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

Renaissance Literature

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592)

Montaigne's essays hold immense importance as they pioneered a fruitful literary genre. His introspective writing reflects his individuality, a hallmark of humanist thought, exploring the 'ego' in the context of human existence. Key characteristics of Montaigne's essays include their free-flowing form, incorporation of diverse topics, digressions, and use of quotations. The essay, as a genre, is typically concise in its treatment of a subject.

The Renaissance (Early 16th - Late 17th Century)

Key Features:

1. Resurgence of Platonic ideals of goodness, beauty, and art, representing a utopian ideal.
2. Focus on the theme of love, influenced by Petrarchism.
3. Influence of Aristotle's Poetics (tragedy and

Spanish Realism: Historical Context and Characteristics

Realistic literature reflects the historical, socioeconomic, and cultural development of Spain between 1868 and 1874. This period saw a democratic revolution, beginning with the overthrow of Isabel II and including the Regency of General Serrano, the brief parliamentary monarchy under Amadeo I, and the First Republic. The era ended with a coup that returned the crown to the Bourbons, initiating the Restoration with the reign of Alfonso XII.

Socioeconomic and Cultural Changes

Economically, Spain experienced industrial development and increased trade. Socially, there was a progressive rise of the bourgeoisie, and industrialization led to the growth of the proletariat. Significant discoveries... Continue reading "Spanish Realism in Literature: 19th-Century Society" »

Rhyme II: Analysis and Interpretation

Historical Context

This rhyme, published in the Monthly Universal Museum journal (1886), is possibly based on the work of French writer Lamartine.

Metrical Structure

The verses are octosyllabic, with assonant rhyme in the free odd lines.

Central Theme

The poem serves to present a perceptive romantic perspective that reveals disorientation, with the poetic subject seemingly misplaced in the wrong century's development.

Symbolism: The Harp

The harp is used to express the idea of poetic creation. The poet, like the harp in poetry, has a mind that is asleep, just as music sleeps within the instrument's strings. The poem begins with a description of the harp, but the central issue of the stanza is placed at the end.... Continue reading "Literary Analysis: Romanticism, Metrical Forms, and Poetic Themes" »

Medieval Spanish Lyric and Epic Poetry

The lyric was composed to be recited but also to be sung. It was always accompanied by music and gentlemen troubadours. Clerics or nobles from southern France originated the courtly lyric, with the Provencal language and artistic intention. The beloved theme was the court. Idealization of love pays homage and creates a code where the poet devotes his life to love, not to praise a lady who reciprocates. This is the lyric of Provence.

Lirica Mozarabic: Christians lived in Muslim territory, and jarchas were preserved, an ancient manifestation of European literature. These short, learned poems were inserted at the end of Hebrew or Arab moaxajas. They show Christian coexistence and relations with Muslims. The... Continue reading "Medieval Spanish Lyric and Epic Poetry: Forms and Themes" »

Don Quixote: A Literary Analysis

Editions:

• 1st Edition: 1605, as The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Includes a foreword and 52 chapters in 4 parts.
• 2nd Edition: 1615, featuring knight Don Quixote. Includes a prologue and 74 chapters without division.

Sources: Besides the narrative models in the initial chapters, the work shows the influence of an anonymous 16th-century romance interlude.

Prologue: Cervantes' Intent

Cervantes states his initial intention to critique the poorly written and unbelievable novels of chivalry. He parodies the chivalric genre, making chivalric narration an essential ingredient of the book.

Structure of the Novel

The main action is organized into three parts: the first and second in the first half, and the third... Continue reading "Don Quixote: Analysis of Themes, Structure, and Narrative" »

One Morning

He explains how he saved Rollat's breakfast with Teresa and Armanda in Masdeu. He went to get breakfast for her, but she had died. Masdeu got a red tie to celebrate it but was very sad. We noticed how the garden was slowly deteriorating, and its initial color.

Youth

It is the memory of Teresa. He remembers the first day he fell in love with Masdeu, explaining step by step how they met. At the foot of a dune, he saw a portrait and bent down to pick it up: it was a guy dressed in a garment, underpinning a rifle with a bayonet, puffing on a drum. A voice asked, "Do you like it?" He turned and was in front of the rifle that the soldier was holding in Masdeu.

They also explain how the love between the two developed to the point that Teresa... Continue reading "Sofia's Journey: Love, Loss, and Legacy in Valldaura" »

Spanish Theater From 1939: An Evolution

Post-War Spanish Theater: Challenges and Context

Spanish theater after 1939 was quite poor compared to foreign theater. Innovations prior to the war disappeared, and exiled writers faced significant difficulties in having their work performed in Spain. They had to overcome censorship, isolation, and commercial cultural eagerness. Theater developed at the margins of innovative trends that were succeeding abroad.

Spanish Theater in Exile: Voices Beyond Borders

Several currents can be distinguished in exile theater:

• Political or representative theater, exemplified by Rafael Alberti with works such as "El adefesio" (The Eyesore).
• Realistic theater of Max Aub, with works like "San Juan".

Alejandro Casona also stands... Continue reading "Post-1939 Spanish Drama: Trends, Authors, and Innovation" »

Narrative Texts

Narrative is the telling of real or imagined events that happen to characters in a specific place and time. In every narrative, there is a story (the series of events that have occurred in reality or in the fiction we imagine) and a discourse (which is the expression of those facts, with order and structure).

Elements of Narrative

• Author: The real person who writes the story.
• Narrator:
  • Third-person: Tells what happens to others.
    • Omniscient Narrator: Knows everything, even the thoughts and feelings of the characters.
    • Absent Narrator: Only accounts for the most visible or external aspects.
  • First-person: Can tell what happened to them as the protagonist of an autobiography (e.g., Lazarillo de Tormes).
  • Witness Narrator: Tells what they

Spanish Romantic Poetry: Themes and Characteristics

Romantic poetry is the genre that best expresses the Romantic spirit. Its poetic themes include freedom, the ideal woman, disappointment in love, melancholy, weariness of life, the satanic, the supernatural, death, and the exotic and legendary. These feelings are often reflected in the landscape (night, moon, cemetery, rough sea). Formally, Romantic poetry shows a clear intention of renewal. It introduces new rhythms and accents, imbuing poems with a great musical sense, and often alternates verses of different meters and measures. The language is cultured and rhetorical.

Two types of poetry emerged: epic or narrative poetry, which drew themes from tradition, history, or legend, and rehabilitated... Continue reading "Spanish Romantic Poetry: Themes, Style, and Major Poets" »

Part of Don Quixote

DQ First Departure: Chapters 1-6

Alonso Quijano, believing himself a knight, seeks an appropriate name, chooses a lady, and names his horse. The adventures of the knight always go wrong. After being beaten, a neighbor recognizes him, and he returns to the village.

Second Exit: Chapters 7-52

They seek a servant. Sancho and DQ come to Sierra Morena.

Second Part of Don Quixote

Third Exit: 74 Chapters

DQ and Sancho leave their village and travel towards Barcelona in Aragon. After arriving in Barcelona, DQ duels with the Knight of the White Moon on the beach, loses, and is obliged to return to his village for a year. Shortly after arriving, DQ falls ill, recovers his sanity, and dies.

Intent of Don Quixote

Cervantes wrote Don Quixote... Continue reading "Don Quixote and the Baroque: A Literary Journey" »