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

Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People

1. The Painting

• Location: Musée du Louvre
• Artist: Eugène Delacroix
• Style: Romanticism
• Date: 1830
• Technique: Oil on canvas
• Subject: Fabric

2. Context

A) Historical Context

The nineteenth century was a time of profound political, economic, and cultural change. It emphasizes the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution. Napoleon stretched the French presence throughout Europe. The victorious European monarchies, absolute monarchies, called the Restoration period.

B) Cultural Context

In this stage, three streams are highlighted: Neoclassical, Realism, and Romanticism.

3. Characteristics

a) General Characteristics

Expresses moods and feelings, while reason is still important.

Topics: Scenery (preferably savage, mysterious,... Continue reading "Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People: Analysis & Context" »

The Romantic Novel

The novel is the genre of the new ruling class, the bourgeoisie, and the middle class. There are different types of romance novels:

• A novel insight (failed to): A hero makes a gesture to act as a serial, introspective 'I'.
• Novela: Becomes popular and goes to Spain from France, has a romantic plot, and is sometimes tearful. It represented the great Sundays.
• Novela: Also sets fashion, is aimed at a middle-class audience. Predicts what would later become historical reality.
• Novela: The authors of this period are set in the Middle Ages; documented past events not to fail in their historical narrative.

Customs Article

The customs article can be considered the most original contribution to Spanish prose. It responds to a fixed schedule:... Continue reading "Romantic Novel, Realism, and Naturalism in Literature" »

Realism and Naturalism in Literature

In the second half of the 19th century, Europe experienced significant political, social, and economic development. The bourgeoisie consolidated its power as a class. Philosophy focused on strictly observing reality, and literary writers sought to understand and reflect this reality. Thus, Realism emerged.

Realism

Features of Realism

• Focus: Primarily on the bourgeoisie.
• Objectivity: The novel mirrors the reality of the time.
• Style: Simple and clear prose. Characters' speech reflects their social class.
• Social Criticism: Often critiques the opportunistic and greedy bourgeoisie. Stories may feature a noble character who fails.
• Detailed Portrayal: Environments and characters' nature are accurately described.
  • Environment

Introduction

The avant-garde encompasses a series of artistic movements that emerged in the first decades of the 20th century, rebelling against art's traditional role of imitating reality. These movements, while diverse, shared common characteristics that profoundly impacted art and literature: anti-realism, artistic autonomy, irrationalism, a pursuit of originality, and aesthetic experimentation.

Key European Avant-Garde Movements

• Futurism: Celebrated a break from the past, praising the geometric splendor of the modern world, mechanical civilization, and technological advancements. Stylistically, it sought a dynamic and rapid verbal expression, embracing new possibilities.
• Expressionism: While not a complete rejection of earlier traditions, it

Oscar Wilde: Life and Education

Oscar Wilde's family was Dutch in origin. Oscar proceeded from a brilliant student career at Trinity College, Dublin, to even greater brilliance at Magdalene College. He won the Newdigate Prize for poetry and first-class honors in Classics.

Aestheticism and Public Life

Wilde set out to idolize "beauty for beauty's sake." Aestheticism was the keynote of his creed, and he declared that beauty was the ideal after which everyone should strive.

• His marriage in 1884 was the society spectacle of the year.
• He sparkled as England's wittiest conversationalist and its most talked-about writer.

He was convicted on charges of homosexuality. He fled to France, and was converted to Roman Catholicism just before his death.

Literary

Political and Social Context

The larger context of political tension occurs during the implementation problems of constitutional monarchies and republics. This creates a climate of uncertainty and insecurity that manifests itself in the cultural and artistic movement of Romanticism. Romanticism presides over much of the nineteenth century, and in the case of Catalan literature, important writers of the end of this century, such as Verdaguer and Guimerà, are heavily influenced by this aesthetic.

The bourgeois social class, with its powerful individualism, was the impetus behind the entrepreneurial middle class in England, which carried out an industrial revolution. The proletariat and workers, increasingly important, also eventually have an important... Continue reading "Catalan Literature in the 19th Century: Romanticism and Renaixença" »

Cinemas: Gestures and Postures

Studying the gestures, manners, and postures. The movements of the face and body provide data about the personality and emotional state of individuals. The posture conveys the attitude in interaction with others.

Variety Diatopic

Variations occurring throughout the area over which a given language is spoken are reflected in history and dialects.

Professional Jargon

Members of some groups use a type of variation, difficult to understand for people outside their group, known as professional jargon: the medical, juridical, student areas, etc.

Lexeme

The minimum unit that lacks lexical morphemes, such as light, or it had dispensed with them, as bland to soften. It has a definable semantic meaning and dictionary entry, and... Continue reading "Key Concepts in Linguistics and Hispanic Literature" »

Aeschylus: The Father of Tragedy

Aeschylus (525 BC – 456 BC) is considered the creator of tragedy, potentially following the initial steps taken by Thespis. He participated in the Battle of Marathon, where his brother died. He achieved his first victory in the Great Dionysia contest and created approximately 90 works, of which only seven are preserved: The Persians, Seven Against Thebes, and the Oresteia trilogy.

Themes and Focus

Aeschylus focused less on interpersonal conflicts and more on:

• Political themes
• Religious concepts
• The unification of opposites

The Art of Rhetoric

Speeches are categorized into three essential elements: the speaker, the text, and the audience. There are three primary types:

• Political Discourse: Delivered to an undecided

Description: Definition and Types

Description is a form of discourse used to present objects, people, places, and feelings, identifying specific details as much as possible. It is customary to distinguish between objective description (of practical interest) and subjective description (in which the author tries to demonstrate their point of view or opinion).

Structure and Phases of Descriptive Texts

Descriptive texts often use a deductive structure, displaying information from the general to the specific details, data, or characteristics. The process typically involves:

• Observation
• Selection
• Organization
• Expression

Linguistic Features of Description

• Nouns and Adjectives: Descriptive texts focus on things and their properties or characteristics.
• Verb

The Sign: Definition, Function, and Value

The sign has different functions. One primary function is identification, which requires the sign to call upon and re-present the object identified.

Furthermore, the sign possesses value; that is, the sign is worth what it means or represents. The word itself has value, even if it is not used to express something specific.

The sign is an object that represents the idea of another object. It is also defined as a minimum unit that lends meaning to an object within a given culture. The heritage of a culture is composed of all the universes of meaning—the signs that shape that culture.

Components of the Sign

The sign consists of two essential parts:

• Shape: What is seen or perceived through the senses (the signifier)