Oscar Wilde: Life, Works, and Philosophy

Oscar Wilde: Key Concepts in His Works

Wit, Irony, Puns, and Epigrams:

  • Wit: The ability to create intellectual pleasure through surprising combinations or contrasts of previously unconnected ideas or expressions.
  • Irony: The use of words to express something different from, and often opposite to, their literal meaning. It involves a deliberate contrast between apparent and intended meaning.
  • Epigram: A sharp, witty saying that expresses a single thought or idea concisely. It is often a clever and paradoxical
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Criollismo and Costumbrismo in Latin American Literature

Criollismo in Literature

Criollismo emerged in the last decade of the 19th century and continued until 1929. This literary trend originated when a group of writers adopted the slogan of striving for a truly national literature that reflected and portrayed the native Venezuelan man.

Key Aspects of Criollismo:

  • Unbiased Vocabulary: Authors used regional vocabulary without bias.
  • Psychological Insight: Writers were thoroughly familiar with the psychology of the inhabitants of these regions.
  • Realistic Portrayals:
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Antonio’s First Trip to New York City

Antonio’s First Trip to New York City

A Spanish Teenager’s First Impressions

Why hadn’t Antonio visited New York before?

Antonio’s family moved to Spain just before his 12th birthday, and he never got the opportunity to visit New York until now.

Why is it difficult to talk about a ‘real’ New Yorker?

Since the city was founded, people from different races and cultures have come to New York seeking a better life. It has always had a mixture of cultures and religions. There are people there from every part

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Modern Art Movements: Futurism, Cubism, Expressionism, and More

Futurism

Futurism was founded by the Italian Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, who published his first manifesto in Paris in 1909. It represented a total rupture with the past, expressing admiration for the mechanical civilization and technical progress: machines, speed, and great inventions like the train and the airplane. A consequence of this was the disregard for human subjects and fundamentals. To achieve the ideal of free words, Futurists did not punctuate the text and deleted adjectives.

Cubism

Cubism

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Literary Terms, Devices, and Vocabulary: A Quick Reference

Literary and Rhetorical Terms

DEFINE:

  • Argumentative Writing: Speech or writing that expresses a position on an issue or problem and supports it with reasons or evidence.
  • Informative Essay: An essay that educates about a certain topic.
  • Narrative Writing: Any kind of writing that tells a story (it can be imaginary, fiction, etc.).
  • Foundational Text: Text that serves as the foundation or basis of a thought, idea, or movement.
  • Flashback: Technique in which a writer interrupts a story to go back and relive
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Spanish Literature: Narrative, Generation of ’98, and Avant-Garde

Narrative in Spanish Literature

In this literary genre, we find:

  1. A shift towards realism, with experimental narratives like those of Joyce and Prussian, exploring desire and critical realism.
  2. Narratives steeped in religiosity, seeking God as an answer or negation, as seen in the works of Papini, Giovanni, or the abandonment of God as portrayed by Graham Greene. This also includes existentialism.
  3. The development of social or narrative literature, with roots in the 16th-century picaresque novel and further
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