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

Positivism

Positivism is a mindset that seeks a rational explanation for everything, understanding that knowledge can only be reached through observation and experimentation.

The Scientific Method

This method considers experimentation an essential requirement for any scientific analysis.

Realism

Realism is a movement that developed in the second half of the 19th century, characterized by portraying the society of the time in literary works.

Features of Realism

• The Novel: The novel is established as the primary literary genre. It requires the description of environments and the representation of the customs and speech of the characters.
• Objectivity: The artist focuses on society.
• Realism: A desire for a sober, plausible representation of the contemporary

The Narrative

The narrative is an account of actions, real or fictitious, carried out by characters. Texts may be literary or narrative nonfiction.

Elements of the Narrative

• The Narrator: The voice the author uses to tell the facts. An external narrator does not participate in the events, while an internal narrator is the protagonist or a witness. The external narrator recounts events in the 3rd person, and the internal narrator in the 1st person.
• The Action: A set of facts located in time and space. Events occur within an external time and follow a specific sequence.
• Narrative Space: Can be real or imaginary.
• Characters: Those who carry out the actions. They are classified as primary (protagonist and antagonist) or secondary. Characters are also

Critical Perspective of Spain by Mariano José de Larra

Mariano José de Larra’s perspective is critical, moral, and reformist, denouncing the vices and customs that harden the country and separate Spain from more advanced societies:

• The hollow patriotic boasting (casticismo): e.g., The Old Castilian.
• Critical fascination for everything foreign.
• Laziness, flattery, and hypocrisy: Vices endemic to the country's idiosyncrasies (e.g., I Want to Be Funny).
• Crippling bureaucracy: (e.g., Come Back Tomorrow).
• Idealization of barbarism: (e.g., An Inmate Died).
• Justification of ignorance: (e.g., I Want to Be Funny).
• Hollow pedantry.

Mariano José de Larra (1809–1837) lived in exile because his father’s ideas—rooted in French-style intellectualism—were...

Understanding Personal Freedom and Identity

Outer Freedom: Acting Without Obstructions

Outer freedom consists of acting without obstructions, as long as we respect the laws and social customs of the state we live in.

Internet Freedom: Digital Autonomy

Internet freedom involves the power to make decisions and act as individuals deem appropriate in matters affecting them. This moral freedom depends on the creativity and ability of individuals to develop their potential.

Freedom and Responsibility: A Crucial Link

With freedom comes responsibility, which is the ability to answer for one's actions. It is important to differentiate between personal responsibility and the responsibilities of state institutions.

The Human Quest for Meaning

The Human Quest

Core Concepts of Visual Communication

Elements of Communication

• Sender: The person, group, or object that emits a message.
• Receiver: The entity that receives the message.
• Message: The content perceived by our senses.
• Code: A structured set of signs used to understand the message.
• Channel: The medium that enables transmission (e.g., photography, television, poster).
• Context/Referent: The aim or subject matter necessary to achieve communication.

Functions of the Image

• Informative: Focuses on transmitting information. For example, red lights indicating danger and prohibiting crossing.
• Expressive: Causes feelings to surface. Its purpose lies not in the visual content itself, but in the emotions it produces in the viewer.
• Aesthetic: Centers its message on

Opinion Genres in Journalism

The purpose of opinion genres is to judge, criticize, analyze data and attitudes, and create controversy. They have a subjective character and are as follows:

• Editorials: In daily broadcasts, the editorial considers the relevant facts of the month and takes a position based on ideology.
• Articles: Exposing opinions, analysis, criticism, and reviews on topics within the general facts.
• Letters to the Editor: In which readers give their opinions about events or personal collections.

Article Determinants

• Definite: The, the, the, in's, n', l'...
• Demonstrative: This, that, this, that...
• Possessive: My, your, his, our, your, their...
• Numerals: One, two, first, half, second, double...
• Quantitative: How much, less, little,

Semantic Relationships

• Synonym: Occurs when several significant differences have the same meaning.
• Antonym: When two signifiers have opposite meanings.
• Polysemy: Consists of attributing several meanings to the same signifier.
• Homophones: Words that sound alike but have different meanings.
• Homographs: Words that are spelled the same but have different meanings.

Nouns and Pronouns

• Noun: A variable word that refers to people or things and can perform the function of a subject in a sentence.
• Gender: A grammatical category that distinguishes between masculine and feminine names.
• Number: Differentiates between singular and plural forms.
• Pronoun: A variable word class that replaces nouns or nominal groups and performs their functions in a sentence.
• Classes of

Literary Devices and Rhetorical Figures

Sound and Repetition

• Alliteration: The repetition of a phoneme or phoneme group (e.g., "saw such horror").
• Onomatopoeia: A type of alliteration that mimics real sounds (e.g., the ticking of a clock).
• Anaphora: Repetition of a word or words at the beginning of a phrase or verse (e.g., "all wear a dress, shoe fit all").

Wordplay and Syntax

• Paronomasia: An association of two words with similar signifiers but different meanings (e.g., "clouds are not nabes").
• Polysyndeton: Coordination involving numerous and repeated conjunctions (e.g., "the meadow and river and valley and flute and source").
• Epithets: Adding adjectives that characterize a noun to praise or blame (e.g., "oh, my sweet treasures found").
• Asyndeton:

Narrative Elements and Structure

Narrative is an account of action, real or fictitious, carried out by characters. Texts may be literary-narrative (fictitious events) or non-literary-narrative (real facts).

The Narrator and Action

The narrator is the voice the author adopts to tell the facts. This can be an internal narrator (1st person) or an external narrator (3rd person). The action consists of a set of facts located in time and space, which can be real or imaginary.

Character Types

Characters are the entities conducting operations. They are categorized as:

• Protagonist and Antagonist: The main opposing forces.
• Side Characters: Supporting roles.
• Flat Characters: Those with no psychological complexity.
• Round Characters: Those with psychological depth.

The Spanish Novel of the 1950s

From 1950, a new generation, the so-called Writers of 55, developed a different kind of novel. Its purpose was to reflect the social reality of the moment. The Social Realism novel is a form of complaint in which the novelist assumes social engagement to reflect the lack of freedom, social inequality, and generalized poverty of Spanish society. These are works of a realistic character, trying to reproduce social reality faithfully. They serve an informative function, reflecting the social situation.

Literary Trends of the Decade

Neo-realism or Objectivism

This trend focuses on the negative repercussions of the dictatorship in everyday life from an individual's position. It serves as a testimony of human solidarity...