Language of the Neanderthal Essay Example for Free

Language of the Neanderthal Essay It is understood that the Neanderthal was an exceptional thinker and communicator; but there are heavy debates that question whether or not it spoke with a language. Some argue that the hyoid bone of the Neanderthal was too high in relation to its larynx to enable its tongue to form words, while others argue the opposite. With respect to both theories, it was indeed a linguistic hominid. The Neanderthal skull is more similar in shape to the Homo sapien than that of hominids before it; which would make it reasonable to believe that it was able to speak using language. Since it was the transitional species however, it may have been limited in its development of language usage. History of the Neanderthal Before analyzing the arguments discussing the language used by the Neanderthals, it is important to understand what is known about them. Homo neanderthalensis is the last species in the evolution of hominids, which is not considered a â€Å"modern human.† After many years of study, and dozens of findings, scientists observed the differences in the shape of Neanderthal skulls compared to Homo sapiens. They discovered that the brain was smaller, the bones were much more robust, and that the Neanderthal had no chin. The first findings of Neanderthals were in Belgium, Germany, and Gibraltar, in the early to mid 1800s. Some of the most important findings of the Neanderthal were in the La Chapelle- aux- Saints caves of Southern France. The ideas that have come from these rolling hills have both hurt and helped the progress for valid information in Neanderthal studies. In 1908, Jean and Amà ©dà ©e Bouyssonie’s findings led many scientists to conclude that Neanderthals lived strictly in caves. This is now proven to be false. These rumors however, created widespread generalization that made Neanderthals appear vastly inferior to modern humans. One such generalization held sway and brought about artistic depictions of the Neanderthals being sluggish and  awkward creatures. These depictions were created in reflection of the reconstruction of the â€Å"OId Man of La Chapelle- Aux- Saints† by French paleontologist, Marcellin Boule. The bones in the reconstruction of this particular Neanderthal were arthritic; and â€Å"although Boule was aware of the deforming illness†¦his reconstruction apparently did not take it into account sufficiently† (Sommer 2006:213). It wasn’t until the mid- 1900s that paleoanthropologists discovered that the Neanderthal walked upright and wasn’t slouched over at all. Discussions on the Neanderthal Hyoid Bone Despite all of the progress that has been made in figuring out just who Homo neanderthalensis was, anthropologists still have a long way to go. There are many sub-topics about the enigmatic skeletal remains of the Neanderthal that are stirring up heated debates in the world of anthropology, and are still left to skepticism. One of the most controversial is whether it was able to speak with flexible tongue movements that were able to create sophisticated variances in sound; that moreover allowed it to live with social interactions that rivaled the ones we use today. The hyoid bone and larynx position of the Neanderthal compared to Homo sapiens is the most explored aspect of this debate of language. In these arguments, the morphology of the organs and bones in the neck are often times more of a concern than their functionality. The hyoid is a U shaped bone, responsible for harnessing the movements of the tongue. It is located just above the larynx, which is also known as the voice box. The larynx and hyoid bone are positioned in a way that work together to form the words heard among modern day humans. In the early 1970s, scientists E.S. Crelin and Philip Lieberman reassembled the larynx of the Neanderthal and came up with a strong theory that is still agreed with today. They found that the Neanderthal â€Å"larynx is positioned high, close to the base of the skull, and the tongue lies almost entirely within the oral cavity† (Lieberman 1975:494). Lieberman is an expert in the evolution of language and has spent a greater part of his career discussing the major differences between Neanderthal and modern human language. He has written volumes that greatly detail the morphology of the Neanderthal’s mandible and laryngeal bone structure; and has for the most part concluded that Neanderthal language was nowhere near that of modern day humans. Shortly after Lieberman and Crelins’ reconstructed Neanderthal skull, there was not yet an actual Neanderthal hyoid bone found; and other scientists and thinkers in the 1970s disagreed with the way the Neanderthal skull was reconstructed. They based this off of the fact that Crelin was using only five specimens of Neanderthals from the La Chapelle Aux Saints site and also that the culminated skull was reconstructed incorrectly. Many paleontologists believed that the way it was put together would have made it impossible for it to swallow food. â€Å"One cannot help wondering why the vocal tract remodeling concentrates so heavily on La Chapelle when La Ferrassie I is in a much better state of physical preservation† (Carlisle and Siegel 1978: 370).Despite the valid statements made by Carlisle and Siegel that account the pristine condition of the skull