In the novel, “A Land So Strange,” the topic of family and marriage is vaguely mentioned. When the theme does come up though, it shed lights on what family and marriage was like not only for the Spaniards but for Native Americans as well. The author Andres Resendez offers a helpful translation of Cabeza de Vaca’s accounts with different marriages and families in his culture as well as the new world’s.

On page 74, the text states, “Vazquez de Ayllon…had one or more illegitimate children and quite possibly kept a neighbor’s wife in his house as a concubine.” Vasquez de Ayllon was another conquistador during this time period. It’s clear to see that Ayllon did not respect his wife or their marriage and used women for his sexual pleasure. This example portrays a Spaniards relationship and marital life in Spain during the sixteenth century. Although this may not have been what every relationship was like in Spain it can only be assumed due to Vazquez’s high status and power that most men in these positions also followed this lifestyle.

In contrast, some marriage’s such as Navares’s and his wife’s may have actually been filled with love and care. When Navarez goes missing, his wife sends a whole search party (who actually betray and lie to her) for him and would quite possibly have searched for him herself if she were allowed to. This inspiring woman goes through many measures to try and find her husband but to no prevail. Navaraz’s wife is an example of a loving marriage in which a wife truly cared for her husband.

Marriage and Family is not only discussed in the old world, but in the new world as well. Page 162 of a Land So Strange shows Cabeza’s account of the Native men’s view on family and specifically women. “The Mariames’ (an Indian tribe)  disdain for women extended even to their own baby girls, who were often left outside and allowed to be eaten by dogs. The Mariames engaged in female infanticide to deny potential wives to the surrounding (enemy) groups.” This describes a dark custom made by an Indian tribe in which babies (specifically girls) are killed or left to die to ensure that they will not marry another man from an enemies tribe. This depiction is very different from the Old World’s treatment of women and children versus the New World’s.

Since the theme of Family and Marriage is hardly brought up throughout the novel it seems as if it is an afterthought and the focus lies solely on the men. This clearly pushes aside women, family, and marriage, to a minor issue in the men’s lives and journey. Although it is not explicitly states by Resendez, it can be inferred through many examples that women were taken advantage of in both societies.

When reading and evaluating the Wikipedia page on Estabanico, I noticed a few things:

The talk page only contained a few entries. One contained an immature comment and only one truly followed Wiki guidelines and include what was changed as well as an explanation.

Although Estavanico’s wiki page is short it does contain a few sources with credibility. The sources I looked up included passages from books and websites from organization. The links I clicked also lead to other wiki pages which defined words or nouns that were brought up throughout the article.

I felt that Estavanico’s early life was missing from the wiki page. The page seemed to only include his ethnicity (which was also questionable on the page) and his life from after her was sold to slavery. The page focused it’s majority on his journey through New Spain and with the four survivors till his death.

The page does not include any viewpoints from Estabanico himself.

The page does not seem to be openly bias but the fact that it did not include Estabanico perspective can lead one to see the bias. The page focused on Estabanico journey with the other four survivors but did not focus on him alone.

The page appears to be maintained since the last revision was made on August 1, 2017.

In the introduction of “A Land So Strange” author Andres Resendez informs the reader of an incredible journey made by Cabeza de Vaca, Estebanico (an enslaved African American), and two other Spaniards. After Cabeza de Vaca and Estabanico are discovered by European horsemen, their story of survival becomes a famous story in America and Europe. The tale has become less known due to its difficulty to read and because of this, Andres Resendez decides to highlight the importance of this long lost tale in a simpler way while staying true to the facts. I do find this introduction quite persuasive because the author explains how imperative this story is to history. He expresses how Cabeza’s account is a significant due to the early encounters with Native Americans before and during their population decline. The story offers key information on the new world’s culture, land, and societies.  Resendez uses evidence form Cabeza’s narrative, the Joint Report, and the work of fellow chronicler Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo.

The article, “Creolization in the Americas” by David Buisseret highlights the word ‘creolization’ to describe the integration of different cultures and people. I find his text very persuasive because he continuously disagrees with the terms ‘assimilation’ and ‘acculturation’ which portrays one culture integrated into another dominant culture. Buisseret uses over 33 sources to support his argument. One example of his sources would be from author, Franics Jennings who offers a model including ix phases of an encounter of two cultures. Jennings evidence shifts attention away from the initial contacts between two groups and emphasizes that the creolization continues over a long term to affect both groups.

Though it is not specifically stated in the text, “Only Connect” I believe William Cronon is responding to those who are not aware of what a ‘liberal arts’ education is.  According to the reading, liberal arts is not an education base on political liberalism, instead it celebrates human freedom to chose an education for oneself. Cronon repeatedly states that the point of a liberal arts education is to connect with others whether that being with writing, speaking, listening, understanding, solving puzzles, and empower. Conon’s argument is to connect with everyone we meet and to empower those around us.  He also states that one cannot just achieve a liberal arts education, it is more of a lifestyle choice to connect and positively influence those around us. I personally found it more educational and motivating rather than persuasive. I thought this because it did not seem that Cronon was convincing people to pursue liberal arts, instead he was informing those on how to live a liberal arts lifestyle.

According to the book, “They Say, I say” the writer/I needs to explain what he/she is responding to in a response and then make a new individual point. If I were to make a distinction between my ideas and Cronan it would be best to explain which point of Cronon’s I am responding to and then introduce my idea after. One way of doing this is by starting with a quotation, fact/statistic, or anecdote that ties to the view I am commenting on.  It is important to do so in order for the reader or listener to understand where my point is coming from as well as the original argument.