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

The Power of Radio Communication

Radio is a widely accepted and accessible medium of communication. It offers a unique listening experience that is compatible with the development of other activities, allowing for multitasking.

Elements of Radio Language

The verbal language of radio adapts to its fleeting nature, striving to capture the listener's attention without visual support. It integrates three key elements:

• Music: Can serve as primary content, background for verbal communication, or form distinct radio spots.
• Special Effects: Short sound sequences that complement spoken words and music. These include real sounds and imitations.
• Silence: Acts as a crucial counterpoint, reinforcing the meaning and impact of the message's auditory components.

Core Features of Theatrical Performance

Theater is a unique art form that must tell a story within a limited time, thus it cannot afford unnecessary delays. The storyline should capture the audience's attention. Theater is a rich mix of spectacular language and resources. Characters involved are conceived by the author to be embodied by actors on a stage. The action is determined by establishing dialogue and developing the central conflict. The author's presence is felt through the plot and characterization.

Essential Dramatic Elements

• Action

  Action develops in acts or parts. If a spatial change is produced within an act, then there is a change of frame. When a character leaves the scene, a new scene begins.

• Actors and Characters

  Actors portray characters

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" »

Realism in Literature

Realism's main characteristic is its claim to depict the society of its time. It focuses on social and economic issues, and human passions. Besides being a contemporary social reality, a third feature is a script that works with loyalty to what exists, trying to present reality as it is, using an objective technique against romantic subjectivism. The authors attempt to discover the qualities, dislikes, and even social deformities. In conclusion, the elements of realism developed from Romanticism, such as manners and the taste for local and regional levels, but still eliminates some previous facets such as subjectivism, the excessive use of the imagination, or the constant evocation of the legendary past.

The novel was the... Continue reading "Realism in Literature: A Comprehensive Analysis" »

Quattrocento Architecture

The two architects of the Quattrocento who began the break with the Renaissance and earlier Gothic tradition were Brunelleschi and Alberti. Another important figure is Michelozzo.

Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446)

Born and died in Florence, where all his artistic production took place. Although he was destined by his father for a notary career, he was soon able to engage in the arts. He began working in a goldsmith shop in Rome and conducted studies on Classical Antiquity.

He represents the first example of the Renaissance ideal artist with a solid humanist education and science (architect, sculptor, painter, goldsmith, engineer...). His work constitutes the starting point of Renaissance architecture.

Leon Battista Alberti

Italian Renaissance Painting

Spanning the 15th and 16th centuries, Renaissance painting emerged within a religious and monarchical society enjoying a prosperous economic situation.

The painting of this period is intrinsically linked to the rebirth of classical antiquity, the profound impact of humanism on both artists and their patrons, the development of new artistic techniques and sensibilities, and the broader transition from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern Age.

During this era, the artist achieved high social standing, often becoming an educated and valued member of high society. Principal patrons included the nobility, influential rulers, and various religious orders.

Origins and Italian Development

While its origins can be traced to both... Continue reading "Italian Renaissance Painting: Artists and Techniques" »