Lyrical, Narrative, and Dramatic Texts: Key Features

Lyrical Texts: Characteristics and Devices

Lyrical texts are an expression of the author’s subjectivity. The expressive or emotive function of language predominates. Themes are universal, relating to human beings and their concerns. There is almost no action. Verse is generally used, and it is very common to see lexical repetition and the use of rhetorical figures.

Figures of Speech in Lyrical Texts

Phonetic Level

  • Alliteration: Repetition of a sound in a short space.
  • Paronomasia: Using words that are
Read More

Bronx Masquerade: Student Stories & Poems

Bronx Masquerade: A Story of Self-Discovery Through Poetry

Bronx Masquerade, by author Nikki Grimes, tells the story of a group of high school students in an English class.

Their teacher, Mr. Ward, is teaching them about the Harlem Renaissance. To put what they are studying into practice, he assigns them an essay. One student, Wesley Boone, known as the “bad boy,” asks if, instead of writing an essay, he can write a poem. When he completes his poem, Mr. Ward asks him to read it aloud to the class.

Read More

Narrative Elements and Expressive Resources

Narrative: Definition and Key Elements

Narrative, a literary specialty, is dedicated to telling stories, events, and happenings in different modalities.

Basic Narrative Elements of a Work

  • The Story: This consists of the various events that are recounted. We know it not only through the word of the narrator but also by the action of the characters.
  • The Speech: This is the word of the narrator, i.e., the different procedures that a narrator uses to convey what happens in a narrative.

Types of Narrator

Read More

19th-Century Spanish Literary Movements

Romanticism in Spain

Romanticism was introduced in Spain progressively and in different stages.

Characteristics:

  • Free search: A quest for complete freedom.
  • Subjectivism and individualism.
  • Transformation: Feelings and ideals of life.
  • Idealism: Absolute nature of life, expressing mood through storms, seas, etc.
  • Return to the past: An attempt to escape from a distressing reality.
  • Breaking the everyday world with the supernatural and mysterious.
  • Momentum: The defense of progress, scientific progress, and history.
Read More

Romanticism and Enlightenment in Literature: Key Aspects

Romanticism and Enlightenment in Literature

Romanticism is a cultural movement in literature and art that developed in the first half of the 19th century. Nationalisms arose, and the bourgeoisie became the ruling social class following the Industrial Revolution. This era also saw the rise of liberalism, an ideological movement advocating economic and political freedom. Romanticism marked the end of 18th-century rationalism.

Key Features of Romanticism

Its general features are:

  • Individualism and Subjectivism:
Read More

Literary Movements: Romanticism to Victorian Era

Romanticism: An Overview

Romanticism developed between the 1760s and 1780s as an anti-Enlightenment movement. Jane Austen marks one of the first points of solidification of the realist tradition. It mainly affected drama and poetry. Protagonists were driven to action, pursuing noble ideals. Authors started praising the sublime aspects of nature, showing interest in the representation of nature. Before, nature was seen as a tool, but now intellectuals saw nature as something to be praised. Nature

Read More