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

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

Functions of Communication

Communication acts to control the behavior of members in several ways. It fosters motivation by clarifying to employees what to do, provides an outlet for emotional expression, and helps satisfy social needs. Furthermore, it facilitates decision-making.

The Communication Process

The process follows this sequence: Source → Encoding → Channel → Decoding → Receiver.

• Source: The sender of the message.
• Message: The actual physical product of the source's encoding.
• Channel: The medium through which the message travels.
• Receiver: The person to whom the message is directed.

Sources of Distortion

Distortions can occur at any stage of the process. The message itself, the communication channel, and the receiver are all potential... Continue reading "Core Principles of Organizational Communication" »

Journalistic Texts

The Media Landscape

We live in a society where raw information, technical advances, and competition among media outlets are the reasons we are so well-informed. The model of the journalistic message chosen by the issuer, the available channels, and the target audience determine the nature and formal characteristics of the articles.

Information and Media Transmitters

The most important transmitters include:

• Radio: Uses an auditory code and is the quickest medium. Technology allows for the instantaneous transmission of facts and direct intervention. It utilizes simple language supported by intonation and linguistic elements. Information is usually brief and repetitive, often accompanied by opinions.
• Television: While it offers the

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

Historical Materialism and Infrastructure

Marxist literary criticism is created from ideas objectified by the likes of Karl Marx, which is currently less prevalent following the fall of socialism. Marxist materialism is based on Platonic concepts, which it analyzes from the standpoint of infrastructure. Every culture and every society has a specific way of producing and distributing goods; therefore, their perception of ideas—including morality, law, and art—will also be different. This perception depends on the infrastructure, which corresponds to the Platonic world of sense. This theory is known as historical materialism.

The Relationship Between Art and Society

The world of Platonic ideas is identified with the ideological superstructure... Continue reading "Marxist Literary Theory and Historical Materialism" »

Linguistic and Literary Resources

Kafkaesque Narrative Techniques

The heterodiegetic narrator is external to the work and does not participate in it. It is also written in the third person and is omniscient, knowing the outcome of the story before the characters themselves. Despite these traits, the narration is objective, even though the subject matter is thoroughly subjective and interior, expressing opinions about the real world. The narrator utilizes the technique of direct speech, introducing prayer and dialogue.

The work begins in media res, placing the protagonist in a key position for the development of the novel—already transformed into an insect. Time is linear, and the action unfolds from the main theme: the state of Gregor Samsa.... Continue reading "Literary Analysis of Kafka's The Metamorphosis" »

Caravaggio: Master of Naturalist Realism

Caravaggio represented the most determined opposition to Mannerism through a style rooted in naturalist realism.

Iconographic Revolution: Triumph of Naturalism

• Caravaggio adopted visible reality as his sole model, depicting it without idealization. His human types were often vulgar, popular models drawn from real life.
• Actions and scenes in his paintings were depicted as daily events, often with a demystifying and irreverent tone.
• Severe and unembellished naturalism applied to all subjects: religious, mythological, folkloric, and still life.
• Perfect rendering of qualities and textures.
• His compositions were simple and sober, predominantly asymmetrical and diagonal. Figures were arranged in dynamic attitudes

Popular Poetry: Traditional Narrative - The Old Ballads

The romances are short, lyrical, epic compositions arising from the fragmentation of the ancient epics. These romances, whose first manifestations date back to the late fourteenth century, were transmitted orally during the fifteenth century. Throughout the sixteenth century and the first half of the seventeenth century, authors collected and cultured the Songbooks and included them in Romanceros.

In response to the issues addressed, they can be classified into:

• Historic-nationals: They come from the old Castilian epics and exalt their heroes.
• Romantic and lyrical: Created by popular imagination.
• Border and Moors: They tell military episodes that take place on the border between Moorish and

Conjunctions and Conjunctive Phrases:

• Cause: because, since, as.
• Consecutive: therefore, so, thus.
• Conditional: if, on condition that, provided that, in case, only if, while.
• Final: so that, in order that.
• Concessive: although, though, even though, despite, unless.

Theatrical Structure

Theater acts are complete fragments or parts. These are divided into scenes. A character's entrance or exit marks the beginning or end of a scene. Scenes intercross to form a cohesive whole.

Theatrical Text

The theatrical text has two levels:

Text-Negotiated

• Dialogues: Conversations between characters that advance the action.
• Monologues: A character's speech to themselves, revealing intentions and feelings.
• Soliloquy: A monologue with questions the character answers themselves.

The Emergence of Realism in Literature

By 1870, following the decline of romantic taste, people preferred to read books dealing with contemporary issues that reflected the concerns and lifestyles of people in everyday circumstances. This literary movement was called Realism.

The Spanish Social Context of the Time

The era was marked by social tensions arising from incipient industrialization and the rise of the middle classes. Two key periods defined the social landscape:

• (1868 - 1874) Democratic Sexenio: This period began with the Glorious Revolution, led by General Prim, which ended the reign of Isabel II. It was a very turbulent time in political and social life, during which the middle classes unsuccessfully sought to achieve a more influential