that was put together at the La Ferrassie I site; it still did not give any more evidence that pointed to advanced vocal communication among the Neanderthals. Around the late 1980s the first Neanderthal hyoid bone was found in the Kebara Caves of Mount Carmel, Israel. It was discovered in the middle Paleolithic layers of soil that date back to sixty thousand years ago. Upon investigation of the bone, it was discovered that it was nearly identical to those of modern humans. It is important to point out that many of noted paleontologist, Philip Lieberman’s studies were based on comparing the hyoid bones of Chimpanzees to Neanderthals. Lieberman and his colleagues reached a consensus that Neanderthals spoke more like Chimpanzees than modern humans. Chimpanzees have been reportedly able to communicate with very subtle changes in tonality, which indicates there is a primitive language there. That being said, the shape of the hyoid bone of the chimpanzee is worlds apart from the Homo sapien. Whereas, previously mentioned the hyoid was nearly identical to the Homo sapiens’. The chimpanzee’s hyoid bone is much smaller and narrower in comparison to its larynx which is partly what makes its language usage, extremely limited. Not only that, but its brain is much smaller than not only the modern human, but also the Neanderthal. Lieberman’s vast knowledge of Linguistics has made him an important figure in Archaeology, but his morphological ideals that are commonplace have left out some of the more obvious similarities between Neanderthals and Humans. Neanderthal DNA The functions of the DNA structure of the Neanderthal are often times abandoned entirely in the arguments defending their â€Å"lack of language.† Proteins extracted from digs surrounding Neanderthal sites have been analyzed in labs and their DNA structures have given researchers positive reinforcement that the Neanderthal was very similar in its genetic makeup. According to Dr. Julien Riel- Salvatore from the University of Colorado at Denver, â€Å"Genetically, they [Neanderthals] share with modern humans a distinctive mutation of the FOXP2 gene, which seems to be intimately associated with speech† (Julien Riel-Salvatore, personal communication 2011). This same mutation is not exhibited in the Chimpanzee. Neanderthals and Human Breeding There are other debates that coincide with Neanderthals being able to speak, for instance a study that shows Neanderthals may have been able to breed with humans. This is a paradox in that it would rule out the term Neanderthal entirely, because in order to breed, an animal must be of the same species. If this is true not only would it point out that Homo neanderthalensis could speak as eloquently as the Homo sapien, but the Homo neanderthalensis was a Homo Sapien. The differences would be more in the light of behavior, nomadic skills, and tool technology that made the Homo Sapien with a chin able to out-survive the other. Playful notions aside, this is still a very debatable sub-topic of Neanderthal language and many more discoveries will have to be made to prove its total validity. Misleading Theories Other noted archaeologists believe that the large nose of the Neanderthal made it incapable of speech, insisting â€Å"†¦Contrasts in facial morphology probably led to nasal-like vocalizations†¦[and for]†¦advanced hmmmmm sounds† (Mithen 2006: 226). The brief description that Mithen uses to back up this opinion does not prove anything about how the nose may have certainly caused vocal limitations. Its nose was larger in size, but so were other parts of the Neanderthal, and they were no impedance to how it got around. Conclusion Corrosion of bones and more importantly muscle tissue make many aspects of anthropology a challenging field. It is not always clear how the muscle  tissue that once surrounded the skeletons of our ancient relatives operated in relation to nerves, connective tissue, and bones. The Neanderthal is a confusing hominid because of its somewhat smaller cranial capacity, and extremely large skeletal frame. The shapes of its bones are like larger replicas of ours, aside from the skull which is unique in its brow ridge and lack of chin. The conclusions of inter-breeding seem a bit far-fetched. It may have been able to speak as well as modern humans, but perhaps in comparison to the Darwin Finches, its slight variances in structure may have selected it to extinction. Acknowledgements I would like to thank Dr. Riel- Salvatore for his feedback on the Neanderthal. I am not a professional analyst in anthropology, and am grateful that he was able to provide me with some of his personal inquiries on the controversial debates centered on Neanderthal language. Works Cited Boellstorf, Tom (Editor) 1978 Additional Comments on Problems in the Interpretation of Neanderthal Speech Capabilities Vol 80 American Anthropology Association, Virginia. Lynch, Michael (Editor) 2006 Mirror Mirror on the Wall: Neanderthal as Image and Distortion in Early 20th- Century French Science and Press Vol. 36. SAGE Publications, California. Mithen, Steven 2006 The Singing Neanderthal. Harvard University Press, Massachusetts. Riel- Salvatore, Julien (Interview) 2011 Original notes from email. Ruff, Christopher (Editor) 1996 Structural Harmony and Neanderthal Speech: A Reply to Le May Vol. 45 Wiley-Liss, New Jersey.

