The Misfortunes of Alonso Ramírez describes the adventures of Ramírez, a poor Spanish American carpenter from Puerto Rico, taken captive by British pirates and who voyaged with them for two years. The book portrays Ramírez as a victim while emphasizing the graphic depictions of English buccaneer cruelty in order to serve Ramírez and the Mexican Viceroy’s purposes. However, through careful examination of the story, I believe that he indeed was a pirate, and will explain so in this essay by arguing four points: first, that Ramírez headed towards familiar territory due to the lack of paperwork for his belongings, second, his lack of explanation of why he did not escape whenever possible, third, his ownership of special weapons, and lastly, the words chosen to narrate the story. To begin, Ramírez sailed to Spanish …show more content…
However, Cornelio washed his hands, and blamed Ramírez and his men for planning this mutiny. The Captain charged Ramírez of “treason” and “sedition” (129). If Ramírez was indeed an outsider like he claimed, he would not have used the words “treason” or “sedition,” as he could not have betrayed someone that did not confide in him on the first place. Others may say that this indeed would be words used by a victim, as they would certainly betray their oppressors and revolt against them. Yet, if Ramírez was indeed an outsider, he would not be betraying them, he would only be acting as expected from a captive. In conclusion, despite the ambiguous portrayal of Ramírez’s relationship with the English raiders, through close examination of the text, one is able to conclude that Ramírez was a pirate himself. Ramírez’s desire to reach familiar land, not fleeing when opportunity presented itself, his ownership of weapons acquired in his travels, and the phrases used to describe his actions against the English, bring me to conclude that he indeed was
The first instance of colonialism forced upon the inhabitants of the Dominican Republic was the “discovery” by Christopher Columbus on October 12, 1492. Ernesto Sagas and Orlando Inoa presented the interaction in their book The Dominican People: A Documentary History. The confrontation between these two diametrically opposed cultures proved to be “far from equal; the Amerindians’ Stone Age culture was no match for European military technology. The initial encounter took place on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, part of which is now the Dominican Republic” (Inoa pg. 1). This was the first step in a trek through five and a half centuries of Dominican Republic history, and unfortunately much of it was filled with
During the initial assessment, Mr. Jose Rodriguez, a 36 year old Hispanic male, asked to be evaluated for stress and anxiety. He was accompanied by his sister, Adriana Barrera, and his wife Rosy Rodriguez. Mr. Rodriguez has a prior military history with little or no combat engagements. The initial assessment revealed that Mr. Rodriguez father whom he had a close relationship had passed away about a year ago. Mr. Rodriguez has been married for 16 years and has three children. On February 20, 2017 an initial assessment was conducted from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. Instruments used were the Juhnke-Balkin Life Balance Inventory,and the Beck Anxiety Inventory.
“Victors and Vanquished,” through excerpts of Bernal Diaz del Castillo The True History of the Conquest of New Spain and indigenous testimonies from the Florentine Codex, represents the clash between European and indigenous cultures and how there was no simple “European” or “indigenous” view. Rather, there were a variety of European and indigenous opinions and interpretations that were influenced by personal interests, social hierarchy and classes, ethnic biases and political considerations.
For decades, the history of Latin America has been shrouded in a cover of Spanish glory and myth that misleads and complicates the views of historians everywhere. Myths such as the relationship between natives and conquistadors, and the individuality of the conquistadors themselves stand as only a few examples of how this history may have become broken and distorted. However, in Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest Matthew Restall goes to great lengths to dispel these myths and provide a more accurate history of Latin American, in a readable and enjoyable book.
