Mastering Narrative Texts and Spanish Spelling Rules

Narrative Texts

They dominate the actions of characters at a specific time and place, told through a narrator.

Narrator Types:

• Internal (Character):
  • 1st Person (Player)
  • 2nd Person (Friend, awareness of protagonist...)
  • 3rd Person (Control)
• External (Not a Character):
  • 3rd Person (Objective or Subjective/Omniscient goal)

Spanish Spelling Rules (Accentuation)

1. Accentuation of Compound Words:

Rules for applying accents in compound words:

1. Focus on the second word: (e.g., tenth + seventeenth = seventeenth)
2. Hyphenated compounds: Keep the accent of both words (e.g., physical-chemistry).
3. Compounds ending in -mind: Keep the accent of the adjective (e.g., hard-working).
4. -gramo/-litro/-metro: Compounds do not use accents, maintaining the accent of the preceding word if applicable.
5. Verb + Pronoun: Follow general accentuation rules (e.g., dámelo - give it to me).

6. Monosyllabic Words:

Monosyllabic words do not use accents (e.g., he saw, you...).

7. Diacritical Tilde:

Definition: Used to distinguish between two similar words belonging to different grammatical classes.

• Sé (verb) / Se (pronoun)
• Sí (adverb/pronoun) / Si (conjunction/musical note)
• Más (but) / Mas (more)

8. Only vs. Sólo:

Sólo (adjective) / Solo (optional adverb, meaning 'only').

9. Aún vs. Aun:

Aún (adverb: "Still") / Aun (conjunction: "Even").

10. Question/Exclamation Words:

• Qué (because/interrogative/exclamatory)
• Por qué (interrogative/exclamatory)
• Porqué (substantive: "reason")
• Que (preposition + relative pronoun)

11. Words with Difficult Accentuation:

Review words such as: sólo, cómo, a veces, ve, recuerda, enlucido, apoyo, frente, conducir, deducir, así, caer, llamar, no sé qué...

13. Comparison Words:

Así (so) / Cómo (interrogative or exclamatory) / Con lo que (preposition + relative pronoun).

Newspaper Article Structure

Definition:

Publications (printed or digital) that have some periodicity. A news story reports briefly on an event.

Characteristics:

• Short story
• Recent or immediate
• Objective
• Does not include a photo
• Is not signed
• Reports a fact

Structure:

1. Head: Antetítulo (pre-title) - Title - Subtitle
2. Input (Lead): Answers the 6 questions (Who? What? When? Where? How? and Why?)
3. Body: Secondary information.

Preferred placement is the top of the front page or odd pages.

Sections: Thematic Organization in Journalistic Texts

Genres:

a) Informational: Objectivity dominates.

News, Report.

b) Opinion: Subjectivity dominates.

Editorial, Article, Letters to the Editor.

c) Mixed: Information dominates, but with features of subjectivity.