Trajan’s Column: History, Design, and Significance

Trajan’s Column

Historical Context

During Trajan’s reign, the Roman Empire reached its zenith. Trajan entrusted the senate and focused on military matters. His military campaigns extended to Germania and the Danube, most notably the conquest of Dacia. He also initiated public works projects in Rome, including the construction of the Forum of Trajan, where the column stands, a market, and improvements to the road network and port.

Formal Description

The column, made of marble, has a diameter of 4 meters.

Read More

Narrative Styles and Dialogue Techniques in Literature

Narrator Perspectives

  • Third-Person Narrator: This narrator tells the story from an external viewpoint, using the third person. This approach conveys objectivity and detachment. There are two main types:
    • Omniscient Narrator: Possesses complete knowledge of the story, acting as a god within the fictional universe. This technique was favored by 19th-century novelists.
    • Observer Narrator: Only recounts what is perceived through the senses, limited to recording events. This film-like technique is common
Read More

Semiotics: Understanding Signs, Symbols, and Meaning

1. Semiotics

The word semiotics comes from the Greek word ‘semiotikos,’ which means “an interpreter of the sign.” Therefore, semiotics refers to the study of all written and spoken signs and their interpretation within society. The two main traditions in semiotics were carried out by Saussure (semiology) and Pierce (Semiotics).

2. Signs

A sign is everything that can be interpreted. However, in order to be a sign, it has to have a meaning. The most common signs are road signs, images, sounds, words,

Read More

Understanding Limited Real Rights, Accession, and Property

Limited Real Rights

Rights of Enjoyment

  • Usufruct: The right to enjoy the property of others, preserving its form and substance.
  • Uses: Fruits of another’s property for the user’s needs and their family’s.
  • Room: Pieces to occupy someone else’s house for himself and family.
  • Surface: Being able to construct on the land of another.
  • Easement: Assessment of a property for the benefit of another.

Rights of Guarantee

  • Mortgage: Right to seize the domain of a property to ensure compliance with the obligation to pay
Read More

Narrative Structure and Time in The House of the Spirits

Narrative Structure in *The House of the Spirits*

The House of the Spirits (1982) is a polyphonic text with three narrators: Alba, Esteban Trueba, and a third-person narrator. These narrators can be classified into two types:

Narrator-Characters

Alba Trueba and Esteban Trueba are the two narrators who alternate in the first person to tell the story, offering two different perspectives of the same reality. Some chapters are narrated by Esteban, others by Alba, and some alternate between the two narrative

Read More

Textual Cohesion and Literary Genres: An In-Depth Look

Textual Cohesion

Cohesion is a property related to textual expression. It is expressed in the relationships among diverse text elements: pronouns, connectors, etc. Mechanisms that facilitate cohesion include:

  • Textual Reference: When a word or phrase refers to something already mentioned in the same text (anaphora) or to something that will appear later (cataphora).
  • Ellipsis: When linguistic parts that can be understood from the context are suppressed.
  • Lexical Substitution: When a lexical item is substituted
Read More