Essay --

In the book Playing with the Boys: Why Separate Is Not Equal in Sports by Eileen McDonagh and Laura Pappano, the authors examine how sex segregation is present in sports today. McDonagh and Pappano distinguish the difference between voluntary sex segregation and coercive sex segregation and what the main problem today in sports is. Along with the types of sex segregation, they also identify something that is an example of sex segregation along with the causes and effects of it. Sex segregation in sports can lead to gender inequalities in sports of all levels. Coercive sex segregation differs from voluntary sex segregation in that with coercive females are assumed to be inferior to males, which contributes to the segregation. With voluntary, females willingly self-segregate themselves into things like all girls schools or an all women’s sports team. The Three I’s associated with coercive are inferiority, injury, and immorality. The Three I’s are false assumptions that contribute to sex segregation in sports. Inferiority refers to the idea that females are inferior to males, injury r...

Hydrogen Peroxide and Iodide Kinetics Essay

(Be sure to state references for any cited value at the end of this report. Additionally, all report material must be in INK – pencil or white-out will render the work ineligible for mark appeal) 1.What observations and conclusions can you note about each of the three reactions that occurred in the test tubes where you combined potassium iodide, KI, and hydrogen peroxide, H2O2 (in part 1) of the experiment? (Give a detailed explanation of any observations that you made, i.e., what made the colour change, what reactions happened?) ANSWER: 2.Use the information below to develop the necessary calculations for the rate of reaction from the solutions in part B of the experiment †¢Calculate the initial molarity of iodide ion in each of the solutions, once your solutions are mixed. Remember: The KI stock solution concentration was known: , and you used a specific volume of the solution, -. However, at the start of the reaction you must account for the fact that the total volume of each solution was 200 mL. ANSWER: †¢Calculate the initial molarity of the hydrogen peroxide in each of your solutions, once the solutions have been mixed. Remember: The H2O2 stock solution concentration was known: , and you used a specific volume of the solution, . However, at the start of the reaction you must account for the fact that the total volume of each solution was 200 mL. ANSWER: †¢Calculate the number of moles of sodium thiosulfate, Na2S2O3, that was initially present in each solution. Remember: The Na2S2O3 stock solution concentration was known: and you used a specific volume of the solution, . This information is used to determine the number of moles. ANSWER: †¢Balance the reaction that occurred in each of the solutions. Refer to Eq. 1, 3, and 4 in the laboratory instructions for the components that are involved. ANSWER: †¢Calculate the number of moles of hydrogen peroxide that has reacted: Note: You will need to use stoichiometry to determine this. ANSWER: †¢Calculate the change in concentration of hydrogen peroxide in each case, i.e., moles of H2O2 reacted per litre of solution. Hint: Recall the total volume, and you have calculated the number of moles that reacted, previously. ANSWER: †¢Calculate the rate of the reaction, which is simply the change in concentration of H2O2 (calculated above) divided by the time it took for the reaction to complete. i.e., the numbers of moles per litre of peroxide consumed divided by the number of seconds required to react completely. ANSWER: †¢Complete the table below – you can manually do the calculations to fill all of the cells, or it is possible to use a spreadsheet program to calculate the values. (RECOMMENDED) The process you have used above can be repeated to provide the values for each of the entries in the table. ANSWER: 3.Use the following steps to calculate the values of a and b as described in the lab procedure (under the heading: The rate law and our process for obtaining a, b, and k.) In the solutions A, B and C, the concentration of hydrogen peroxide used was the same. Therefore, these solutions are a suitable series for an examination of the dependence of the rate of reaction on the concentration of the iodide ion. Similarly, solutions C, D, and E have the same concentration of iodide ion. Therefore, those solutions can be used to examine the dependence of the rate of reaction on the concentration of hydrogen peroxide. Recalling Eq. 5 – Eq. 7 in the laboratory instructions, by plotting ln(rate) against ln[I-], using data from solutions A, B, and C, we can determine the value of a for this reaction. Similarly, by preparing a plot of ln(rate) against ln[H2O2] using the data from solutions C, D and E, we can evaluate b for this reaction. See the laboratory instructions near Eq. 5-7 for an explanation of how a and b can be determined from the slopes of the straight lines of best-fit that should be obtained using the experimental data-points. †¢Graph 1: Plot ln(rate) against ln[I-] using the data from the table for solutions A, B, and C. Add the best-fit straight line through your experimental points and determine the slope of this line. This is best accomplished by using a spreadsheet program to generate the graphs, and adding a â€Å"regression line† or â€Å"trendline† with the equation for the line displayed. The value of the slope from this line will be the value of b (as shown in Equation 6 of the lab manual). Remember: the final value of b should be integer or half-integer. ANSWER: †¢Graph 2: Plot ln(rate) against ln[H2O2] using the data from the table for solutions C, D, and E. Add the best-fit straight line through your experimental points and determine the slope of this line. This is best accomplished by using a spreadsheet program to generate the graphs, and adding a â€Å"regression line† or â€Å"trendline† with the equation for the line displayed. The value of the slope of this line is the value of a (as shown in Equation 7 of the lab manual). Remember: the final value of a should be integer or half-integer. ANSWER: 4.Using Equation 2 of the lab manual, calculate the values of k (at room temperature) for each reaction trial you performed, using your values of a, b, and the rate and concentration information in the table. You should end up with 5 values of k, for the five trials that you performed at room temperature. ANSWER: Calculate the average value of k. Use this value of k, and the values of a and b to write out the general rate law for the reaction, (see Eq. 2). ANSWER: 5.Using the rate of reaction for solution A at room temperature, and the rate of the reaction at elevated temperature, use Eq. 10 from the lab procedure to calculate the activation energy, Ea. (Note: pay attention to the units of the gas constant, R)

