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

English Affixes

Suffixes

Noun Suffixes (added to nouns)

• -eer: profiteer, lanceer
• -er: teenager
• -ess: hostess, priestess
• -ette: cigarette, kitchenette
• -let: booklet
• -ian: politician, technician
• -ion: companion
• -ist: pianist, guitarist, violinist
• -age: wastage, mileage
• -dom: kingdom
• -ery: slavery
• -hood: adulthood, neighborhood
• -ism: criticism, terrorism
• -ship: friendship, sportsmanship, leadership

Noun Suffixes (added to verbs)

• -ant: assistant, consultant, informant
• -ee: employee, trainee
• -ent: respondent, dependent
• -er: singer, painter, dancer, printer, computer
• -or: conqueror, visitor
• -age: linkage, carriage
• -al: dismissal, survival, proposal
• -ance: attendance, performance
• -ion: protection, conversation, decision
• -ence: existence, persistence, preference
• -ing: building,

Understanding Sentence Structure

Simple Sentence

A linguistic unit possessing syntactic and semantic unity.

Compound Sentence

The combination of two or more simple sentences joined together.

Coordinated Sentences

Sentences that are joined without a subordinating nexus, maintaining equal grammatical rank.

Subordinate (Complex) Sentences

Sentences comprising clauses that do not make sense independently (dependent clauses).

Paragraph Structure and Cohesion

Paragraph Definition

A set of sentences dealing with a single question or topic.

Main Clause (Topic Sentence)

The main clause contains the central idea or theme of the paragraph.

Supporting Sentences

These are fundamental statements supporting or developing the main idea (topic sentence).

Supporting Details

Romanesque Art Historical References

Thanks to the introduction of feudalism, the tranquility, and political supremacy of the Church, Europe achieved stability. A new middle class emerged in Europe, divided into groups of artisans and merchants. Monks, who dedicated their lives entirely to God, promised chastity, poverty, and worship Him as superior.

Localization and Artistic Development

Romanesque art acquired a European character. It developed in three stages:

• First Romanesque
• Full Romanesque
• Late Romanesque

Characteristics of Romanesque Art

The term Romanesque arises from the desire to unify different styles, drawing heavily from Roman architecture. Romanesque art placed great importance on precious materials like gold and silver, and on symbolism.... Continue reading "Romanesque Art: History, Architecture, and Painting Styles" »

Journalism: Definition and Key Concepts

Journalism is the collection and treatment of written, oral, visual, or graphic information in all its forms and varieties. A journalist is a person professionally engaged in a newspaper, an audiovisual medium, a literary work, graphic information, or creating opinion.

Classification of Journalistic Genres

News Genres

In news genres, the journalist tries to express information of general interest or specific to any group of people in an impersonal way, adjusted to reality. The most used forms are the story, the chronicle, and the report.

The News

The news is the main informative subgenre. It is characterized by a complete yet brief presentation of a current fact of interest, carried out with objectivity. The... Continue reading "Journalistic Genres: News, Features, Editorials, and Interviews" »

The Catalan Modernism movement, flourishing at the turn of the 20th century, represented a profound shift in art, literature, and social thought. It sought to redefine Catalan culture and challenge the conservative norms of the era.

Core Characteristics of Modernist Art

Its main characteristics are the pursuit of musicality, the presence of nature and allusions to the senses, and the search for the ideal of beauty, especially in formal aspects, to escape a hostile reality. The artist is considered a true bohemian, living an existence focused on pleasure and beauty, far from everyday obligations.

Social and Political Context in Catalonia

In Catalonia, Modernism has a special meaning because it acquires a reformist and revolutionary character. Its... Continue reading "Catalan Modernism: Aesthetic Revolution and Social Transformation" »

Baroque Sculpture: Main Characteristics

• Triumph of Realism: The goal was a specific and individualized realism, without sacrificing formal correctness. Depending on trends, it could be natural realism or a more idealized, heroic realism.
• Theatrical and Bombastic Language: Dynamic and expressive, aiming to impress, move, or persuade through emotions and feelings:
  • Interest in expressing feelings and passions in a heightened, theatrical, and dramatic way.
  • Figures in attitudes of great dynamism, projected outward, describing unstable positions.
  • Diagonal compositions prevail. Robes swell and wave.
• Pictorial Conception: Interest in visual values, chiaroscuro effects, pretense of qualities, and merging the figure with the environment through light and the

The Lyric Genre: Expression of Moods

The lyric genre focuses on imitating moods and expressing intense personal feelings.

Key Characteristics of Lyrical Texts

• Provides highly subjective speech, resulting from internalization, where the poetic voice plays the predominant role.
• Does not develop a story; its content is the expression of feelings, emotions, and ideas through a fictional poetic voice, which should not be identified with the author.
• Usually focuses on a single aspect and is generally short, allowing for the accumulation of expressive resources.
• Typically presented in verse, though works of lyrical prose, known as prose poetry, also exist.

The Poetic Self and Recipient ('You')

The poetic self may be expressed through explicit personal pronouns... Continue reading "Essential Characteristics of Lyric and Narrative Literary Genres" »

The Literary Genres

The literary genres: the word genre in literature refers to a set of texts that share certain common characteristics that differentiate them from others.

For the reader, the genre is a horizon of expectations. When faced with reading a text, if you know the expected genre, you anticipate that this text meets certain requirements, although the forms of genres are elastic and change over time.

Emergence of a New Genre

The appearance of a new genre: For the Spanish theorist Fernando Gómez Redondo, the appearance of a new genre or generic group occurs if certain requirements are met:

• Innovative ideas from an author and their proposal of a different formal approach to the surrounding reality.
• The author's decision to create an original

Understanding Newspaper Articles

Newspaper articles are primarily intended to report on events and issues of interest to the public.

Key Features

Newspaper articles include heterogeneous information, entertainment, and opinion sections.

The medium (newspapers, magazines, radio, and television) shapes the message.

They combine verbal, photographic, and graphic codes.

The language used in newspaper articles serves several functions:

• Representative: Covering current topics.
• Appellate: Presenting opinions.
• Poetic: Using resources to capture the reader's attention.

Language Resources

Morphosyntactic Level

• Correct use of the imperfect subjunctive.
• Use of the past perfect indicative.
• Abundance of verbal phrases.
• Use of longer words.
• Direct quotations.
• Frequent use

Types of Textual Coherence (According to T. Van Dijk)

Coherence refers to the semantic relationships that make a text meaningful and unified. T. Van Dijk identifies three primary types:

1. Linear, Sequential, or Local Coherence

   This type of coherence holds between the propositions expressed by sentences or sequences of sentences connected by semantic relationships.

2. Global Coherence

   Global coherence is determined by the macro-textual structure. It characterizes the text as a whole, in terms of sets of propositions and complete sequences.

3. Pragmatic Coherence

   Pragmatic coherence occurs in the permanent adaptation between the text and its context. This includes the specific conditions of the communicative partners, communicative intent, time, place, and