Very Important Document example essay topic

QUESTIONAIRE FOR PREPARING DOCUMENT DISCUSSIONS: 1. TITLE of document? WHO wrote this document (include all relevant facts about author's occupation, background, etc. )? The title of the document was I Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatemala. It was written by Rigoberta Menchu.

Rigoberta Menchu was born on January 9, 1959 to a poor Indian peasant family and raised in the Quiche branch of the Mayan culture. In her early years she helped with the family farm work, either in the northern highlands where her family lived, or on the Pacific coast, where both adults and children went to pick coffee on the big plantations. 2. What type of document is it? I Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatemala is a autobiography.

3. Write a detailed SUMMARY of this document. Clearly and concisely discuss the nature, scope, and thesis. (After reading this section I should know exactly what the document is about and what it addresses). This book is completely filled with cultural insights and details, and Rigoberta tells us her story with eagerness and an inner strength that can obviously only come from years of persecution.

Although her reasons for narrating her story are to enlighten the rest of the world to the situation of the Indians in Guatemala, she chooses to focus on her culture and their customs instead of the many mass atrocities committed by the 'ladinos', landowners, and government in her country. In my opinion, this is a much more effective technique in gaining the audience's sympathy and respect, because she gives us so much to sympathize with. She gives her readers a base of understanding of her culture that the oppressors in her country do not have. I believe that anyone who reads this book learns how hard it was for Indians in Guatemala. They had it very tough and their lives were very stressful, especially for women. Although she does tell us about the many deaths she witnessed at the hands of her oppressors and about the grief they have caused so many, these incidences are only a part of her life.

She has a mysterious ability to take strength from both her defeats and her victories, and she uses this strength to drive her efforts to give the Indians an equal footing with the rest of Guatemala. The book contains detailed descriptions of Quiche Indian ceremonies, traditions, and customs, which Rigoberta gives in order to explain the profound sense of community which fuels Indian village and family life. The village is an extension of the family, and all previous generations are represented in the village through remembrances of ancestors and their ways. The ceremonies for childbirth, marriage, and death all emphasize the importance of community involvement.

4. Why does the document exist? What motives prompted the author to write the material down in this form? This document exists because it was a way for Rigoberta to poor her feelings out. She did not have anyone to turn to so she thought she would tell her story to let people know how hard her life was in Guatemala and how Indians were treated.

5. Who or what is left out of the document -- -women, children, other minorities, members of the majority... ? I feel as if the important things that were left out of this document are schooling / education and women and children. They did not get nearly as much education that was required because they were all so poor. 6.

In addition to the main subject, what other kinds of information can be obtained from the document? In this autobiography, Rigoberta Mench'u details the two stages of her life: before political organizing, and after. Because she was born into a life of varied suffering and extreme poverty, and because hunger and crippling labor were constants, she was always conscious of the repercussions of Guatemalan politics in her personal life. Every year of her childhood was divided between her home in the Altiplano, where Indians cultivated their own land and made every attempt to live as their ancestors had, and the coast, where the fincas were located. 7. How do the subjects of the document relate to what we know about the broader society and time in which the document was written?

The subjects of this particular document relate to what we know about Guatemala because of the poverty level. Since I am working on my paper and I am focusing on women in Guatemala, I have learned that the poverty level was a huge issue. It held them back from attending school and people always went without a meal. I think that this is still an issue to this day in Guatemala. 8. What was the meaning of the document in its own time?

What is its meaning today? I think that the meaning of the document in its own time all the way to the present day is the same. It was supposed to teach people how women lived in such an oppressed time and it showed the reader how life really was for an Indian girl in Guatemala. Since she didn't have many people to turn to she decided to tell her story to someone and have it published. It shows us that life was very difficult and people had to work long and hard in order to succeed.

9. What does the document tell us about change in society? This document explains to us that change in society does not change over night. It takes many years to overcome poverty and work through certain issues. 10.

Is it still an important document? Will historians, students, and others still refer to it in the future? Why? I believe that it is still a very important document.

I think that it shows readers a really valuable time in history and as Americans we should be aware of what went on in other countries as well as our own.