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

Supporting Materials in Speeches

The three types of supporting materials are examples, testimonies, and statistics and facts.

Examples

Examples you can use to illustrate your points include:

• Brief examples: Offer a single point of view about the topic.
• Extended examples: Provide multifaceted illustrations of the idea presented.
• Hypothetical examples: Describe what you believe the outcome might be.

Testimonies

Testimonies can add credibility to your speech. There are two main types:

• Expert testimony: Comes from a person with specialized knowledge about your topic.
• Lay testimony: Can be from an eyewitness with firsthand information.

Statistics and Facts

Adding facts and statistics to your speech can strengthen your arguments. Facts are documented information,... Continue reading "Supporting Materials, Persuasive Appeals, and Delivery in Speeches" »

Plot:

author's arrangement of the events that make up a story.

Conflict:

The driving force behind many plots; outside: main character being in conflict with external forces; within: character being forced to make a difficult choice, question his values and beliefs.

Suspense:

Character:

Literature allow us to multiply that number by giving us access to the private thoughts and lives of an endless assortment of fascinating and memorable people.

Defining characters:

• Their relationship to the plot
• The degree to which they are developed
• Their growth in the course of the story

The central character of the plot is called the protagonist.

The character against whom the protagonist struggles is called the antagonist. Could be something natural. Not a human... Continue reading "Understanding Characters in Literature: Types and Development" »

William Blake's Poetic Insights

Understanding Visionaries

A visionary may be someone who envisions a better future or someone who claims to see people or events in dreams.

Literary Analysis: Symbolism

A symbol is a person, place, object, or action that represents itself and something beyond itself. Symbols can often represent more than one thing.

Reading Skill: Compare and Contrast

• Word Choice: Look for descriptive words and note how they are used to emphasize characteristics of the subject.
• Ideas: Identify common or contrasting ideas expressed in the poems.
• Tone: Notice the author's attitude toward the subject.

Blake's Poems: Interpretations

The Lamb

Consider what God, the lamb, and the speaker have in common.

Symbols: Lamb, God.

Explanation: Represents... Continue reading "Literary Analysis: Blake, Tennyson, and Poetic Devices" »

Lorem ipsum is a pseudo-Latin text used extensively in web design, typography, layout, and printing. Its primary function is to serve as a placeholder in place of meaningful English content, allowing designers to emphasize visual design elements over the actual text content.

Core Function and Applications

The use of Lorem ipsum ensures that stakeholders focus purely on the aesthetic and structural aspects of the design.

Where is Placeholder Text Used?

The pseudo-Latin text is crucial across various design disciplines:

• Web Design: To visualize how text blocks will appear on a live site.
• Typography: To test font choices, leading, and kerning without distraction.
• Layout and Printing: Essential for mockups in publishing and graphic design.

Lorem ipsum... Continue reading "The Role of Lorem Ipsum in Design and Typography" »

The Mechanics of Narrative Structure

• Typically, a narrative begins with an initial situation (Exposition).
• A series of changes occurs according to a pattern of cause and effect.
• Finally, a new situation arises—through character choice and conflict—that restores equilibrium to the world of the story and brings about the end of the narrative.
• The new story equilibrium almost always results in character change.

Character Focus in Narrative Film

Narrative films generally focus on human characters and their struggles.

Characters are typically responsible for cause and effect within the narrative.

Developing Dynamic Characters

How do writers develop round, dynamic characters?

• Through conversations with other characters
• Through group associations
• Through

Characteristics of Postmodernism and Related Authors

Defining Postmodernism: Timeframe and Distinction from Modernism

Postmodernism is a literary movement originating in the post-1950s, a time marked by the Cold War and excessive consumption. The period is generally considered to begin in the early 1960s and extend into the 1990s.

It differs significantly from Modernism by blurring the conventional boundary between “high” and “low” culture, employing a completely loosened structure in both time and space, and favoring multiple openings rather than a closed structure. It rejects conformity to popular taste and combines heterogeneous elements, catering to a more sophisticated readership.

Core Philosophical Tenets and Relativism

The movement... Continue reading "Postmodern Literary Movement: Defining Characteristics and Historical Context" »

Realism in International Relations

Realism is one of the dominant schools of thought in international relations theory, theoretically formalizing the Realpolitik statesmanship of early modern Europe. Although a highly diverse body of thought, it is unified by the belief that world politics is always and necessarily a field of conflict among actors pursuing power. The theories of realism are contrasted by the cooperative ideals of liberalism.

Realists can be divided into three classes based on their view of the essential causes of interstate conflict:

• Classical realists believe it follows from human nature;
• Neorealists attribute it to the dynamics of the anarchic state system;
• Neoclassical realists believe it results from both, in combination with

Essential History Terminology

This document defines key terms used in the study of history.

Core Concepts

• Provenance: Origin of the source.
• Orthodox: Established/understood interpretation of events.
• Revisionist: Questions orthodox view and looks for a revised interpretation.
• Anachronistic: An approach that judges a culture or event using standards that didn't apply to them.
• Hindsight: Treats historical events as inevitable; a deterministic approach.
• Sacrosanct: A point of view considered proven and above debate and criticism.
• Iconoclastic: A revisionist approach which challenges orthodox, sacrosanct interpretations (e.g., A.J.P. Taylor's view on Hitler and WW2).
• Deterministic: Individuals have little influence on the outcome of events.
• Nihilistic: Random

Europe in the 16^th century (High Renaissance) was an age of social, intellectual, and religious ferment that transformed European culture. The spirit of discovery, travel, and exploration fostered self-confident humanism, stability, order, and admiration of classical forms. An explosion of information aided by book printing allowed artists to become more mobile, with styles becoming less regional. Rome grew in importance, especially under Julius II (Pope from 1503-1513), with a population of 100,000 people, making it only smaller than London and Paris. In 1494, the expulsion of the Medici from Florence marked a significant political shift.

Continual armed conflict was triggered by the expansionist ambitions of warring rulers.

Humanism in the... Continue reading "The Transformative Art and Culture of 16th Century Europe" »

Descriptive Discourse

Setting, or general environment, is very important because we must know where the place and action take place. Descriptive discourse expresses human awareness of the setting and aims to create a mental image in the mind of the reader by means of a verbal representation. We form an overall image through the description in the text.

Descriptive discourse uses words to represent appearance, nature, attributes, etc., of something. Descriptive discourse is very similar to pictorial arts; both have the same purpose: to represent an idea and to show the main purpose of the image.

We must take into consideration all descriptive techniques to describe time, place, people, etc., but we should not forget that adjectives are not always... Continue reading "Descriptive Discourse: Techniques, Objective & Subjective Vividness" »