Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Language

Dialogue

Dialogue is a text type in which two or more people share the use of words. It is the most frequent form of communication in daily life. Dialogue can be conducted directly or through other means.

Kinds of Dialogue

• Unplanned: These are spontaneous, impromptu, and without preparation, such as a conversation.
• Planned: Prepared in advance, such as a party, debate, or interview.

Exposition

Exposition is a text that presents or explains a topic.

Structure of an Exposition

• Introduction: The topic is introduced.
• Body: Paragraphs in which the subject is developed.
• Conclusion: A final summary of the main ideas.

Argumentation

Argumentation is a text that defends an idea.

Varieties of Language

Verbal language is communicated through words.

• Oral: Spread by word

Features of "Sar By the Shores"

The main feature of this collection by Rosalía de Castro is its strictly intimate nature. In it, the author's gaze turns almost exclusively inward toward her own mind; the outside world almost disappears or is reduced merely to serve as a term of reference or comparison to the self. Thus, nature, the environment, and the world in general will serve to confirm her irremediable loneliness, decadence, populated only by memories, nostalgia, and pain—all that is characteristically romantic melancholy. This subjectivism and melancholy are completed by a gloomy vision of the world, seen from the perspective of a troubled and hopeless spirit. In vain, she attempts to reestablish contact with her youth by writing, retreating... Continue reading "Rosalía de Castro's "En las orillas del Sar": Intimacy and Metric Innovation" »

Mercè Rodoreda's Broken Mirror: Narrative and Themes

Mirall Trencat (Broken Mirror) belongs to the narrative genre. It is a novel that reflects the lives of several characters belonging to the wealthy Valldaura family. This novel, characteristic of 20th-century literature, aims primarily to entertain the reader, offering simple enjoyment without attempting to indoctrinate or impose a specific message.

Narrative Structure and Lexicon

The lexicon used by the author, Mercè Rodoreda, is simple yet clear and precise. The primary narrator of this novel is omniscient, although this perspective is sometimes inconsistent across certain chapters. Rodoreda masterfully alternates between the omniscient voice and internal monologues in various episodes,... Continue reading "Mercè Rodoreda's Broken Mirror: Analysis of Symbolism" »

The work of José Antonio Martínez, particularly his Properties of Poetic Language (1975), provides a clearer understanding of structuralist literature in Spanish. Martínez states that the creation of linguistic figures can be achieved in two primary ways:

• Diversions
• Anomalies

Diversions in Poetic Language

Diversions are considered anti-creative uses of language. They involve deviations in expression and content, originating first from the destruction of the usual relationship (an "offset") and secondly from a reduction in the deviation, which allows for textual interpretation. Martínez distinguishes three types of diversion:

• Deviation by Combination

  This category includes figures like metonymy. For example, in the phrase "neighing rearing," the

Types of Stanzas

Two-Line Stanzas

Paired: Artful, with or without assonance or consonance (aa / AA).

Three-Line Stanzas

Tercet: Three lines with an ABA rhyme scheme.

Soleá: Three lines with an aba assonance scheme.

Four-Line Stanzas

Quatrain: Four lines with an ABBA rhyme scheme.

Quatrain: Four lines with an abba rhyme scheme.

Serventesio: Four lines with an ABAB rhyme scheme.

Copla: Four lines with a 7-5 assonance scheme (aa-5).

Redondilla: Four lines with a 8-syllable abab rhyme scheme.

Cuarteta: Four lines with an abab rhyme scheme.

Seguidilla: Four lines with an assonance scheme (ababaa).

Octava Real (8-line stanza): Eight lines with an ABBAACCA rhyme scheme.

Five-Line Stanzas

Limerick: Five lines with varying rhyme and meter.

Quintet: Five lines with... Continue reading "Poetic Forms and Figures of Speech" »

Newspaper Articles

Newspaper articles organize information to allow for selective reading, enabling readers to choose their preferred order.

Structure of Newspaper Articles

Newspaper articles typically consist of two main parts:

• Headline/Lead: This summarizes the central theme of the text, sometimes accompanied by a subtitle. It serves three key functions: opening, summary, and reminder.
• Body Text: This section develops the subject matter in detail.
• Lead Paragraph (Entradilla): This summarizes key data, aiming to answer the fundamental questions: what, who, how, when, where, and why.

Main Structural Approaches in Journalism

Journalistic texts often employ distinct structural patterns:

• Inverted Pyramid Structure: Contents are arranged with the most important

Sentence Types and Moods

Types of Predicative Sentences:

• Transitive
• Intransitive
• Active
• Passive
• Reflexive
• Reciprocal
• Impersonal (no subject: e.g., "It is raining")

Sentence Modality (Mood):

• Declarative (Enunciativa)
• Interrogative
• Exclamative
• Tentative/Dubitative
• Desiderative (Expressing desire)
• Imperative (Command)

Verbs and Tenses

Examples of tenses:

• Past Simple: I ate.
• Perfect: I have eaten.

Polyphony in Communication

Polyphony refers to the set of voices participating in the development of any communicative situation. We can distinguish between:

1. External Reality: The actual author of the text (the issuer who truly produces the text) and the actual reader (the real receptor).
2. Model: The model or image of each participant that the other creates. The author has a

The Style and Narrative Techniques in Unamuno's Work

The content, style, character in the novel, ideological and conceptual, determines the style of the text. It is permeated with narration. The terminology is abstract, full of paradoxes, antitheses, metaphors, metonymy, and symbols. In addition, the style is determined by the presence of a fictional narrator: a 50-year-old woman, who, in writing her memoirs, recalls past events. There are digressions and reflections—some with an ironic tone—of the narrative thread, with exaggerations and reiterations.

Narrative Techniques

All the novel is reconstructed on the literary device of the found manuscript. Using the found manuscript, Unamuno strengthens the intended verisimilitude, making the reader... Continue reading "Style and Narrative Techniques in Unamuno's Work" »

Language Functions in Communication

Referential Function: The act of communication focuses on the context, i.e., the topic or issue being referenced. Declarative sentences are used, and they can be affirmative or negative.

Poetic Function: Primarily used in literature. The act of communication focuses on the message itself, its provision, and how it is transmitted. Expressive resources such as rhyme and alliteration are employed.

Phatic Function: Consists of starting, stopping, continuing, or terminating communication. This involves salutations (Greetings, Hi, How are you?, etc.), farewells (Goodbye, See ya, Have a good time, etc.), and formulas to interrupt a conversation and then continue (Pardon me..., Wait a minute... As I was saying... We... Continue reading "Understanding Language Functions and Textual Cohesion" »

Novel Experimental: Renewal of the Novel

Most Important Innovations:

• Argument: Loses significance in some novels and completely disappears in others.
• Characters: The individual character returns, but always in conflict with itself.
• Structure: The external structure disappears, and the chapter introduces the sequence in internal chronological order.
• Point of View: The omniscient narrator returns and shares digressions. It reproduces the interior monologue of a character's thoughts as they arise in their consciousness. Digressions are comments the author makes about some fact or character.
• Language and Style: The imposing baroque language is inadequate to the poor reality the author tells. Concerning the style, the features are:
  • Risk variety of languages,