Anth G222. Aztecs and Spaniards

Prof. Zeitlin

Fall 2002

Third paper assignment: Who killed Moctezuma?

DUE TUESDAY, OCT. 22 (SUBMIT TWO COPIES)

During our classroom trial, we have heard from both the Aztec and Spanish sides different theories about who killed Moctezuma and why. We will also hear the jury deliberate about the merits of each argument. For this short essay (3 pages typed), you are to present your own persuasive written evaluation of the case.

This should not be an emotional indictment of the bad guys, but rather a dispassionate, very logical, and very organized presentation of the relevant information that you have found in all of the primary sources available to you (Bernal Díaz, Cortes' Second Letter, and The Broken Spears). You must ignore witness or attorney claims from our classroom trial that cannot be supported with specific evidence from the primary sources. Not only will you have to reconstruct from these sources a sequence of events leading up to Moctezuma's death, establishing who was where when, but you will also have to use these same sources to establish motivation for the murder. As part of the motivation, be sure to include what you can about the political and cultural context affecting the group/individual you find responsible. Your objective here is not to find the "smoking gun", but rather to make a cogent case for which party bears the ultimate responsibility for the Aztec ruler's death. If you believe that both parties share equally in that responsibility, that's OK too, but you will need to bring in evidence to support your conclusion..

You may discuss these issues with your classmates and draw on what we have done in class during the trial, but the essay must be your individual written effort. Your grade will be based to a large degree on the way in which you organize your case and support your arguments with evidence drawn from the readings. Use footnotes or in-text citations to show what your sources are for specific facts or for quotes. Pay special attention to your introductory paragraph, which should state your "thesis"and provide a brief "roadmap"of what your paper is going to do to support that thesis.

Once the papers are handed in, we will spend some time in class doing a "peer review" of these essays. Your participation as an author and as a reviewer will count towards your class participation grade, so it is important to have your essay turned in on time and to be present in class. So that the essays can be reviewed anonymously, please put your name and title of your essay on a separate title page that I can remove from the paper before distribution in class. In our class review session, our intent will be to find constructive ways to comment on each essay and suggest ways in which it can be improved.