Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and exercises for Latin for Baccalaureate

The Convention of Vergara: A Pivotal Agreement

The legal agreement and transactions between General Rafael Maroto and General Baldomero Espartero, culminating in the Convention of Vergara, marked a significant turning point in Spain's First Carlist War, leading to a liberal outcome.

Key Figures in the Agreement

• General Baldomero Espartero: A prominent Liberal commander, Espartero had achieved significant victories, such as at the Battle of Luchana in 1836. He later became regent following the resignation of Maria Cristina. His regency, however, became increasingly dictatorial, leading to events like the bombing of Barcelona. He was eventually deposed and went into exile, largely influenced by British pressure.
• Lieutenant General Rafael Maroto:

El Greco's Artistic Style and Legacy

El Greco focused on the icons, rather than subordinating art to religious themes. Evicted by the court circle, El Greco finally settled in Toledo. This city became the setting for the masterpiece of 16th-century Spanish painting: The Burial of the Count of Orgaz (El Entierro del Señor de Orgaz).

The Burial of the Count of Orgaz: A Masterpiece

A medieval legend underlies the painting. In 1323, when Don Gonzalo Ruiz, Lord of the town of Orgaz, died in Toledo, St. Augustine and St. Stephen descended from the sky to bury his body in the parish of Santo Tomé.

The painter's first great success was fragmenting the canvas horizontally into two registers (zones).

Compositional Registers

• The Lower Zone: St. Augustine

Typical of this novel is the bitter reflection of everyday life from an existential approach. The major themes are loneliness, inadequacy, frustration, and death. There are many marginal and displaced characters.

Delibes spoke of sadness and frustration in his first novel, Shadow of the Cypress is Long. Narrators of exile developed their work, varying from traditional realism to modernism. In their works, they mainly addressed issues of social content and recovery of Spanish reality.

The novel of the 50s continued the tradition of realism of the forties, and their characteristics are maintained until the early sixties. Although political, religious, and sexual censorship remained in force, the authors of the 50s raised an ethical commitment to...

Spanish Renaissance Lyric Poetry: Forms and Themes

Formal Aspects of Renaissance Lyric

• Poetic Forms: Hendecasyllable, Tercets (chained), Lira (lyre stanza), Ottava Rima, Sonnet, Sapphic Stanza.
• Style and Resources: Emphasis on simplicity and naturalness, rich use of adjectives, epithets, metaphors, and hyperbaton.

Key Topics in Renaissance Lyric

• Imitation of classical authors like Virgil and Horace.
• Courtly love and reasons for pain.
• Beauty canon responding to the Renaissance woman ideal.
• Latin topoi: Carpe Diem (seize the day), Beatus Ille (blessed is he), Locus Amoenus (pleasant place).
• Introspection and spiritual reflection.

Garcilaso de la Vega: Pioneer of Spanish Lyric

Major Works and Influence

Garcilaso's Petrarchan lyrical poetry, particularly his...

Ausias March: "Even as One Who is Near Death"

This poem by Ausias March is part of the "Lily Among Thorns" cycle. The poet compares his intense love for the lady to the dangers a man faces in a full storm. In this particular case, the lady's love is within reach, yet she is not gracious about it; her revenge will be to boast to everyone about her pride.

• Composed of 8-verse decasyllabic stanzas with crossed rhymes (creu-creuada).
• It begins with a comparison that serves to quantify the desperate pain the poet now feels.

We also find another poem in the "Lily Among Thorns" cycle where the poet expresses his misfortune in not seeing his love requited.

Cerverí de Girona: "Do Not Take the Wrong Husband"

Cerverí de Girona, a 13th-century poet, is considered...

In 1543, the works of Boscán and Garcilaso de la Vega were published, marking the beginning of Petrarchan lyrics in Spain. This collection—consisting of a short poemario (40 sonnets, 3 eclogues, 5 songs, 3 elegies, and an epistle, in addition to eight octosyllabic poems of the cancionero type)—produced the most important revolution in Spanish lyric poetry and became the model for later poets.

Themes and Poetic Evolution

The central themes of Garcilaso's work include love, expressed through melancholy, sadness, and frustration due to the absence of the beloved. This is closely related to nature, which is presented in its perfection through the locus amoenus convention near the Tagus River. Other poems address themes such as friendship, fate,...

Essential English Vocabulary & Grammar

Key Vocabulary: English-Catalan

Agreement

acord

Appearance

aspecte

Argument

discussió

Athletic build

complexió atlètica

Attraction

atracció

Average height

alçada mitjana

Awareness

consciència

Body language

llenguatge corporal

Brilliant

brillant, genial

Can’t believe one’s eyes

no poder creure el que es veu

Clever

intel·ligent

Compatibility

compatibilitat

Confidence

confiança

Curly

arrissat

Date

cita

Dating site

lloc web de contactes

Description

descripció

Enjoyment

plaer

Every now and then

de tant en tant

Fair

clara

Fall out

barallar-se

Feel uncomfortable

sentir-se incòmode

Focus on

concentrar-se en

Friendship

amistat

Frown

arrufar nas o celles

Get

tenir

Get along

avenir-se

Get it right

encertar-ho

Get to know

arribar a conèixer

Go on a diet

posar-

Beowulf: An Epic Poem

Beowulf is a foundational work of English literature, an epic poem with a rich history and profound themes.

Key Characteristics of Beowulf

• Genre: Epic Poem
• Publication: Circa 11th century in England (manuscript)
• Composition: Believed to have been composed between 700 and 750 CE
• Original Language: Old English
• Oral Tradition: First told orally and passed on from poet to poet before being written down.
• Author: Anonymous
• Setting: Scandinavia
• Literary Device: Extensive use of alliteration
• Preservation: The original manuscript is preserved in the British Museum.

Core Values in Beowulf

• Courage
• Pride
• Loyalty

Significance of Beowulf

1. It is the longest poem written in Old English.
2. It is considered the first example of poetry in a European language

Understanding the Art of Rhetoric

Rhetoric is the art of persuasion: the attempt to influence another with words. We usually think of rhetoric in terms of formal oratory—the public speeches you see politicians make on TV or the ones CEOs make at shareholders' meetings—but that is only one part.

• Rhetoric helps to push our ideas.
• Rhetoric serves to get things.
• Rhetoric reaches its tentacles into every corner of daily life.
• Rhetoric is what makes some arguments prosper and others fail.

Rhetoric is language at play. It is what persuades and pleases, inspires and tricks, thrills and misdirects. It is made of:

• Words and linked pairs.
• Groups of three and repeated phrases.
• Clear truths and vital declarations.
• Half-truths, fine-sounding meaninglessness, fake

Mario Vargas Llosa: Life and Major Themes

Mario Vargas Llosa is one of the most important Latin American writers of the twentieth century. He belongs to the group of writers that includes Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez, Julio Cortázar, Carlos Fuentes, and others who have shaped Latin American literature and made it known worldwide. Vargas Llosa remains very active; this is demonstrated by works such as The Notebooks of Don Rigoberto, Paradise in the Other Corner, and especially The Feast of the Goat, which are among his most significant works and include writings from the early 21st century.

Early Life and Education

Vargas Llosa was born in Peru in 1936. He studied at the Colegio Militar Leoncio Prado in Lima, an experience reflected...