Questions over Reading Assignment 1

These questions are not homework; you are not required to answer them. The questions are meant to guide your review for the mid-term exam, especially the objective part of that test. I would recommend that you print the questions and preview them before doing each reading assignment. Then refer to the questions as you are reading the assignments and underline the answers in your text as you read. I would also recommend that you write the answers down for future review. You do not, however, need to email me the answers. Just email or telephone me if you cannot find an answer, and I will help you to locate that one.

I did not put some of the most obvious questions on this review, but I may ask some of them of the test. For instance, I may ask who wrote a certain selection in your text. You should know the author of each reading. In the case of the Native American mythology and folklore, you should which tribe each selection is attributed to. For instance, I might ask which group of Native Americans had a creation story about a good twin and an evil twin. (Answer: The Iroquois) A good way to study for this type of question would be to use flash cards. Put the title of the reading selection on one side of a card and the author’s name on the other side.

I do not guarantee that these questions cover 100% of what will be on the test. However, I can promise you that if you know the answers to all these questions, and the online quizzes on Norton Literature Online, you should do very well on the objective part of the mid-term exam. (Please note that there are links to two online quizzes for NAAL, volume A. The first quiz corresponds to Reading Assignments 1 and 2; the second goes with Reading Assignment 3.) Some of these questions obviously also could form the basis of questions on the essay part of the exam. Please do not attempt to complete the online quizzes until you have finished reading all the reading assignments and are reviewing for the mid-term exam. At that time, I will post an announcement reminding you to complete both the quizzes and explaining what you must do to earn the bonus points.

Native American Mythology and Folklore

Stories of the Beginning of the World

(1) What purpose do stories about the creation of the world serve? What book in the bible can they be compared to?

“The Iroquois Creation Story”

(2) Where did the woman in this story give birth?

(3) What did the turtle in this story eventually become?

Pima Stories of the Creation of the World

(4) What was the name of the master storyteller of the Pimas?

(5) How did the Pima stories come to be recorded in English?

“The Story of Creation”

(6) What was the name of the creator of the world, and what did he spend all his time doing before he created it?

(7) How did he create what we now know as the world? What creatures did he make so that they could help him enlarge the earth?

(8) Why did the Pima creator obliterate the first three groups of people on the earth, and how did destroy them?

(9) How was the coyote created?

Medieval Sourcebook: Christopher Columbus: Extracts from Journal: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/columbus1.html, journal entries for Thursday, October 11--Sunday, October 21, and

Christopher Columbus

(10) Who were the Spanish monarchs at the time of Columbus’ voyages?

(11) How many voyages did Columbus make?

(12) What were some of the disasters Columbus suffered as a result of his voyages and trouble back in Spain? (Make certain you include an explanation of what soured his friendly relations with the Taino Indians.)

(13) By what name did his discoveries come to be called? (This is the name for a large group of islands Columbus and the Spaniards mistakenly thought were a part of Asia. That is how they got their name.)

From Letter to Luis de Santangel Regarding the First Voyage

(14) How does Columbus describe “Espanola,” (the island now known as Haiti and the Dominican Republic) and what marvels has he found there? How does he describe the land and its people?

(15) How would you describe Columbus’ mood at the time of his first voyage and the general tone of this letter?

From Letter to Ferdinand and Isabella Regarding the Fourth Voyage

(16) Where was Columbus when he wrote this letter?

(17) What kind of agreement did Columbus make, “under seal and oath,” with Ferdinand and Isabella, before he made his

discoveries?

(18) What complaint (redress) did Columbus make about others who wanted to explore the lands he discovered?

(19) What happened to Columbus and his brothers just as they thought things were going so well for them?

(20) How has Columbus changed physically since he began his voyages and what does he have to show for all his years of service to Ferdinand and Isabella?

(31) How does Columbus describe the land and its people now? Compare this with how he described them in his

first letter.

Bartolome de las Casas

(32) Who was Europe’s most eloquent apologist (activist) for Native American rights?

(33) How did de las Casas treat the natives when he first came to Hispaniola?

(34) What did de las Casas become, and why did his attitude toward the natives change?

(35) What was the Spanish name for the Indian slave system?

(36) What unfortunate remedy to the Indian slave system did he propose, why did he finally repent of this suggestion?

From “The Very Brief Relation of the Devastation of the Indies”

(37) Describe some of the ways the “Christians” abused the Indians.

(38) What misconception about Columbus and the other Europeans did native peoples have that made it easier for the Europeans to abuse them?

(39) How did the Indians attempt to throw the “Christians” out of their lands, why were they unsuccessful, and what atrocities did the “Christians” commit in retaliation?

(40) What did the Spaniards do to the Indians who tried to escape to the mountains?

(41) Describe the conditions on the slave ships that carried the Indians. Why did so many of them die on the ships, and what did the Spaniards do with the dead?

(42) Describe the work of the pearl fishers and the conditions under which they lived and worked. What were two types of horrible death that many of them suffered while fishing for pearls?

Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca

(43) Where did the Cabeza de Vaca family get its unusual name, and what does it mean?

(44) Who was the leader of Cabeza de Vaca’s first expedition to the Americas, what were some of the disasters they endured? What three islands did they visit? On which of these three islands did they finally end up shipwrecked on after they escaped from the hostile natives of Florida on homemade rafts or barges? How many other men in his expedition survived with him?

(45) What was Cabeza de Vaca surprised to find “Christians” from his own country doing in Mexico, and how did his opposition to their illegal get him arrested? What happened to the 600 Indians who were traveling with him?

(46) Where did Cabeza de Vaca go on his second expedition to the Americas, what caused him to be removed from office there and sent back to Spain in chains, and to what country was he exiled?

(47) When did Cabeza de Vaca write his Relation, to whom did he address it, and why did he write it?

From The Relation of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca

(48) How many years did Cabeza de Vaca spend wandering “lost and miserable over many remote lands” on his first expedition to the Americas?” What were some of the unappetizing things he and his band were forced to eat in order to survive? (Answers to these two questions are not found in the same place in the reading; they are several pages apart.)

(49) Describe some of the unusual customs the natives of Inland Texas practice regarding the following:

(Answers to these questions are found in different places throughout the reading assignment.)

· Clothing (or the lack thereof) and body piercings: What are the differences between men and women?

· Mourning and funerals

o What happens when a son or brother dies, and how can this lead to repeated deaths in the family?

o What are the special funeral rites and customs for medicine men?

· Marriage and family life

o Who is the only member of the tribe that gets to have three wives?

o What happens when a daughter marries, and how do the bride and her husband interact with each other’s parents and relatives after the wedding?

o Couples sleeping together during and after the wife’s pregnancy and the babies’ extended nursing period

o Disagreements between couples and abandonment of wives

· How are quarrels between men settled?

· What strange custom do they practice when acquaintances meet or visit?

(50) What did the Indians do when Diego de Alcaraz had Cabeza de Vaca to order them to bring the Spaniards food? What did Alcaraz plan to do with Cabeza de Vaca’s Indian followers? What did Cabeza de Vaca order the Indians to do instead of staying with him and the other Spaniards at the end of the excerpt?