, or offer Eddie a beer, or when she sits on the bath while he shaves in her slip, we are being told about their relationship. Without being lovers, they have the kind of intimacy only lovers should have.

The two kisses at the start of act II are equally effective on stage: one with its suggestion of incest and the other illustrating Eddie's mistaken belief in Rodolfo's homosexuality.

The final action of the play is where Eddie dies by his own hand and his own weapon; but Eddie also metaphorically destroys himself over the whole course of the play. And this is what Alfieri introduces at the play's opening: "the... Continue reading "Analyzing 'A View From The Bridge': Themes and Characters" »