Case Scenario: Big Time Toymaker Essay

1. At what point, if ever, did the parties have a contract? Our textbook defines a contract as â€Å"a promise or a set of promises enforceable by law† (). A contract does not necessarily has to be in writing. A contract can be oral and enforceable. Big Time Toymaker and Chou took part in an oral contract. Big Time Toy Maker and Chou held a meeting where an oral distribution agreement was reached. In addition, Big Time Toy sent an email to Chou confirming the agreement. 2. What facts may weigh in favor of or against Chou in terms of the parties’ objective intent to contract? The facts that may weigh in favor of Chow are the exclusive negotiation rights for a 90-day period, the oral agreement that was reached at the meeting and the email he received from Big Time Toy. The facts against Chou would be that there is never an actual written agreement drafted by Chou. In addition, the exclusive negotiation rights agreement stipulated that no distribution contract existed unless it was in writing. Finally, no written agreement was turned in within the original 90-day period stipulated in the exclusive negotiation right agreement. 3. Does the fact that the parties were communicating by e-mail have any impact on your analysis in Questions 1 and 2 (above)? Yes, because the email represents the acknowledgment by both parties of the distribution agreement made in the meeting despite the e-mail failing to mention the word â€Å"contract.† In addition, the subject line of the email read â€Å"Strat Deal† and it explained in detail the price, time frames, and obligations. Also, as soon as Big Time Toy sent a fax to Chow requesting the draft of the contract, he faxed it to them immediately. 4. What role does the statute of frauds play in this contract? â€Å"The statute of fraud is the law governing which contracts must be in writing  in order to be enforceable† (Melvin, 2010). The role of fraud applies to this scenario. The statute of frauds refers to the requirement that certain kinds of contracts be memorialized in a signed writing with sufficient content to evidence the contract. Traditionally, the statute of frauds requires a signed writing in the following circumstances. A defendant in a statute of frauds case who wishes to use the Statute as a defense must raise it in a timely manner. The burden of proving that a written contract exists only comes into play when a Statute of Frauds defense is raised by the defendant. A defendant who admits the existence of the contract in his pleadings, under oath in a deposition or affidavit, or at trial, may not use the defense under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), however under common law they may still use it.