Cortes played a large role in the conquering of the Americas, and both Traditions and Encounters and The Broken Spears document his actions. In Traditions and Encounters, Cortes’s role as captain of Spanish expeditions was detailed. The advantage that the
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is not a happy book. The Author, Junot Diaz, does a great job fooling the reader into believing the story is about the De Leon family, specifically Oscar who is an over weight nerd trying to find the love of his life, but due to a family “fuku” or curse Oscar is having a lot of trouble doing so. Instead, the story actually portrays the dark history of the Dominican Republic under the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. Upon reading the stories of Oscar’s relatives the reader feels a powerful message of fear and oppression due to the actions of the Trujillo regime. Even after the demise of
Mike A. Ramirez, known as Johnny TEP, died peacefully in his penthouse in Florida on December 24, 2133. Mike A. Ramirez was born on December 24, 2003 in Providence, Rhode Island. Mike left his caring mother, Maria Ramirez and proud dad Juan. Mike also left his wife Jeana. Mike graduated from Providence Career Technical Academy at the age of 19. He graduated with 2 master's degrees in engineering from Brown University at the age of 25. After moving to California Mike began working for the TEP TEC Co. Mike was accomplished and very skilled at engineering. He was often looked up to by others. Mike was a generous and caring person in his lifetime, often donating to many charities with his wealth. Mike loved engineering and was passionate
de la Casas describes the second voyage that he embarked upon with Columbus. He described how each island was depopulated and destroyed. His observations of the land were no so descriptive of the native people and the land, but of the gruesome images the Spanish painted upon the Indies. de la Casas says, “…the Indians realize that these men had not come from Heaven (9).” He goes into detail about how the Christians would take over villages and had no mercy describing one particularly crude act to show how ruthless the Spanish were. He says, “Then they behaved with such temerity and shamelessness that the most powerful ruler of the islands had to see his own wife raped by a Christian officer (9).” The Spanish were so coward and angry anytime an Indian was actually capable of slaying a Spanish man that a rule was made; for every Christian slain, a hundred Indians would die. Natives were captured and forced to work jobs like pearl diving where they would very rarely survive due to man eating sharks or just from drowning and holding their breaths
In A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, Bartolomé de Las Casas vividly describes the brutality wrought on the natives in the Americas by the Europeans primarily for the purpose of proclaiming and spreading the Christian faith. Las Casas originally intended this account to reach the royal administration of Spain; however, it soon found its way into the hands of many international readers, especially after translation. Bartolomé de Las Casas illustrates an extremely graphic and grim reality to his readers using literary methods such as characterization, imagery, amplification, authorial intrusion and the invocation of providence while trying to appeal to the sympathies of his audience about such atrocities.
As Henderson weaves the imagery of a very defenseless nation and the precognition of defeat and lose for Mexico, the political spectrum is placed into sight as he examines the encounter with Hidalgo and states the indigenous people were “indulg[ing] themselves in an orgy of looting, pillaging, murder and mutilation,’ forcing he stance towards independent Creoles like Hidalgo to “gaze into the maw of barbarism” (20). The images placed forth are very descriptive to create a savage stance, one based on no type of foundation to rely on and lack of morals to guide in the past events.
As a new and mysterious world awaits to be discovered, daring conquistadors leave their home country of Spain in a journey of exploration. Two men by the name of Narvaez and Cabeza de Vaca set sail to thwart the untrustworthy Cortez who, behind the backs of Narvaez and Cabeza de Vaca, sailed to the New World with half of Narvaez’s crew in search of treasures. However, the journey would prove to be treacherous as the conquistadors would have to encounter hostile Native Americans and strange terrain they have never seen before. Throughout the expedition, future encounters between the Native Americans and conquistadors were heavily influenced by the personalities of the individuals and past experiences the Native Americans faced.
From Reséndez’s foundation of European enslavement and its far-reaching impact on Native American populations, Reséndez examined racial components in the southwest. It is impossible to separate racial tension from the study of Indian slavery. Christopher Columbus’s journals as contemporary letters show the Spanish perception of
Miguel Cervantes’ Don Quixote is a masterpiece in many senses of the word: at the time of its conception, it was hailed as a revolutionary work of literature that defined a genre, in later centuries regarded as an acerbic social commentary, a slightly misshapen romantic tragedy, and even as a synthesis of existentialist and post-modernist features. At the centre of this Spanish satirical chronicle is the perplexing character Don Quixote. Don Quixote’s personality and perspective is rapidly established fromsince the beginning of the novel, revealing unabashedly to readers that he is mad. The source of his madness lies in the extent to which Don Quixote acts on his delusions and projections unto reality as he saunters through Cervantes’ Andalusia. Don Quixote’s delusions have two primary functions in the novel: demonstrating the reality and tragedy of Cervantes’ manifestation of idyllic themes of love and chivalry, and revealing certain characteristics about narration.
The phrase “the truth as is appears in Don Quixote,” is not as tidy a topic as it initially seems to be. The novel’s uniquely layered structure is arguably one of its most profound features, and a significant contribution to its status as a great book. Through overlapping and retelling, Cervantes creates an arena for questioning, however ultimately solidifies the textual integrity of his vast tale.
In the book The Conquest of America by Tzvetan Todorov, Todorov brings about an interesting look into the expeditions of Columbus, based on Columbus’ own writings. Initially, one can see Columbus nearly overwhelmed by the beauty of these lands that he has encountered. He creates vivid pictures that stand out in the imagination, colored by a "marvelous" descriptive style. Todorov gives us an interpretation of Columbus’ discovery of America, and the Spaniards’ subsequent conquest, colonization, and destruction of pre-Columbian cultures in Mexico and the Caribbean. Tzvetan Todorov examines the beliefs and behavior of the Spanish conquistadors and of the Aztecs.