Sunday, December 4, 2011

Álvar Núñez Cabeza De Vaca Journal

Tanya Barragan
Scott Lankford
English 48A
Álvar Núñez Cabeza De Vaca
12/08/2011





AUTHOR’S QUOTE

“After this we had a hot argument with them, for they meant to make slaves of the Indians in our train. We got so angry that we went off forgetting the many Turkish-shaped bows, the many pouches, and the five emerald arrowheads, etc., which we thus lost. And to think we had given these Christians a supply of cowhides and other things that our retainers had carried a long distance.” (47)



INTERNET QUOTE

Throughout his tenure in Río de la Plata Cabeza de Vaca became well-known and sometimes disliked by his fellow colonists for his partiality toward Indians of the province, requiring that they be paid for goods and services and that they not be molested or abused. It seems likely that this attitude toward native people developed during Álvar Núñez's travel across the North American continent in the 1530s.”






SUMMARY

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca writes in The Relation to the Sacred Caesarian Catholic Majesty, about his lost years and his finds of land and people that he saw and experienced. He writes of the people/Indians that he encountered and their descriptions and way of life. He also writes how at first, many of the Indians were fearful but welcomed and gave them all they could. He tells of his life with the three men he was with and how they lived, ate, and experienced exactly the way the Indians lived. But he mainly writes how he befriended these Indians and learned a lot from them and their way of life and that others did not feel and think the same for them and only wanted them as slaves.

 





YOUR IDEAS/REACTIONS/RESPONSES TO THE AUTHOR’S IDEAS

There a lot of ideas that I got from Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and his writing and what he was writing. I feel that after Narváez and his bad leadership, it landed de Vaca in a place with some of the companions that survived along with him, in a place that would be new to them and they would learn a whole lot from it. I think that he didn’t realize at the time that he would come to learn so much from the Indians and grow a liking to them. I got that he was given a spiritual awakening form this experience that would change him for life. I reacted to what de Vaca had to say as a “Wow” because he actually lived and learned from the Indians and taught them things as well. I found him a friend because he didn’t want to take advantage of them but see their way of being and help them.

I responded to de Vaca’s ideas in many ways and the quote that I chose says a lot about him and that’s why I chose it. The argument that de Vaca was talking about, is the one that he had with Alcaraz. Alcaraz and the other countrymen did not want to be friends the Indians but only wanted to make them slaves and take them for all they had. This pissed off de Vaca’s because he was friends with them and found them as equals. I thought that this said something about de Vaca’s and the person that he was.He had grown a relationship with the Indians; it seemed like he cared. He even tried to tell them to leave Alcaraz and the Indians would not listen. I got from this that he wanted to help them and they were so trusting to him that they thought they would get the same treatment from Alcaraz.

The Internet quote says a lot about him and his ideas as well. The fact the he was well-known but many didn’t like him because he wanted rights for the Indians, showed that he was a man who believed that the Indians deserved their rights. This kind of idea shows a man who had grown with the Indians and did not want anyone taking advantage of them. I really liked that de Vaca learned and lived with the Indians because he came to a place with people who were different but kind to him and seemed to be very thankful for that.






 

Christopher Columbus Journal

Tanya Barragan
Scott Lankford
English 48A
Christopher Columbus
12/06/2011




AUTHOR’S QUOTE

“The pure devotion which I have ever borne to the service of Your Highnesses, and the unmerited wrong that I have suffered, will not permit me to remain silent, although I would fain do so; I pray Your Highnesses to pardon me. I am so ruined as I have said; hitherto I have wept for others; now, Heaven have mercy upon me, and may the earth weep for me.” (35)


INTERNET QUOTE

“From his very first contact with native people, Columbus had their domination in mind. For example, on October 14, 1492, Columbus wrote in his journal, "with fifty men they can all be subjugated and made to do what is required of them." [5] These were not mere words: after his second voyage, Columbus sent back a consignment of natives to be sold as slaves. [6]








SUMMARY

Christopher Columbus writes in Letters to Ferdinand and Isabella the issues and experiences of his voyages but he also writes in the harsh treatment that he was given when failure in them. He writes in his letter to Luis de Santangel, from his first voyage, his discoveries of islands and the names that he has given these islands. But he also writes on the people who he has discovered on the islands; the Natives. He also writes on the beauty and the food that he has discovered. But in his letter to Ferdinand and Isabella on the fourth voyage, he writes about what his whole point was for his voyages and cries about how he had made mistakes and was treated harshly because of it.









YOUR IDEAS/REACTIONS/RESPONSES TO THE AUTHOR’S IDEAS

Some of the ideas that I got from Christopher Columbus’s voyages and letters is that they only state what he had found and discovered. I also saw that he was whining about how his country, King and Queen treated him and lost faith in him and gave him poor treatment. But I saw this as only his side and what he had gone through and he doesn’t talk about how harshly treated the Natives and maybe the poor treatment that he got from his country, King and Queen was well deserved for his failure and what I call Karma. Because I really don’t like Christopher Columbus, I reacted to his work as boring because I am tired of hearing about his side and what he had done on his voyages. However, I also reacted as seeing a different side of what he went through because even though I have heard about him and his voyages, he was treated horribly because he made many mistakes. Even though he had discovered and gave his country slaves, they lost hope and faith in him. I feel that they got what they wanted from him and when he couldn’t deliver they threw him to the wolves.

The quotes that I chose for the response, explains the ideas that I got from the author. The quote that I chose form the book explains a man who has suffered a great deal, after giving his country entirely all he could give. After Christopher Columbus voyages, there was always something wrong that did and there was a lost of hope with him; however he was always given another chance. I feel that Christopher Columbus was trying to explain in his letter to Ferdinand and Isabella, all he gave and did for them; how could they treat him with such disregard. I also feel that he was explaining with everything he had done he was left with nothing but pain and sorrow, from their cruel treatment to him. But as a country I saw that they did what they had to, to Christopher Columbus, to survive as a country and with his mistakes, it was making their country look bad.

That’s why I chose the Internet quote that I did. With all of Christopher Columbus’s voyages and letters and complaints, about what he went through; he neglects to tell Ferdinand and Isabella that he was sorry for his mistakes. But that’s not all, with all his letters what about the truth about his mean and cruel treatment to the Natives. Why doesn’t he talk about him being a horrible man who only wanted to dominate; in his letter he states that is not what he wanted to do but that is exactly what he did? I think that with he was saying in his letters he was only thinking about him self and what he did but there was so much more to him than that; not in a good way.