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

Garcilaso de la Vega: Renaissance Poetic Essence

Garcilaso de la Vega's work, published posthumously in 1543, is concise yet encapsulates the essence of later Renaissance poetry. His compositions are often imbued with themes of love, featuring lyrical songs and elegies that show a direct influence from classical antiquity. However, it is his Eclogues that represent the pinnacle of his poetic achievement.

The Eclogues: Pastoral Dialogues

An eclogue is a poetic composition where characters, typically shepherds, engage in dialogue, often about love. Garcilaso's Eclogues include:

• Eclogue I: Two shepherds express their disdain and regret over the loss of their loved ones.
• Eclogue II: The only one of the three with significant dramatic action.
• Eclogue

General Features of American Spanish

The Spanish spoken across the Americas, as a whole, exhibits the following common features:

Phonetic Characteristics

• Intonation Variation: Distinct intonation patterns (tone curves) in each region, often attributed to the influence of indigenous substrates.
• Seseo: The pronunciation of the interdental voiceless fricative phoneme /θ/ (as in Peninsular Spanish 'z' or 'c' before 'e', 'i') as a sibilant /s/.
• Aspiration of /s/: Aspiration or loss of syllable-final or word-final /s/ (e.g., 'los' pronounced as 'loh'), a feature also found in some Peninsular Spanish dialects like Extremaduran.
• Rhotic/Lateral Confusion: Confusion or neutralization between the phonemes /r/ and /l/ in syllable-final or word-final positions.

Bécquer's Biography

Two constants dominated the short life of the greatest Spanish lyrical poet of the nineteenth century: poverty and suffering. Gustavo Adolfo Domínguez Bastida was born in Seville, Andalusia, in 1836, to a respectable but financially modest family. His father, José Domínguez Bécquer Isausti, was a painter of some distinction, and his mother, Joaquina Bastida Vargas. Both brothers later adopted the surname Bécquer.

His father died when Gustavo was only five, and four years later, his mother passed away. At eighteen, he moved to Madrid, enduring hardship while writing articles and inconsequential plays. At twenty-one, he contracted tuberculosis.

Later, after attending the Nautical School of San Telmo, he lived with his godmother,... Continue reading "Life and Rhymes of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer: A Poetic Journey" »

Origins of Castilian Prose

Castilian prose works emerged later than lyrical and Latin epic works. Due to the prestige of cultured men and the abundance of works written in Latin prose, authors, fundamentally religious, did not initially express the need to use Castilian. It was the kings who boosted the use and development of Castilian prose over Latin prose.

Key Figures in Castilian Prose Development

• Fernando III: He abandoned Latin as the administrative and notarial language, making Castilian the kingdom's official language.
• Alfonso X the Wise: He was the driving force behind the School of Translators of Toledo and a huge body of historical and scientific works, which contributed to establishing a written standard for Castilian prose.
• The Primroses:

The Epic History of Roman Poetry

The First Period (753-241 BC): Origins of Profane Songs

The origins of Roman epic poetry are shrouded in mystery, disappearing into legends and myths. This early period featured works such as:

• Carmina Convivalia: Songs sung at banquets by young nobles, honoring their ancestors.
• Carmina Triumphalia: Jests and jeers sung by soldiers, directed at the victorious general.
• Neniae: Laments in verse, sung at funeral feasts.

The Archaic Period (241-88 BC)

This period saw the rise of named authors, representing historical facts, often contemporary to their own time:

• Livius Andronicus: A 3rd-century BC Greek from Tarentum. He translated the Odyssey into Latin, introducing epic poetry to the Roman world.
• Gnaeus Naevius: From

Narrator Types in Storytelling

Understanding the role of a narrator is crucial for literary analysis:

• Internal Narrator: Lies within the story and is often the protagonist.
• External Narrator: Lies outside the story, observing events.

Understanding Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases

Prepositions are words that link nouns, pronouns, or phrases to other words in a sentence. They often indicate direction, time, place, or manner.

Common Prepositions and Phrases

• Simple Prepositions: to, with, of, in, by, for, toward, against, below, from, among, up to, without, on, under, ultra, edge.
• Compound Prepositions & Phrases: because of, in spite of, except, through, before, after, beside, over, under, following, against, in order to.

Grammar Rules: Avoiding

Pere Calders: A Brief Biography

Pere Calders was born in Barcelona in 1912. He spent his childhood on a farm in the Vallès region. He went to study in Barcelona when his family moved there permanently. His father, Cinto, and the school stimulated his interest in literature. Since then, he never stopped writing.

His first book, The First Harlequin, was a collection of stories published just before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. After the war, he was forced into exile. After 15 years living in Mexico, he was able to publish a new collection of stories: Chronicles of the Hidden Truth.

After 23 years of exile, he returned to Catalonia. His work was not recognized until 1978, when he published stories, including Subtle Invasion, and when the... Continue reading "Pere Calders: Life, Exile, and Literary Recognition" »

The Evolution of the Generation of '27

The evolution of the Generation of '27 can be set in three stages:

Initiation Phase (1920-1927)

This period saw poets publish their first books. Gerardo Diego was an early proponent with his creationist works. In the same period, Rafael Alberti published Marinero en tierra, and Federico García Lorca published Poema del Cante Jondo, both reflecting a Neopopulist trend.

Stage of Maturity (1928-1936)

This was the golden age of the group. Notably, two important books published were Cántico by Jorge Guillén, and Romancero Gitano by Federico García Lorca. Within this period, creationism and surrealism gave way to works such as Vicente Aleixandre's La destrucción o el amor and Federico García Lorca's Poeta en

Antonio Machado

Early Life and Education

Antonio Machado was born in Seville in 1875. He came from a learned, liberal family that moved to Madrid in 1883. He studied at the Free Institution of Education. His secular, progressive, and tolerant spirit forever marked his character. In 1907, he obtained a full professorship of French at the Institute of Soria, and there he met Leonor Izquierdo, whom he married in 1909. In 1911, he traveled to Paris and attended philosophy classes by the admired Henri Bergson. When his wife fell ill, he returned to Soria. She died in 1912, and he moved to Baeza, deeply hurt.

Career and Relationships

He continued to publish poetry, studied philosophy, and developed a radical political consciousness in contact with the... Continue reading "Antonio Machado: Life and Poetic Works" »

Relative Pronouns in Latin

Singular and Plural Forms

Five Declensions Overview

Vocabulary Lists (Pages 16-21)

Page 16

• agmen, agminis (n.): column of troops
• confertus, -a, -um (adj.): tight, crowded
• confirmo, -as, -are (v.): to ratify, confirm
• expeditus, -a, -um (adj.): without baggage
• impetus, -ūs (m.): violence, attack
• implacabilis, -e (adj.): implacable, inexorable
• necessarius,