Wednesday, March 9, 2011

To the Edge of the World Blog # 3

Please read pages 154-179 and respond to the prompts below.  You must write in complete sentences.  2-4 sentences should suffice for most prompts.


Due:
A1/A2 - Friday, 3/11
B4 - Monday, 3/14

1.  What color are the natives teeth?

2.  How can can Rodrigo "spitting a tooth from his mouth" speak volumes about the state that the men must have been in?

3.  Do you feel the force Magellan used against the natives village was excessive? Defend your response.

4.  How do they know they have arrived in the "far east?"

5.  Who was Job?  How do you pronounce his name?

6.  Why does Magellan want Humabon to become Christian?

7.  What happened when one chieftain did not "pay tribute to Rajah Humabon?"

8.  Magellan screams "retreat" before he dies.  How might this be symbolic?

9.  Magellan succeeds in many ways, but do you feel the way the treat the natives is fair?  How might his journey be viewed as a microcosm of colonialism in general?

10.  The Spaniards are Christians, but do they live according to their beliefs?

10 comments:

  1. 1. The natives teeth are black and red.

    2. Rodrigo "spitting a tooth from his mouth" tells us that the crew must have been too concentrated on eating, and they had no intention of cleaning their teeth. They must have been in a very uncleanly state.

    3. Yes, the force that Magellan used against natives seemed to be quite excessive. There was no need to kill them, and wreck their village. Of course, communication seemed to be impossible, but they could have just wounded some, instead of killing them.

    4. They knew that they had arrived in the far east because Enrique was originally from the far east. He recognized the language there, so he could tell he was back home.

    5. Job is a character in the bible, and he experienced the tests of God. You pronounce is name like "jobe" as in robe.

    6. Magellan wanted Humabon to become christian because of his power. Humabon had a lot of power, and Magellan used it to threaten other chiefs to become christian. If he became christian, all would.

    7. When a chieftain did not pay tribute to Humabon, Magellan burned his village down. Espinosa and the other marines brought back any livestock.

    8. Magellan screaming "retreat" symbolizes his leadership. It shows how he cares about his crew more than himself. Even right before his death, he showed a good leader.

    9. Although Magellan succeeds in many ways, I feel his treatment towards the natives is too forceful. He didn't give them any choices, and wrecked some of their homes. He could have given them more time to adjust to the new ways.

    10. Although the Spaniards are Christians, they commit sins that are unneccesary to God's benefit. They plunder villages, and kill natives, which I feel is a big sin. Even though God might get more followers, killing and forcing can be counted as a sin.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 1. The color of the natives teeth were black and red.

    2 .This explains how much the crew were starving, and how much they were craving for food. Also it might have meant that since they haven't ate much food, Rodrigo's teeth might have been full of cavities.

    3. Yes, however, this type of violence happens all the time. Especially around this time, I wouldn't say it is a big deal, but burning down their village, just because the natives stole one skiff, I think Magellan was being secure for his people.

    4. Enrique was originally from the far East. That is why they figured out that they were at the Far East.

    5. Job is a biblical figure. He is a figure from the bible. His name is pronounced like jobe. (?)

    6. Magellan wanted Humabon to be Christian because he knew there would be some kind of conflict between the natives and Humabon. And in this way, if he says that he will destroy their village, people will immediately be Christian because they are afraid.

    7. Just like Magellan said, they attacked the villages. Even mateo attacked the villages.

    8. I think Magellan screaming "retreat" meant that he will back off a little bit. This was symbolistic because he was always supporting his other crewmates.

    9. In a way I do not disagree to the way Magellan treats people. However, he should have more communication between the people. Even gesturing, drawing will make the whole situation better.

    10. No, they do not. All of this killing will be something sinful in their religion. It seems like they do it their own way, but describe themselves as Christians, just to spread religion.

    Milan Dotiyal A1 Literature

    ReplyDelete
  3. 1. The teeth of the natives were "stained black and red" (Torrey 155). The natives showed their teeth after Magellan said something, they showed their teeth by smiling.