The Pros and Cons if “Sonny’s Blues” has a Different Ending Essay Example

The Pros and Cons if â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† has a Different Ending Essay Example The Pros and Cons if â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† has a Different Ending Paper The Pros and Cons if â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† has a Different Ending Paper Essay Topic: Pros and Cons The Sonny’s Blues novel of James Baldwin has a very fundamental and decisive ending. The scene of the ending is in the jazz club where Sonny, brother of the undisclosed narrator in the story, is one of the musicians. The narrator agreed to with his brother to the club which he prejudged as full of darkness not beneficial and favorable to his brother. Sonny has an addiction to heroin which made him more distant to his brother because the narrator wants his brother to have a good life. This good life he is speaking of is like his life where he sees all things under idealistic view. But in this ending, the narrator learned to â€Å"listen† to his brother about his addiction. If the ending could have been different, one of the pros behind is that the message of the story could have been different. The symbolisms and the idioms within the story will relate different notions to different readers. There is also the possibility that the impact of this novel to the literature world could have been different as well. It may lead to a more famous James Baldwin if it turned out better or an average Baldwin because this novel has been the beginning of James Baldwin recognition in the literature world. There is also the possibility that the scope of readers it covers is wider aside from the depressed and anguished. The impact could have been better if the ending is revised in a different way as long as the continuity of thoughts of the story must not be disintegrated or disengaged. The original ending is very â€Å"pro† in relation to the whole story because it reveals and bares the degree of changes in the narrator’s life and view. This is further emphasized through a flashback of the narrator’s last conversation with his mother where his mother warned and requested him to hold onto his brother and to not let him fall no matter what is happening to his brother and no matter how evil he gets to his brother. She told the narrator that he might get evil to his brother many times but he must not forget what his mother told and requested him (Baldwin, 2002). Without thinking, the narrator made a promise to his mother that he will not allow anything to happen to Sonny. Her dying mother smiled because she was amused of the innocence behind that promise. Through the ending in the jazz club where Sonny was on stage playing and the narrator met his brother’s friends, fellow musicians, and patrons, he saw the appreciation they had to Sonny in a way the narrator is never was to his brother. The narrator starts to appreciate, recognize, and realize the importance of jazz and blues music to Sonny. Instead of aiming and forcing Sonny to fit and adapt to his world, the other way around, he was in Sonny’s world or rather his kingdom were he grasp that n this world flows a royal blood in Sonny’s vein compared to his. The narrator analyzed that jazz music was his brother’s and other artists’ way to express their agony, suffering, and fear instead of being addicted to heroin. What then plays in Sonny’s music was his life along with other artists’ lives. The misery and distress of the brothers from the beginning of the story and how they struggled to handle these problems made them different. The narrator handled it through keeping it within himself like an ice that made it all hard for him. Thus, he even considered Sonny’s struggles as his own that made him cautious anytime if Sonn y’s addiction will come back. Compared to Sonny, he is strong enough to face the reality of his problems and faced them through his music to release it. This final scene further exemplifies the tragedies that befell his parents, the death of the narrator’s daughter of polio, and sorrow of his wife which are the other highlights of the story as well. The narrator was touched with the music and felt its power that let him faced his pain right then. On the other hand, one of the cons if the ending could have been different is the possibility that the impact to the readers of the novel might be towards the negative side. There is also the possibility of discontinuity of thoughts of the story. If the style of the ending would be changed too, the impact of the story and its purpose is diverted or changed. But with the prowess of Baldwin in writing, even with a different ending this might not occur.

