Reading comprehension

Journal 5 – Pratt – “Arts Of the Contact Zone”

SLOs 1 3, 4, 5, 6, 8

This is a very unique article.  While we will be addressing all of it eventually, for the first journal entry, we will focus on Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala’s, a relatively unknown Andean (Peruvian), 800-page letter to King Philip III of Spain in 1613 and Pratts analysis of its contents.

It is written in two languages, Quechua and Spanish, and contains two parts: Nueva corónica and Buen govierno y justicia. 

1. In your journal, identify Poma’s thesis (overarching argument) and discuss the rhetorical strategies he uses in each part to persuade the King. Possible approaches to consider:

Choose on of the following approaches as a way to explore the meaning-making of Poma’s text (not all 3, just 1 discussed thoroughly)

a. Why is one part written in Quechua and the other in Spanish? How would switching the languages in each part change the message? 

b. How do the visual representations (see Figures in the text)contribute ? – how do they support his larger argument?

c. Why start with Nueva corónica?  How might his message be read differently if he began with Buen govierno y justicia?