    2. When it says Rodrigo, "spitting a tooth from his mouth", the state of the men in the crew must have been terrible. It shows that whatever they were eating could easily decay there tooth, by loosening it and easy to spit out. Another reason might be that there would be a lot of fights on the ship, causing people to lose their teeth if they got punched in the face.

    3. I think the force Magellan used upon the natives village was really excessive. I think it's excessive because innocent members of the village got killed by canons, that's just discrimination to the human rights.

    4. They knew they had arrived in the "far east" because, Enrique told Mateo that he knew the area they where in. At that moment Mateo remembered that Enrique was slaved by Magellan on a campaign in the "far east". The news they were in the "far east" spread really fast through the ships.

    5. Job was a "goodly" man who honored God, had a wealthy life, and had a great family (Torrey 160). One day God tried a test on Job by taking away his family and getting rid of his wealth, Job was extremely mad at God, but then he realized his sins and repented.

    6. Magellan wants Humabon to become Christian because he wants the entire village to follow him, becoming Christian. He also said they should turn into Christians so they can search their souls.

    7. When a chieftain refused to get baptized, Magellan sent Espinosa and his marines to burn the village and bring back livestock with them. He send a message to the rest of the chiefs that if they refused to get baptized they would face the same consequences as the other village did.

    8. When Magellan screams "retreat" just before he died it symbolizes that he is a captain-general with pride toward his men. Even before he died he attacked the natives all by himself, while screaming retreat to his men.

    9. I think the way he treated the natives unfairly. He treated them as if they were some type of creature beneath their Spaniard feet. His journey shows microcosm of colonialism as a general because because he doesn't really show colonialism strongly but instead, more of unfairness toward other people not in his crew.

    10. The Spaniards are Christians but they don't live according to their believes. Disrespecting someone's authority is not a good way of living as a Christian. Also insulting God for anything bad that happens is a sin that can be forgiven but its not fine to do it knowing you can confess later then do it again then confess again and so on.

    A2 Literature
    Enrique Lopez

    ReplyDelete
  4. 1. The natives had stained black and red teeth. It might be something religious to do.

    2. The men were all showing that they wanted to eat something. And everything they see in sight, they try to look for food.

    3. I think Magallanes used force against the natives, which was quite unfair. It is because he forced them to join Christianity, and threatened them. I think people can choose whether they want to follow a religion or not, but Magallanes pushed the natives hard.

    4.Enrique knew the language of the island. It is because he lived there.

    5. Job was a person who repected God. He was tested once by God, but passed. We pronounce it by Jobe(as in robe).

    6. It is because if the natives follow Christianity, it means they follow Magallanes who spreaded it. And then, they will get goods from the natives.

    7.Espinosa and the marines burned the chieftan's village and brought back livestocks. After that, Magallanse threaten the natives that the same thing will happend if somebody did what the chieftan did.

    8. It is because he wanted to protect his crew, and wanted them to be safe. It symbolizes caring toward each other.

    9. Magallanes treated the natives unfairy because he forced them to join Christianity, but actually tricked them in a way. It doesn't show colonialism because Magallanes was treating unfairly to the natives.

    10. The Spaniards don't live according to Christianity because they do lots of killing which isn't appropriate for all religions.

