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

Alliteration: Repetition of one or more initial sounds in words that are very close together.

Onomatopoeia: Words that imitate real sounds.

Paronomasia (Pun): Repetition of words with very similar sounds.

Anaphora: Repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses, verses, or sentences.

Parallelism: Repetition of syntactic structures.

Anadiplosis: Repetition of the last word or phrase of a clause or sentence at the beginning of the next.

Concatenation: A series of anadiplosis in sequence.

Epanadiplosis: Repetition of a word at the beginning and end of a clause, verse, or sentence.

Pun: Play on words that uses multiple meanings of a term, or words that sound alike but have different meanings.

Chiasmus: A rhetorical or literary... Continue reading "Literary Devices: A Comprehensive Reference" »

Understanding Multiculturalism: Models and Approaches

Multiculturalism refers to the coexistence of diverse cultures within a society. Various models propose different ways to manage this diversity:

• Assimilation

  This model involves the "immersion" of migrants into a new culture, empowering them to adapt to their new society. Positively, it allows minorities to access the same resources as the autochthonous population. Negatively, it demands the "renunciation" of one's original culture, creating a dilemma of "conform or be excluded."

• Segregation

  In this view, cultural plurality leads to one culture being deemed superior, thereby assigned the direction on common issues affecting everyone. This often results in the separation or isolation of different

English Adjectives and Meanings

• Colorful: full of color (lleno de color)
• Spontaneous: something not prepared (espontáneo)
• Peaceful: not involving violence (pacífico)
• Dramatic: attracting attention (dramático)
• Amusing: providing enjoyment (divertido)
• Unusual: (raro)
• Striking: attracting attention (llamativo)
• Romantic: related to love (romántico)
• Natural: something from or related to nature (natural)
• Moving (physically): a moving train (mover)
• Moving (emotionally): arousing or touching emotions (emocionante)
• Powerful: implies force (poderoso)

Understanding English Antonyms

Prefix "Un-"

• unhappy
• unemotional
• unfair
• unbelievable

Prefix "Ir-"

• irresponsible
• irregular

Prefix "Il-"

• illogical
• illegal

Prefix "In-"

• intolerant
• informal
• insecure
• insensible

Prefix "Im-"

• immortal
• impossible
• impolite
• immature

Essential

Noucentisme

Features of Noucentisme

• Intellectualism: Defend rationality and intellectual rigor, usually possessing a strong background.
• European Influence: Advocate for the intellectual modernization of Spain and its connection to European culture.
• Cultural and Political Presence: Utilize positions of power to influence society.
• Universalist Ideal: Demonstrate a preference for urban culture.
• Aestheticism: Art is conceived as a self-sufficient and beautiful object: pure art, detached from sentimentality and realism, inspired by classical models.
• Formal Concern: Admire the intellectual rigor of well-executed work, and value art and intellectual minorities.

Avant-Garde Movements

The avant-garde movements and isms originated in Europe around World War I... Continue reading "Noucentisme and Avant-Garde Movements in Spanish Literature" »

Understanding Narrative-Descriptive Texts

This text can be classified as narrative-descriptive because it combines both narrative and descriptive elements. Descriptive passages focus on detailing elements, such as a room mentioned in the text. These descriptions are often subjective, reflecting the narrator's point of view, although objective adjectives might also be present.

Linguistic Features of Description

Key linguistic features in descriptive writing include verb forms, nouns, adjectives, semantic structures, and literary procedures.

Verb Forms in Descriptions

In descriptive sections, verb forms often have an imperfect aspect (e.g., imperfect, present tense), reflecting ongoing or unfinished actions. This contributes to a more static feel... Continue reading "Analyzing Narrative and Descriptive Writing Techniques" »

Italian Renaissance Painting

Space-Time Context

Between the 15th and 16th centuries.

Historical Context

Renaissance painting, bridging medieval and baroque art, reflects the revival of classical antiquity, the impact of humanism, new artistic techniques and sensibilities, and the transition from the medieval to the early modern age.

Key Periods

The Italian Renaissance is divided into two periods:

• The 15th century (Quattrocento): Florence is the cradle of Renaissance painting.
• The 16th century (Cinquecento/High Renaissance): Rome experiences the greatest artistic splendor.

General Characteristics

Renaissance painting sees the decline of the altarpiece, an emphasis on seniority and classical evocation, mastery of perspective, and the continuation of fresco... Continue reading "Italian Renaissance Art and Architecture" »

The Open Novel: Narrative Techniques and Features

The open novel has a flexible structure that can accommodate all kinds of narrative techniques. With its complex composition and calculated ambiguity, it presents a fragmentary and unfinished structure that requires the reader's collaboration and interpretation. It breaks the chronological arrangement of the story and has a complex, even chaotic, structure. Narrative times are mixed with flashbacks, anticipations of the future, and alternate histories. The omniscient narrator is replaced by a plurality of approaches, with the story being told from the viewpoint of two or more narrators.

It mixes pure storytelling, dialogue, and free indirect dialogue in which the narrator assumes the viewpoint... Continue reading "Open Novel Structure: Narrative Techniques and Features" »

Symbolic Capacity

Aristotle defined the human being as a rational animal. Studying their origins, we know that man was and is an animal that has followed an evolutionary process. According to the German philosopher Ernst Cassirer, the definition of "rational animal" is valid but insufficient. The human animal has emotions, feelings, poetic imagination, and all this is able to be expressed symbolically. To that effect, human beings have a characteristic that perhaps most differentiates us from the rest of the animals: symbolic capacity. Man is the only animal capable of building symbolic forms such as language, art, and religion. These shapes give meaning and symbolic significance to the world in which he lives.

What is a Symbol?

• It is a substitute

The Renewal of Modernist Aesthetics and the Generation of '98

The renewal of modernist aesthetics, particularly in poetic language, extended significantly into prose and fiction. Sensuality, idealization, and the stylization of reality form the basis of these works.

The Generation of '98 (G98) retained aspects of the modernist reaction against vulgar style. The movement sometimes adopted the themes and ideas of Naturalism (as seen in Baroja), while in others, it embraced German intellectual and existential thought (Unamuno), or focused on a new sensibility of romance and nostalgia (Azorín).

Miguel de Unamuno: Intellectual and Existential Thinker

Born in Bilbao, Miguel de Unamuno was a university professor of Greek, a playwright, poet, essayist,... Continue reading "Spanish Modernism and the Generation of '98 Literary Renewal" »

1. Quadre de Costums (Customs Literature)

Literature about the customs of a community, usually those that were about to disappear. This genre employed a two-pronged approach: nostalgic and critical. The intent, as seen with Robert, was to denounce the unreasonable behavior of society, often with a humoristic tone.

From the standpoint of atmosphere, two main types emerged:

• Urban Frame (Quadre Urbà): More rebellious and critical, exemplified by R. Robert.
• Rural Frame (Quadre de Masia): More conservative and nostalgic.

It was important to incorporate reality into literature, especially in the urban frame, which was far from the idyllic and distorted vision of Romanticism.

2. The Romantic Novel

The finest example is The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe.... Continue reading "19th Century Literary Movements: Novel Development and Key Authors" »