Reflection #13

Discussions we've held on The Conquest of America and Todorov's overall argument have been quite hard to grasp, in my opinion. The baseline information is easy to comprehend. In other words, the Spaniards decimated the culture and population of the New World. But, going beyond these factual statements, it is much harder to understand the motivations behind these actions and their eventual justifications. I understand that Todorov is trying to steer us, "the reader" into agreeing with his ideas on the matter. However, digging into the text and finding these moments, I have found it to be particularly hard. Part of this problem might be found in the writing style of the era, which drastically contrasts from what we read on an everyday basis today. Historical texts and arguments take more effort than a typical story of fiction. They require that you pay attention to the background and context of each situation and how each figure approaches instances of conflict. Specifically, within The Conquest of America, I think it difficult to distinguish between the character themselves and their actions from their legacy that has been passed down. Columbus "discovered" the New World. I say discover loosely because the word takes on many different connotations. While Columbus might have been the first European to open up new land to colonization, he didn't discover it in the context of understanding the natives culturally. I could go off on a tangent about this idea alone, but I think I'll save it for our discussions of Part Four.

Overall, I think it is imperative to learn how to comprehend writing similar to Todorov. It takes more time and effort in general to grasp the concepts he lays out in his writing. Along with this, I think it would be imperative for us to conclude our discussions on Todorov on Monday by going into his final argument. His writing prompts us to take sides on the matter of Spanish colonization and discussing that idea further (especially with the dichotomies we brought up in class such as superiority/inferiority or self/other) would really help with individual assessments. I know that for myself, these discussions have helped further my critical thinking skills. Along with this, the way in which we conduct our discussions really help clarify these ideas discussed in Todorov's writing. Hearing from one other and each person's perspectives often make our conversations more engaging and helpful in the long term. This semester has flown by and I can't believe we are almost at Thanksgiving break. While I'm excited about the break I'm just a bit saddened that I will be helping my sister move her things in New Jersey instead of returning home for food and relaxation. Overall, the thought of the holiday season is quite exciting but before we can get there we still have a few weeks of stressfully preparing for finals before we can truly relax.