Biography of Hernán Cortés, Ruthless Conquistador

Biography of Hernn Cortà ©s, Ruthless Conquistador Hernn Cortà ©s (1485–December 2, 1547) was a Spanish conquistador responsible for the audacious, brutal conquest of the Aztec Empire in Central Mexico in 1519. With a force of 600 Spanish soldiers, he was able to conquer a vast empire with tens of thousands of warriors. He did it through a combination of ruthlessness, guile, violence, and luck. Fast Facts: Hernn Cortà ©s Known For: Brutal conqueror of the Aztec EmpireBorn: 1485 in Medellà ­n, Castile  (Spain)Parents: Martà ­n Cortà ©s de Monroy, Doà ±a Catalina Pizarro AltamarinoDied: Dec. 2, 1547 in Castilleja de la Cuesta, near Sevilla (Spain)Spouses: Catalina Surez Marcaida, Juana Ramà ­rez de Arellano de Zà ºÃƒ ±igaChildren: 2nd Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca, Catalina Cortà ©s De Zà ºÃƒ ±iga, Catalina Pizarro, Juana Cortà ©s De Zà ºÃƒ ±iga, Leonor Cortà ©s Moctezuma, Luis Cortà ©s, Luis Cortà ©s y Ramà ­rez de Arellano, Marà ­a Cortà ©s de Moctezuma, Marà ­a Cortà ©s de Zà ºÃƒ ±iga, Martà ­n Cortà ©sNotable Quote: I and my companions suffer from a disease of the heart which can be cured only with gold. Early Life Hernn Cortà ©s, like many who eventually became conquistadores in the Americas, was born in Medellà ­n, in the Castilian province of Extremadura, the son of  Martà ­n Cortà ©s de Monroy and Doà ±a Catalina Pizarro Altamarino. He came from a respected military family but was a sickly child. He went to the University of Salamanca to study law but soon dropped out. By this time, tales of the wonders of the New World were spreading across Spain, appealing to teens such as Cortà ©s. He decided to head to Hispaniola, an island in the West Indies, to seek his fortune. Hispaniola Cortà ©s was well educated and had family connections, so when he arrived in Hispaniola in 1503, he soon found work as a notary and was given a plot of land and a number of natives to work it. His health improved and he trained as a soldier, taking part in the subjugation of the parts of Hispaniola that had held out against the Spanish. He became known as a good leader, an intelligent administrator, and a ruthless fighter. These traits encouraged Diego Velzquez, a colonial administrator and conquistador, to select him for his expedition to Cuba. Cuba Velzquez was assigned the subjugation of the island of Cuba. He set out with three ships and 300 men, including young Cortà ©s, a clerk assigned to the treasurer of the expedition. Also along on the expedition was Bartolomà © de Las Casas, who would eventually describe the horrors of the conquest and denounce the conquistadores. The conquest of Cuba was marked by a number of unspeakable abuses, including massacres and the burning alive of native chief Hatuey. Cortà ©s distinguished himself as a soldier and administrator and was made mayor of the new city of Santiago. His influence grew. Tenochtitln Cortà ©s watched in 1517 and 1518 as two expeditions to conquer the mainland ended in failure. In 1519, it was Cortà ©s’ turn. With 600 men, he began one of the most audacious feats in history: conquest of the Aztec Empire, which at that time had tens if not hundreds of thousands of warriors. After landing with his men, he made his way to Tenochtitln, the  capital of the empire. Along the way, he defeated Aztec vassal states, adding their strength to his. He reached Tenochtitln in 1519 and occupied it without a fight. When Velzquez, now governor of Cuba, sent an expedition under Pnfilo de Narvez to rein in Cortà ©s, Cortes defeated Narvez, adding Narvezs men to his forces. After the battle, Cortà ©s returned to Tenochtitln with his reinforcements but found chaos. In his absence, one of his lieutenants,  Pedro de Alvarado, had ordered a massacre of Aztec nobility. Aztec Emperor Montezuma was  killed by his own people  while trying to placate the crowd, and an angry mob chased the Spanish from the city in what became known as the Noche Triste, or â€Å"Night of Sorrows.† Cortà ©s regrouped, retook the city, and by 1521 was in charge of Tenochtitln again. Good Luck Cortà ©s could never have pulled off the defeat of the  Aztec Empire  without good luck. First, he found Gerà ³nimo de Aguilar, a Spanish priest who had been shipwrecked on the mainland several years before and could speak the Maya language. Between Aguilar and Malinche, a female slave who could speak Maya and Nahuatl, Cortà ©s was able to communicate during his conquest. Cortà ©s also had amazing luck in terms of the Aztec vassal states. They nominally owed allegiance to the Aztecs, but in reality they hated them. Cortà ©s exploited this hatred. With thousands of native warriors as allies, he could meet the Aztecs with strength and secure a victory. He also benefited from the fact that Montezuma had been a weak leader, looking for divine signs before making any decisions. Cortà ©s believed that Montezuma thought the Spanish were emissaries from the god Quetzalcoatl, which may have caused him to wait before crushing them. Cortà ©s’ final stroke of luck was the timely arrival of reinforcements under the inept Narvez. Velzquez had intended to weaken Cortà ©s and bring him back to Cuba, but after Narvez was defeated he wound up providing Cortà ©s with men and supplies that he desperately needed. Governor From 1521 to 1528 Cortà ©s served as governor of New Spain, as Mexico became known. The crown sent administrators, and Cortà ©s oversaw the rebuilding of the city and expeditions to explore other parts of Mexico. Cortà ©s still had many enemies, however, and his repeated insubordination reduced his support from the crown. In 1528 he returned to Spain to plead his case for more power and received a mixed response. He was elevated to noble status and given the title of Marquis of the Oaxaca Valley, one of the richest territories in the New World. He was removed as governor, however, and would never again wield much power in the New World. Later Life and Death Cortà ©s never lost the spirit of adventure. He personally financed and led an expedition to explore Baja California in the late 1530s and fought with royal forces in Algiers in 1541. After that ended in a fiasco, he decided to return to Mexico but instead died of pleuritis on Dec. 2, 1547, in Castilleja de la Cuesta, near Sevilla, Spain, at the age of 62. Legacy In his bold but ghastly conquest of the Aztecs, Cortà ©s left a trail of bloodshed that other conquistadores would follow. Cortà ©s â€Å"blueprint†- to pit native populations against one another and exploit traditional enmities- was followed by Francisco Pizarro in Peru, Pedro de Alvarado in Central America, and other conquerors of the Americas. Cortà ©s success in bringing down the mighty Aztec Empire quickly became legendary back in Spain. Most of his soldiers had been peasants or younger sons of minor nobility with little to look forward to in terms of wealth or prestige. After the conquest, his men were given land, native slaves, and gold. These rags-to-riches stories drew thousands of Spanish to the New World, each wishing to follow in Cortà ©s’ bloody footprints. In the short run, this was good for the Spanish crown because native populations were quickly subjugated by these  ruthless conquistadores. In the long run, it proved disastrous because instead of being farmers or tradesmen, these men were soldiers,  slavers,  and mercenaries who abhorred honest work. One of Cortà ©s’ legacies was the  encomienda  system that he instituted in Mexico, which â€Å"entrusted† a tract of land and a number of natives to a Spaniard, often a conquistador. The encomendero had certain rights and responsibilities. Basically, he agreed to provide religious education for the natives in exchange for labor, but it was little more than legalized slavery, which made the  recipients wealthy and powerful. The Spanish crown eventually regretted allowing the  system to take root, as it was difficult to abolish once reports of abuses began piling up. Modern Mexicans revile Cortà ©s. They identify as closely with their native past as with their European roots, and they see Cortà ©s as a monster and butcher. Equally reviled is Malinche, or Doà ±a Marina, Cortà ©s’ Nahua slave/consort. If not for her language skills and assistance, the conquest of the Aztec Empire would almost certainly have taken a different path. Sources Hernn Cortà ©s: Spanish Conquistador. Encyclopaedia Britannica.Hernn Cortà ©s. History.com.Hernn Cortà ©s  Biography. Thefamouspeople.com.

