Literary Genres and Linguistic Elements
1EL Story: Plot and Setting
Mark: Space and time are indefinite and vague. Characters appear few and are scarcely described.
Plot: Usually starts with an initial event causing the protagonist’s internal response and action, leading to consequences and reactions that culminate in the outcome.
The Novel: Key Elements
Space: Where the events develop, real or imaginary, often changing throughout the novel.
Time: When the story happens, including the interval from start to end.
Characters: Classified into main (essential for the action, including the protagonist) and secondary (less important). They can be round (complex and evolving) or flat (static).
Facts: Explained in chapters, located within the plot.
Narrator: Internal (a character narrating in first person) or external (not a character, narrating in third person).
Literary Genres
Detective or Mystery Novel
Protagonist can be a detective, policeman, or a criminal.
Science Fiction Novel
Set in the future, focusing on scientific and technological aspects like robots, space travel, and scientific evolution.
Historical Novel
A work of fiction with a historical backdrop, mixing historical and fictional characters.
Realist Novel
Faithfully represents life and customs of a society in a real time and space, describing social classes and characters’ psychology.
Grammar Essentials
Direct Object
Complements the verb, receiving the action. Example: Marta wraps gifts.
Indirect Object
Indicates the recipient of the action. Example: Gave a bouquet to the mother.
Genuine Language Expressions
- Idioms: Two or more words with equivalent meaning to one word (e.g., standing).
- Phrases: Figurative sentences, often equivalent to a verb (e.g., to have the hollow hand).
- Proverbs: Short moral and didactic formulas (e.g., At Christmas, every sheep in his backyard).
- Lexicalized Comparisons: Fixed comparisons (e.g., a cotorras).
Essa 10: Voiced and Voiceless ‘S’
Voiceless ‘S’: Represented by s (start of word, front and back consonants), ss (between vowels in words ending in –sion, –essa), c (before e, i), C (before a, o, u, and acute endings), sc (between vowels, before e, i).
Voiced ‘S’: Represented by s (between vowels in words with prefix trans-, compounds, derivatives, and in-), z (back to top word of a consonant).
Fable vs. Legend
Fable: Short story for children’s entertainment, with magical characters and a protagonist with a mission.
Legend: Popular narrative based on real events, transformed by tradition, with extraordinary elements.
Simple Sentence Structure
Noun Phrase: Kernel is usually a noun or pronoun. Structure can be: Noun, Determinant + Noun, Noun + Complement.
Verb: Kernel is always a verb, with accessories that expand meaning.
Predicate Types
Nominal Predicate: Copulative verb (ser, estar, parecer) and an attribute (adjective, noun, prepositional phrase, adverb).
Verbal Predicate: Formed by a verb, with or without complements.
Onomatopoeia and Interjections
Onomatopoeia: Words imitating sounds.
Interjections: Elements expressing reactions, used in exclamatory sentences.
Instructional Texts
Structure information with subtitles, use imperative verbs, clear vocabulary, and incorporate diagrams.
Conjunctions and Prepositions
Conjunctions: Connect sentences (copulative, distributive, dilemma, adversative, unlimited, continuative).
Prepositions: Relate words or phrases (weak, strong, prepositional idioms).
Antonyms
Words with opposite meanings (gradation, denial, existence).
Vowel Stress
In nouns, adjectives, adverbs: find a related word to identify the tonic syllable.
In verbs: use the first or third person present indicative.
Final words: nouns and adjectives ending in -s, -x, -ix form plurals by adding -es. Some ending in -u are invariant.