Here’s the link to the ArtandSeek.org website I mentioned in class. Please tell me which museum you’re considering by October 14, so we don’t have any duplicates for. Of course you can also choose to do a PowerPoint or GoogleEarth presentation instead.
Questions on Restall, Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest
Directions: As you consider these potential test questions, remember that in answering all of them you should also be answering the question: “How does Restall’s book change the way we think about colonial Latin American history?”
1. In his discussion of myths, Restall often ends up writing not about what happened but about the texts [letters, reports, books] that were written about these events. Why and how were these so important in establishing myths? Give specifics.
2. Why did certain myths stick? Consider the Myth of the Round Earth, Myth of the White Conquistadors, Myth of the King’s Soldiers, and the Myth of Completion and give specifics about why these were so tenacious.
3. According to Restall, what were the real reasons the Spanish were able to conquer Latin America? Compare and contrast these to the mythical reasons, specifically the Myth of the White Conquistadors, Myth of the King’s Soldiers, and the Myth of Exceptional Men. Why were these real reasons not enough to eclipse these myths?
4. Compare and contrast Restall’s myth-busting with Mann’s myth-busting. How do the two books contradict each other? How do they reinforce each other? Give specifics.
You can see your grade and, more importantly, download your paper and read my comments on WebCT.
Be sure to save the file!! I’ll use this first test to grade you for improvement this semester.
Here’s the tutorial I’d like you to watch in class. The rest of the material will be on WebCT, however.
I have posted the usual four quizzes on the four 9/21 on-line lectures. I didn’t put them up until Tuesday because I knew you were busy with the test/paper. You can take them any time up to noon on Friday, 9/26.
In a world where papers are submitted electronically (even under your own log-in) it’s always a good idea to put your last name in the name of your file. After doing this for 10 years it still seems weird to me to name a file on MY computer “Garrigus_Mann.doc” But when I send it to someone else, it makes a lot of sense on his or her computer.
It’s also a good idea to get out of the habit of putting blanks in a file name. On the web those blanks turn into “%20″ as in “Garrigus%20Mann”. Confusing!
So let’s use this easy file-naming protocol for papers from here on out: “YourLastName_LastNameOfAuthor”. Example: “Brown_Mann.doc” That’ll help me keep track of your work. WebCT puts each of your papers in a separate directory named with your initials, and then zips the whole thing for me to download. You’ll save me a few minutes if you can name your files this way!
Here’s a brief (5 minute) National Geographic video about Orellana and the idea of lost Amazonian cities.
This is the video we’ll see and partially discuss in class. It’s from the 2nd section of a 3-part National Geographic series called Guns Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond. The parts we’ll be watching will be around 9 minutes to about 15 minutes; about 17 minutes to 22 minutes [weapons], 42 minutes to 50 minutes about infectious disease.
Still, I recommend you watch the entire thing. The recreation of Atahualpa’s encounter with Pizarro is beautifully shot.
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I need to make a change in my office hours. Instead of having open time for an hour on Monday when we don’t have class, I’m going to cancel my Monday hour and extend the time on Wednesday and Friday. So here are my new office hours:
TEKS stands for Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills and this list sets the goals for teachers in our state . The full list of the TEKS for the sophomore world history class has 27 elements, each with multiple aspects.
Since so many people in our class are interested in teaching after they graduate, I wanted us to look at the TEKS, learn enough to feel confident teaching the aspects that apply to colonial Latin America, and talk about you would how to do that.
So here are three that apply to our course, numbers 6, 7, and 23 on the full list, which is available at this website
(6) History. The student understands the major developments of civilizations of sub-Saharan Africa, Mesoamerica, Andean South America, and Asia. The student is expected to:
a. summarize the major political and cultural developments of the civilizations of sub-Saharan Africa;
b. summarize the major political, economic, and cultural developments of civilizations in Mesoamerica and Andean South America; and
(7) The student understands the impact of political and economic imperialism throughout history. The student is expected to:
a. analyze examples of major empires of the world such as the Aztec, British, Chinese, French, Japanese, Mongol, and Ottoman empires; and
b. summarize effects of imperialism on selected societies.
(23) Science, technology, and society. The student understands how major scientific and mathematical discoveries and technological innovations have affected societies throughout history. The student is expected to:
a. give examples of major mathematical and scientific discoveries and technological innovations that occurred at different periods in history and describe the changes produced by these discoveries and innovations;
b. identify new ideas in mathematics, science, and technology that occurred during the Greco-Roman, Indian, Islamic, and Chinese civilizations and trace the spread of these ideas to other civilizations;
c. summarize the ideas in astronomy, mathematics, and architectural engineering that developed in Mesoamerica and Andean South America;
You can get a full copy of the TEKS at this website