What does it mean to be literate in this day and age Essay

What does it mean to be literate in this day and age - Essay Example To be literate is indeed a wise undertaking in the world of today and it holds more ground than it used to in the times of our forefathers. There is so much to seek, learn and understand that the man seems to go missing in the quagmire. However if he is literate he makes his own way through the zig-zag pathways and thus reaches his destination on all counts. It is a matter of fact that being literate in the current times facilitates one self in estimating what life is bringing for a person. It opens up his range of options and presents to him ideas out of the box as well. What this does is to make him do the analysis in a straight forward manner. No analysis is possible without getting to know the facts first of all. If a person is literate and understands the norms that are taking place within his life or generally, he will get to know what the strengths of the same undertakings are and how it would affect his own live as well as the ones whom he loves and takes care of. He gets to inquire the weaknesses present with the knowledge that he has obtained over a period of time and thus weighs them in light of the strong points that were previously ascertained by him in due course of time. In the world of present times, being literate means that a person is talked of in a high and esteemed manner. He is given respect by one and all since he can understand the difference between the good, the bad and the ugly. He has sense problems where the illiterates could think merry. He can make out for the troubles that lie ahead in different situations through his sheer ability of forecasting and visualization. He can look at the missing links better than an average man. He can understand his own psyche, individual basis and the manner under which he exists within the tenets of the society. He knows who he is and what is expected of him. He can create links with