    Shiori Hishinuma,
    B4 Literature

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lisa He
    A1 Literature

    1. The native’s teeth are stained black and red.
    2. Rodrigo must have been so unhealthy and weak that his teeth became loose from his gums. He must have had so many cavities if he could just spit a tooth out from his mouth.
    3. I do think Magellan was using excessive force against the natives. I do not think Magellan had to kill the native island chief. Also, I think it was not necessary to fire the cannons to make them understand their power.
    4. They knew they had arrived in the Far East because Enrique, Magellan’s slave, was originally from the island and was captured during a campaign in the Far East. He understood the language used in this island and therefore thought that he had returned to where he had been captured.
    5. Job is a man from the Bible and he was tested by God to see if he regretted his sins. His name is pronounced as “jobe” and it rhymes with robe.
    6. Magellan wanted Humabon to convert to Christianity because he thought it was the right thing to do. He dropped to his knees to pray and he urged them to become Christian. He did not want to have war and thought pleading was the way to make him accept Christianity. Also, he wanted Rajah Humabon to represent his side so that people from other villages would listen to him and would be easier to convince the whole population to convert.
    7. When the chieftain refused to pay tribute to Rajah Humabon, his village burned down. Livestock and plunder were taken from him and brought to Magellan.
    8. With his last words of “retreat” I think he was suddenly hit with reality; that he would not succeed in converting these people. I think he could have meant also for their feelings to convert to “retreat” as well as for his crewmen to escape before they all died.
    9. I don’t think Magellan was fair to the natives. He basically controlled everyone as he wanted. He practically forced everyone to convert. I think this is like colonialism because colonisers always thought they were superior. They wanted to help because they thought their way was the best. Magellan is like this because he is saying that Christianity is the best religion and that they should abandon their own.
    10. I don’t think the Spaniards live according to their beliefs. They killed many natives and that is sin enough. They cannot be forgiven by God if they know they can preend to repent afterwards and be forgiven.

    ReplyDelete
  6. ZEN SUGINO
    A2 Literature

    Note: I’m sorry but I could not post this with my account due to technical problems. Lisa is posting this for me.

    1.) The native’s mouths were “stained black and red” (Torrey 155). They were a curious bunch which reminded me of monkeys.

    2.) Rodrigo tells us with that the men were really close to death and they only hung onto a thin thread of hope, desperate for a change. Rodrigo was very young and it would have normally taken another fifty or so years for his teeth to fall out. To have it fall out then really must have been something. In this way, the author is able to tell us the weight of the situation with just one sentence.

    3.) I think Magellans was really cruel to use such forces on the natives. He knows that the natives cannot compete with the technology they had. It was a waste of lives, trying to defend his high pride. “Blood spewed from the native’s mouth and he crumpled slowly to the deck” (Torrey 156).

    4.) Magallans and his companions new they were in the Far East because Enrique understood the language spoken by the natives. He had once been captured in the Far East and taken as a slave. In this way, Enrique served as a translator and reassurance towards the Spaniards and Magellans.

    5.) Job was a character in a story told by many mothers. He was a very obedient and devoted man who praised God. To test his devotion, God made heartbreaking things happen around him (such of the death of his family) to see if he remained loyal. In the end, Job passed the test. Job is pronounced JOHB and not JAHB.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Continued…
    6.) Magellan wanted Humabon to become Christian because he thinks that becoming Christian is the right thing to do. He also does not want to fight and have further bloodshed so he pleads the leader to consider his offer. However, he does not want them to become Christians just because of fear. He wants them to feel the need and wanting to become Christian.

    7). When a native chieftain said he would not obey, Magellan would order his men to burn down the village. It surprised me how such a sensible man could turn into a brutal person.

    8).To be honest, I’m really not sure of what Magellan’s last words signify, but to me it seemed like at the very last moment, he seemed to regain his senses and it dawned on him that he should not have pushed his religion towards them. At least, that’s what I want to think because I like Magellan. But anyway, it could also mean the retreating of Christianity from the natives along with the men, but I really am not sure.

    9). I don’t think Magellan treated the natives fairly. He should have treated them as equals and not use brutality when he disagreed with their decisions of not becoming Christians. His journey could be viewed as a microcosm of colonialism because although he did not really succeed, what Magellan did was basically the same as what other colonizers did to colonized countries. It’s basically the “Hi! My country is better than yours so please let us help you. In return you can become part of us!” pattern.

    10). The Spaniards are Christians and they really do try to follow it, but I find that their actions are a little crooked. Just because they want to spread their religion does not justify killing many natives and forcing them to submit. I guess they are only human after all though.

    Zen Sugino
    A2 Literature

    ReplyDelete
  8. 1. the natives' teeth was colored black and red.

    2. This tells that they weren't really cleaning their mouth much often, and their mouth is bad as much as they had to get their tooth spitted out. They were probably so into the food that they don't care about it.

    3.I think so, because Magellans had no reason to kill them. Just because they were annoying them. And he had no right to do that to the people and their village. I thought Magellans was better person; disappointed.

