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

The Latin Alphabet: Origins

The Latin alphabet is a variant of the Etruscan Greek alphabet. It is used today by almost everyone. It has 23 letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, X, Y, Z.

The Disappearance of Spoken Latin

For centuries, Latin was the language spoken in most parts of Europe. It became increasingly differentiated into a cultured form and a common form. The common form evolved to give rise to Romance languages.

During the Middle Ages, Vulgar Latin became the language of communication between people, while cultured Latin was restricted to the Church and the courts of the Carolingian Renaissance. During the 8th to 11th centuries, Charlemagne favored the preservation of the cultural legacy, used in all centers... Continue reading "Latin Alphabet and Romance Languages: Origins and History" »

Miguel de Cervantes: A Literary Life

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was born in Alcalá de Henares in 1547. He lived a somewhat unstable childhood and early life. He studied in Madrid with a humanist teacher, López de Hoyos, but did not complete university studies.

Captivity and Struggles

In 1575, while returning to Spain by boat, he was kidnapped by Turkish pirates and taken to Algiers. He spent five years in captivity there, despite several attempted escapes. Later, a request for a vacancy was denied, possibly due to his converso (Jewish convert) origin.

He managed to find work as a tax collector, a job that often required him to travel. However, he ended up in jail due to the failure of the bank where he had deposited the collected funds. Afterward,... Continue reading "Miguel de Cervantes: Life, Legacy, and Don Quixote's Enduring Impact" »

Benito Pérez Galdós: Life and Work

Benito Pérez Galdós (19th–20th centuries) sought solutions to the problems of the country through his work. He showed a strong interest in history, viewing it as a means to achieve a better future. His work is didactic, aiming to explain the present and thus avoid future mistakes, rather than using the past to escape the present.

• National Events (Episodios Nacionales): 46 novels written over his lifetime, chronicling Spanish history.

Stages of Galdós's Narrative

First Stage: Thesis Novels (Early Spanish Novels)

Galdós supported a new political and social order. These novels often feature a clash between fanatical Catholicism and tolerant liberalism.

• Key Works: Doña Perfecta, Gloria, La Familia de León

Spanish Modernism

Modernism began in the late nineteenth century, originating in Latin America. Key figures who created and spread this movement include José Martí and Rubén Darío.

The most important characteristics of Modernism include:

• An aesthetic focus, always seeking beauty above all else.
• A desire to escape reality, often setting works in remote locations, both spatially and temporally.
• Frequent expression of feelings like boredom, apathy, and melancholy.
• Common use of symbolic elements.

The Generation of '98

The Generation of '98 refers to a group of authors born in the late nineteenth century whose texts addressed two main themes: the decline of Spain and existential angst. The texts of the Generation of '98 show a strong influence from... Continue reading "Authors and Themes of Spanish Modernism & Gen '98" »

Political and Social Aspects in The House of the Spirits

In The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende portrays the political and social history of Chile from 1900 to 1973, culminating in the coup d'état. The novel depicts the social and economic transformation experienced by a poor family as they gradually acquire wealth and influence. A clear example of this is Esteban Trueba, who, despite facing ruin, becomes a wealthy mine owner and eventually a senator.

Regarding the female characters, Allende portrays educated, middle-class women who are often dreamy yet deeply tied to household chores, such as Clara, Blanca, and Alba. In contrast, men like Esteban are depicted as more macho and authoritarian, even resorting to physical abuse to impose their... Continue reading "Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits: Themes and Literary Style" »

Isabel II of Spain: Reign and Personal Life (1830–1904)

During the early years of her reign, while Isabel was a girl, the regency was assumed by her mother, María Cristina, until Isabel was declared of age in 1843. In 1846, when she was 16 years old, the government arranged a marriage with her cousin, the Infante Don Francisco de Borbón, Duke of Cádiz.

Isabel II reportedly disliked her husband. She was associated with various relationships, which some authors attribute to her bisexuality. In the course of their marriage, the Queen gave birth to several children, including:

• Fernando de Borbón y Borbón
• Isabel de Borbón y Borbón (La Chata)
• María Cristina
• Alfonso (later Alfonso XII)
• María Pilar
• María de la Paz
• Francisco
• María Eulalia

Isabel II... Continue reading "Isabel II's Court: Key Figures of 19th Century Spain" »

Modernism in Spanish Literature: Characteristics and Innovations

Modernism was an ephemeral literary manifestation, a formal aesthetic and escapist trend that spanned the years 1885 to 1915. Its most representative poet is Rubén Darío (author of Azul). Other notable names include Antonio Machado, Manuel Machado, and J.R. Jiménez, who were Modernist during certain stages of their production.

Key Features of Modernism

• Aesthetic Principles

  Modernist poets showed a deep dissatisfaction with the bourgeois lifestyle, synonymous with banality. They rebelled against apathy, conformity, and mental laziness.

• Themes

  Modernist themes explored two main areas: sensible reality and the intimacy of the poet.

  • Sensible Reality

    Typical elements of Art Nouveau include

The Circumstantial Complement (CC)

The Circumstantial Complement (CC) modifies the verb, providing data on the circumstances in which the verbal process unfolds.

Characteristics of the Circumstantial Complement

• Unstressed pronouns are replaceable by tonic pronouns.
• They have more freedom in sentence position than other complements.
• The same verb can support various kinds of circumstantial complements.
• They may be adverbial or non-adverbial.

Adverbial Circumstantial Complements

These complements support replacement by an adverb. They express circumstances of place, time, manner, and quantity. They can be constructed with a preposition + noun phrase or by adverbs.

Non-Adverbial Circumstantial Complements

These complements cannot be replaced by adverbs... Continue reading "Spanish Syntax: Attributes and Circumstantial Complements" »

First Stage

His operas are characterized by a search for his own poetic language and the conservative influence of Ramón Sijé. Perito en Lunas and El Rayo que no Cesa. The first work is 40 stanzas of influence and vanguard. The Gongorine author has to poetry as an equal to the mystical experience in which the hermetic is essential. Incorporated in the genre of poetry riddles and proposes riddles. In El Rayo que no Cesa, a previous text to poems, the underlying theme is a love that cannot be complete because moral standards prevent access to his beloved. Erotic passion, the lightning symbol conveys the passionate fire in which the lover is consumed, while the wound suggests that this conception of love causes him torture. It arouses ideas of... Continue reading "Miguel Hernández: A Journey Through His Poetic Stages" »