Post #4

Bartolome De Casas was one of the world’s first human rights activists.  It was interesting to learn that Casas himself was once a land and slave owner in the new world. However, upon witnessing the atrocities and murder of the Spanish he realized that slavery was wrong. It amazes me that during a time when slavery was so normal, he realized the wrong and returned to Spain and begged for it to end. Slavery was how many business tycoons of that time stayed profitable and which is the reason why most slave and landowners refused to turn away from it. Casas only downfall to his original motive was to convince the Spanish to use African slaves rather than the indigenous. While reading the article I learned that slavery was not based off of race in the beginning. Because most, to all slaves were prisoners of war and race did not necessarily matter. Bartolome De Casas is still to this day one of the most important and influential activists. He represented the indigenous culture, African culture, and any other slaves worked endlessly to end slavery. His change of mind was one of the first jump starts to end slavery which is extremely important through the next hundreds of years as the world continually fought against slavery and for what is right.

Post #3

I had a little bit of difficulty interpreting Popol Vuh, however I believe I picked up most of the points. I believe it explains the creation and beginning of the first civilization. The ancient Mayan people said there was only heaven, no people. The reading explains that earth was formed but there were no humans, only animals. The animals did not listen to the gods because they could not speak, so therefore that plan of creation did not work. It took the creators multiple tries to create human kind. After four tries they finally created the first man on earth. In comparison to the bible, God created the first man on earth by dust. He also created animals so no man would be alone. And then finally women were created by the rib of men. I do not understand this concept of bible very well but I am hoping through class discussion or through life I will eventually. The two books explain creation very differently in my eyes. The message is generally perceived the same but still two different stories.

Post #2

We do not know much about the literature of Latin American cultures before the Spanish arrived. I think this is due to a few reasons. Mostly I believe that most literature and art was destroyed during the times the Spanish conquered. Latin America also had many different cultures and languages. Which made it difficult to communicate and create literature. Literature was transcribed in different ways such as art, weavings maybe even song and dance. I believe this is how they typically passed down values, culture, and told stories.

Foster in interlude-one story explains the concept that every article, novel, story, any literature work is all the same. It is all repetition, rewritten in different language and tone but yet still all the same story. I in a way agree with this. I do think a lot of literature does drag you into this kind of state where you think, what if this was me? How does this story compare to my life? What would I do differently or what would I do the same? I know from reading countless novels and short stories that every single time I turn a page I do indeed apply that chapter, theme, and even character to my life and my experiences. Foster talks about archetypes in which there is always this aha moment where we understand or make a connection while reading any literature. However while I believe this to be true, I also believe that authors also attempt to convey different messages and stories to the readers, however our brains also send us back to, “well how does this affect me.”  He even references that there is typically always a hero to each story. There is always a character that stands out; this person typically makes the story. I also agree with Foster on this.

Hola el mundo,

Este es mi primer articulo de blog. Entonces voy a contar sobre mis experiencias leyendo literatura de español. I have read little to no spanish literature I am sad to say. I have ready many famous English literature novels. One of my favorite books is How To Kill A Mockingbird. I have experience reading short stories and bits and pieces of novels throughout my years of spanish classes through high school and college. Last semester, I took spanish 340 cultures of Latin America. I learned a lot about art, music, food, values, and culture norms for many latin american countries. Tambien fui a Costa Rica el verano pasado. Me encanto Costa Rica y today la cultura. Tambien me encanto espanol. Experiencing culture and being able to speak spanish with actual natives has made me more comfortable speaking spanish. However I am slightly hesitant when it comes to reading spanish literature as I am afraid I will not completely understand. I hope this class continues to help strengthen my confidence in speaking Spanish but will also make me a stronger reader and further my understanding of the language. I am excited to take yet another Spanish class and experience a different side of the language and the opportunities I will gain.