Cabeza de Vaca
1. You are a sixteenth-century Spanish official serving as an advisor to the Council of the Indies, the body that governs Spain’s American empire. You have been given the task of making recommendations to the council on whether or not to expend the crown’s resources to explore and possibly colonize La Florida (North America). You must make your recommendation based solely on Cabeza de Vaca’s Narration – remember, you know NOTHING else about this territory.
As with all good paper topics, this one has a main question: should (costly) Spanish exploration continue in North America? And as with all good papers, the answer to this question will depend on you asking and answering appropriate sub-questions. For example, you might ask “what exactly are the potential gains that might be derived from further exploration? Among the many areas Cabeza de Vaca traveled through, which appear most promising? Why? What kinds of obstacles do you anticipate, and do these obstacles vary from place to place? How should exploration/colonization proceed, if at all? Is the relevant evidence from the account specific or trustworthy enough to justify an expensive exploratory mission?” These are only possibilities. Good papers don’t just ask sub-questions: they ask sub questions that build on one another and that all contribute to the overall project of answering the paper’s central question.
Be as specific as possible. Cite the book or quote from it whenever appropriate, and avoid generalities. You need to support your assertions with concrete evidence – lots of it. Consider your paper a brief report that reduces to its essence your mastery of this important text – the King will have your head if you screw this up. For this question (and this question only) it is entirely appropriate to write in the first person: get into character.
Plan: 1. Potential gains 2. Promising areas 3. Expected obstacles 4. How should exploration proceed 5. Is the evidence trustworthy
As with all good paper topics, this one has a main question: should (costly) Spanish exploration continue in North America? And as with all good papers, the answer to this question will depend on you asking and answering appropriate sub-questions. For example, you might ask “what exactly are the potential gains that might be derived from further exploration? Among the many areas Cabeza de Vaca traveled through, which appear most promising? Why? What kinds of obstacles do you anticipate, and do these obstacles vary from place to place? How should exploration/colonization proceed, if at all? Is the relevant evidence from the account specific or trustworthy enough to justify an expensive exploratory mission?” These are only possibilities. Good papers don’t just ask sub-questions: they ask sub questions that build on one another and that all contribute to the overall project of answering the paper’s central question.
Be as specific as possible. Cite the book or quote from it whenever appropriate, and avoid generalities. You need to support your assertions with concrete evidence – lots of it. Consider your paper a brief report that reduces to its essence your mastery of this important text – the King will have your head if you screw this up. For this question (and this question only) it is entirely appropriate to write in the first person: get into character.
Plan: 1. Potential gains 2. Promising areas 3. Expected obstacles 4. How should exploration proceed 5. Is the evidence trustworthy