Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and exercises for Arts and Humanities for Secondary education

Lazarillo de Tormes (1554)

Four editions appeared in a book called The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes and His Fortunes and Adversities. The author remained anonymous. It blends epistolary genre features (a letter to 'Your Grace') and initiates the picaresque novel. Told in the first person, it recounts the protagonist's life. Lazarillo, a rogue of humble social status, advances through cunning and deceit. The narrative comprises a prologue and seven chapters (treaties), each detailing his service to a different master. The structure is circular (beginning and ending in adulthood) and internally linear (chronological events). Lazarillo, an antihero, undergoes negative evolution, losing innocence with each master and becoming disillusioned. His masters

According to Bill Nichols, the four key elements that form the basis of documentary are: indexical documentation (shared with scientific film and the cinema of attractions), poetic experimentation, narrative storytelling, and rhetorical oratory.

Poetic Experimentation in Documentary

Poetic experimentation arises in cinema from the union between film and the modernist avant-gardes that flourished in the early 20th century. This plays a vital part in the emergence of the documentary voice. This feature is not present in the Cinema of Attractions or scientific images. Examples of poetic filmmaking include Luis Buñuel (Un Chien Andalou) and Abel Gance (La Roue). The filmmaker's way of seeing things was more important than what the camera was showing....

Wilfred Owen's Disabled: A Poetic Analysis

"Disabled" is a potent and strong poem, mainly because of the style and structure that Wilfred Owen utilized. Harsh words are used subtly to emphasize the meaning behind the poem: the man is wearing a "ghastly suit of grey," showing his morbid and depressed state of mind. Sleep "mothers" him from the laughter and noises of young boys, suggesting that he no longer finds the pleasures of life worth living for and prefers the temporary respite sleep provides.

Regret and Vanity

He regrets "throwing" away his knees, suggesting—and later confirming—that the ideas and inspirations behind joining the war were not as patriotic or loyal as they should have been; his vanity has now left him a cripple. The girls...

Pío Baroja: Life and Style

Pío Baroja, the impressionistic novelist, was born in San Sebastián in 1872 and died in Madrid in 1956.

Pessimism

He was pessimistic, seeing life as a blind, uncontrollable force dominated by instincts, where the cruelty of the strong is imposed upon the weak. This pessimistic conception leads to distrusting everything, avoiding speaking or acting so as not to create 'idols,' and becoming closed off, which prevents communication with others, leading to misanthropy.

Impressionist Style

His style is impressionistic: he does not construct his narratives with solid, closed arguments, but everything is outlined, using impressionist techniques. He describes spaces and environments quickly, with vague sensations. The psychology...

The Aesthetic Movement

The Aesthetic Movement developed in universities and intellectual circles during the late 19th century. Beginning in France with Gautier, it reflected artists' frustration and uncertainty, a reaction against bourgeois materialism and moral codes. French artists sought refuge in aesthetic isolation, embracing Gautier's concept of "Art for Art's Sake." The bohemian lifestyle, with its pursuit of sensation and excess, embodied this protest against monotony.

The Movement in England

American painter James Whistler, working in England, imported this doctrine. However, the roots of the English Aesthetic Movement can be traced to the Romantic poet Keats. Rossetti exemplified an artist wholly dedicated to art, as did Ruskin in his...

Context and Intended Audience

This cartoon, created by award-winning Australian political cartoonist Andrew Marlton, was published shortly after NASA's discovery of water on Mars. The intended audience is primarily individuals aged 15-35. The cartoon presents a complex and serious topic humorously, making it engaging for a younger audience who may prefer learning through humor rather than a purely factual article.

Cartoon Description and Analysis

Initial Panel: Dogs and Mars

The cartoon is presented as a comic strip, employing exaggeration and whimsical characters, such as dogs, to address a serious issue. It begins with a headline announcing the discovery of water on Mars. Below, two dogs are depicted observing Mars, which is illustrated with...

Eddie Carbone: A Tragic Protagonist

Eddie Carbone, the protagonist of Arthur Miller's The View from the Bridge, is a complex and tragic figure. A longshoreman living in Red Hook, Brooklyn, Eddie is a man of limited intelligence and self-awareness, whose tragic flaw is his inability to escape the bubble of his own constructed world.

Eddie's Secret Lust for Catherine

Eddie harbors a secret lust for his orphaned niece, Catherine, which ultimately leads to his downfall. This lust is hinted at throughout the play, but it is not until the end that Eddie fully comprehends his feelings. Beatrice, Eddie's wife, is the first to express this possibility, and Alfieri, the play's narrator, also realizes Eddie's feelings during his first conversation with him....