The Portrayal of Christopher Columbus in Elementary...

Christopher Columbus has been portrayed in different ways at various times throughout history. In his own time he was not famous for discovering a new land, but hundreds of years later he is. Slightly over one hundred years ago the United States proudly celebrated the quatercentury. Approximately 24 million people attended a great international exposition in Chicago marking the event (Thernstrom, 1992). In stark contrast is the controversy that was ignited over the 500 year anniversary of Columbus voyages. In the very recent past how Columbus is presented has begun to change. Up until the late 1980s Columbus was portrayed as a great discover. Even when the Spanish were seen as cruel and greedy, Columbus was†¦show more content†¦Among these people are the 1992 Alliance, a coalition of Native groups, The Association of Indian Cultures, The National Council of Churches, the America Library Association, and many authors. The argument of this group is that presenting Columbus as a hero who stands at the beginning of a long of heroes who brought freedom to the Americas is history at its ethnocentric worst (Nash, 1992). These groups want the Native American point of view emphasized in schools so that our children grow into healthy adults by eliminating dehumanizing images of Native people in popular culture (Harjo, 1991, p.32). The National Library Association passed a resolution asking member libraries to display materials dealing with topics like cultural imperialism, coonialism, and the Native American Holocaust(Lunenfeld, 1992). The fear of these groups is that children will accept and think it natural for white people to rule over people of color and for powerful groups to rule over weaker groups (Ricklin, 1992). They believe that the Columbus myth is so pervasive that it inhibits children from developing anti-racist views. This group would applaud a childs picture book such as Encounter by Jane Yolen. This is the story of a Taino child and his reactions to the sight of Columbus and his men. In this book you can feel the fear of the child and there is a sense of impending doom. Ms. Yolen said that she wrote Encounter because this is historys otherShow MoreRelatedAnalysis of Shirley Jacksons The Lottery Essays4601 Words   |  19 Pagesthat text (Parker 314). Reader-response criticism was coined by literary critic Louise Rosenblatt in the mid-20th century. It soon served as a cornerstone of literary movement in the 1960s and 1970s that later became intrinsic to the study of other schools of literary thought today. In using reader-response theory to examine â€Å"The Lottery† in a contemporary context, one might perform reading surveys and metacognitive questionnaires to determine whether the short story still proves resonant and thought-provokingRead More_x000C_Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis355457 Words   |  1422 PagesIntroduction to Statistics and Data Analysis This page intentionally left blank Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis Third Edition Roxy Peck California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Chris Olsen George Washington High School, Cedar Rapids, IA Jay Devore California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Australia †¢ Brazil †¢ Canada †¢ Mexico †¢ Singapore †¢ Spain †¢ United Kingdom †¢ United States Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis, Third EditionRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesconditions between different sorts of political regimes— communist, capitalist, colonial, and fascist. Particularly revealing are Spodek’s discussions of the influence of prominent urban planners and architects— including Le Corbusier and the Chicago School—urban preservation and the city as the locus of global cultural development, and the ways in which slums and shanty towns have morphed into long-term homes and viable communities for perhaps a majority of urban dwellers worldwide in the last half