Anth G222: Aztecs and Spaniards

Prof. Zeitlin

Fall 2002

Second paper assignment: Aztec accounts of the first encounters with the Spaniards

DUE THURSDAY, OCT. 3

For this assignment you are to select one of the following four topics to focus your readings in the early pages of Broken Spears (through p. 61) and in the Durán text handout:

1.	Omens and magicians -- what is their place in the Aztec view of the Spanish encounter? Several native or native perspective texts are presented by these sources. Compare both the incidents in which omens and magicians appear (their nature) and the role that these play in how the Aztecs understand the appearance of the Spaniards.

2.	The character of Moctezuma -- what kind of person is he presented as in the different native portraits? How does he respond to information, how does he make decisions, how appropriate are his actions, what are the attitudes of the indigenous narrators towards him?

3.	The presentation of the clothing of the gods. Compare this incident in both the native sources and the Bernal Díaz account. What is being communicated symbolically, how is it understood by the recipient and how is the recipient's reaction understood by the natives?

4.	The Tlaxcala and Cholula battles. Compare the native and Díaz accounts of these incidents to understand how each side perceived the reasons for the battle, the nature of the battles and associated political events, and the meaning of the outcome. Remember that there is more than one native perspective on these affairs, one told by the Aztec informants of Sahagún and the other by the mestizo chronicler from Tlaxcala, Muñoz Camargo. How do they differ?

For this assignment you are to write a two- to three-page typed essay on the topic you have chosen, making sure to include all the issues in the question. Your essay should have its own organization, however, so work on developing a structure that allows you to integrate all the aspects of the question that you are addressing in a smooth and persuasive fashion. To accomplish this task, you will have to read the relevant sources carefully and with an eye to appropriate details. Your paper should not just be a list of information, however. With the native texts in particular, you will have to read them closely and think about their meaning in light of some of the broader background issues concerning Aztec society and the nature of the Aztec empire we have been discussing in class. Support your interpretations or conclusions with specific examples or references from the text. This essay is one which you will write from the third person perspective ("he/ she/ they did x and it had this consequence"), not from the first person perspective of one of the participants ("I saw this happen," "we went to greet..."). Watch your spelling and grammar!