Notes, abstracts, papers, exams and problems of Arts and Humanities

The House of Bernarda Alba

The culmination of Lorca's theater comes with The House of Bernarda Alba, written in the spring of 1939 and published in 1945 in Buenos Aires.

The book is subtitled A Drama of Women in the Villages of Spain. The subject of the play is an exaggeration of a rural practice where Bernarda Alba, after the death of her husband, requires her children to undergo a long and strict confinement. It has come to be said that the central theme of the play is the confrontation between authority and freedom, with Bernarda Alba representing authority.

In the play, there are a series of secondary issues such as social inequality and the status of women in society. The action takes place in a confined space (the house), which represents... Continue reading "Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba and Essay Writing" »

Literary Genres

Literary works are grouped according to their specific characteristics, giving rise to the literary genres: narrative, lyric, tragic, essay, and others.

Forms of Expression in Literary Works

• Narration: Refers to how to relate actions and events performed by the characters in a play.
• Descriptions: Points out the salient features of people, animals, places, objects, and events, rich in words and pictures.
• Dialogue: Plays the conversation of the characters, what they feel and what they think.
• Exposition: Presents, explains, and clarifies the content in an organized and understandable manner.

Elements of the Narrative

• The narrator describes what happens in the text and can be a character or a witness.
  • Protagonist: Presents the facts as if

Principles of Visual Representation

1. Multiple Application: A single form can represent various objects or body parts.
2. Baseline: Characters and objects need a base or fulcrum, mirrored by a skyline.
3. Perpendicularity: Objects rest perpendicularly on their base, even on slanted surfaces.
4. Size Importance: The most important elements are larger than secondary ones.
5. Isolation of Parts: In sets, draw similar elements individually to show their properties (e.g., hand and fingers).
6. Territorial Imperative: Each element has inviolable space, avoiding overlaps. Hats are tangential to the head.
7. Exemplary Manner: Choose the representation that best highlights an object's main qualities, favoring orthogonal projections.
8. Depression: Draw vertical elements (people,

Analysis of Key Spanish Literary Works

The House of Bernarda Alba (20th Century) by Federico García Lorca

The House of Bernarda Alba is Lorca's last great drama. It exemplifies the theatrical style he developed during the final stage of his career. Perhaps the most important ethical lesson of the work is that moral codes should not supersede the needs of individuals, and society must adapt its principles to accommodate them. Federico García Lorca demonstrates that outdated rules lead to unfortunate situations for women. Bernarda creates and enforces a morality she inherited.

The House of Bernarda Alba is simple and severe in the following aspects:

• The structure consists of three acts.
• The language is generally medium register, although vulgar

Media: Transmitting Information

The media are systems through which information is transmitted to a wider audience, also called mass media. (Press, radio, and television).

Press: The Oldest Medium

In Spain, the first newspapers date from the eighteenth century.

Language of the Press

• Written word: Texts must be clear and easy to understand.
• Still image: Information complemented with images.
• Design elements: Major elements such as font and color.

Radio: Sound Medium

Verbal language, music, sound effects (recording or effects), silence.

Television: Moving Images

Its beginning dates back to 1929. Social influence. Aspects of the moving image. Uses music and sound effects. Dominates the spoken language.

Internet: Vast Hypertext

Multimedia language is used.

The

Baroque Prose: 17th Century Narrative Styles

The 17th century saw a decline in Renaissance narrative styles. Baroque prose is characterized by the establishment of the picaresque novel and the expression of a sensibility that could only be transmitted with an innovative, hard, and sharp style, resulting in novel ideas.

Picaresque Novel in the 17th Century: Mateo Alemán

• Born in Seville (1547), he graduated from high school but did not finish the medical studies he began. His various jobs, including that of a judge in the royal administration, did not solve the economic problems that led him to jail for debt. He traveled to America in 1608 and published Events of Fray Garcia, Archbishop of Mexico, in whose service he worked. Since 1612, nothing

Understanding Narrative

A narrative is a story told to convey what happens to characters in a specific time and place.

Difference Between History, Narrative Text, and Narrative

• History: Refers to the actual events that have occurred.
• Narrative Text: The message conveyed in the act of communication.
• Narrative: The story told; how the text appears to have a narrative.

Essential Elements of a Narrative

A narrative requires:

• Someone who tells the story (narrator)
• Characters to whom events happen
• A place and time for the events to occur

Types of Narrators

The narrator is the one who tells the story. They can be classified based on their involvement in the story and the grammatical person used:

• Internal Narrator: Involved in the story.
  • Autobiographical Narrator:

Stage Lighting

Special Effects

• Physical: Smoke, snow, wind, fire, rain, etc.
• Electronic: Projectors (front and rear screen projection) for simple and moving images.
• Luminous: Laser.

Audiovisual

Displays, video projectors, cameras, etc.

Light Sources

Controllable characteristics:

• Intensity: Brightness level.
• Distribution: Area of illumination.
• Color: Controlled with gels (e.g., Rosco catalog).

Purpose of Stage Lighting

• Illumination: Provide visibility.
• Dimension: Create shadows and depth.
• Selection: Highlight specific elements.
• Atmosphere: Set the mood and environment.

Projector Placement

1. Front: Angle relative to the illuminated object no more than 75° on the horizontal plane.
2. Rear (Contra): Creates dimension and volume, highlights actors' outlines. Fresnel and

Realism in Literature

Realism focuses on the accurate observation of contemporary reality. As a result, the novel will be the predominant genre that best meets the goals of aesthetic and moral realism. The realist novel aspires to become a credible and accurate document of the society of the time.

Features:

• Objective observation (everything revolves around reality)
• Contemporary ambiance (there are things from the time of writing)
• Thesis approach (often defends an ideological thesis)
• Psychological analysis of the characters (they are common characters; the bourgeoisie dominates, and as the century progresses, the proletarians and marginalized, especially women)
• The omniscient narrator (a habitual type of narrator who knows all about the characters)

The Novel

Definition

The novel, a quintessential Renaissance literary genre, employed prose narrative techniques to depict character actions within specific settings. The term "novel" signifies something new, a fresh approach to storytelling distinguished by its innovative content and linguistic presentation.

Features

Primarily, the novel's literary purpose is to offer aesthetic beauty through reading, delighting the reader. Its descriptive and narrative nuances stem from its prose format, differentiating it from epic poems. Novels are often based on imagination and fantasy, creating fictional worlds inhabited by vivid characters.

Novelistic Currents

Two main currents exist in fiction: realism, which accurately portrays reality and engages with... Continue reading "Novels and Short Stories: A Literary Journey" »