    4.they new that they arrrived at the "far east" because Enrique was from the East, and he knew their language in that island.

    5.Job is a person who respects God. He was tested by God for his sins, and his name is pronounced Jo-u-b. I think.

    6.Magallans wanted Humabon to become Christian because he wanted to be the one who spreads the religion. He thinks if he spreads Christianity to the natives, he can get goods from them.

    7. when one chieftain did not pay tribute to Rajah Humabon, Magallans burned the village down. He brought back livestock with them, and sent a message to the chiefs that if they refused to get baptized, they would be the same. He black mailed the natives

    8.This was symbolized as him wanting to support his crew more. He showed his leadership at the end and cared about his crew more than he cared for himself.

    9.I think how he treated the natives was not fair; they had more power, and so the natives had to obey them. I don't like how he treated the natives and how he looked down to them. Since how he treated to the natives was not fair, I think it did not show colonialism.

    10.They don't live according to their beliefs because from the point that they are treating others bad, (natives) and buring, killing people are not what Christianity believes in that's good.

    Suzu Hiroyama
    Literature A1
    3/10/11

    ReplyDelete
  9. 1. The natives had black and red teeth

    2. It probably meant that he had many cavities. As soon as all the crew members encountered the huge amounts of food, their teeth might have fallen out from all the desperate eating and chewing to get the food down.

    3. I don't think it was necessary of Magallanes to do that; it was just mainly self-greed which drove him to do that, because the village people most definitely meant no harm.

    4. They knew they were in the Far East because Enrique could understand the language in the area. He was once a slave there, so he easily recognized the dialect as the language from the Far East.

    5. Job was an individual who was tested of his sins by God. His name is pronounced JOHB, not the usual pronunciation that we use.

    6. Magallanes wanted Humabon to become Christian, because he thought that it was the right thing to do, and also because he thought that Humabon would also contribute to the spread of the religion. It could also result in trading this for goods from them.

    7. Magallanes ordered the village to be burned when the chief of the village didn't obey his commands. This really shocked me, because I thought Magallanes was a more sensitive and caring person that that.

    8. The word "retreat" really hit me. It definitely meant that Magallanes realizes that it was probably impossible to convert these people over to become Christians, and accepted his defeat.

    9. I don't think the natives were treated like equals by Magallanes. How he looked down on them was of pure disgust to me, and shows how inhumane he is. Because of this, I don't know if you can call this proper colonialism or not.

    10. I am pretty sure that Christianity teaches followers to treat everyone as equals, and the Spaniards aren't following this principle, in my opinion. I think that they should become a little more familiar with their own religion before pushing it onto others who don't even want to accept Christianity, because they are violating their own norms.

    Rina Dishman
    B4 Literature

    ReplyDelete
  10. 1. Black and red teeth

    2. I think since they ate and didn't clean their teeth often so Rodrigo got cavities and his tooth fell out.

    3. I thought Magellan didn't have to kill them all just because the natives were being annoying. I think the natives did some things that will make people furious but killing all the natives including the innocents are a little bit too much such as firing the cannon balls and firing their villages.

    4. They knew that they were at the far east because in the past, Enrique was once a slave there and he knew the language and the place very well.

    5. Job is a guy from the bible who was tested by the God of his sins. His name is pronounced jobe, which rhymes with the worf robe.

    6.Magellan wanted Humabon to become Christian because he thought it was the right thing to do and he knew that Humabon had power so he would help him spread the religion further than he could himself.

    7.When a chieftain did not pay tribute to Humabon, Magellan commanded Espinosa and his other marines to burn the village. Then later on bring back the livestock.

    8. I think before Magellan died he yelled out retreat because he was the captain of the all ships and maybe he cared about his crew than his death.

    9. I think Magellan were successful in many ways but I think to the natives, it was a tad unfair because he didn't give the natives much many choices and he just decided to kill all of them.

    10.The Spaniards are Christian but they don't live against the Christian beliefs because they killed a few natives and that is a heavy sin to have.

    ReplyDelete