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This is the page for daily questions (in English) for Lesson 4: Literature
of the Discovery
Lesson 4A. Introduction
4-1. Why was the Discovery of America by Columbus a symbol of the end
of the Middle Ages?
4-2. It has been said that Columbus was partly a man of the Middle Ages
and partly a Renaissance man. Explain.
4-3. Does form or content predominate in the literature of the Discovery?
Explain.
4-4. What purposes did the authors of the literature of the Discovery
have?
Lesson 4B. Christopher Columbus
4-10. What do we know about the life of the author?
4-11. What was Columbus seeking, and why?
4-12. Does Columbus exaggerate the beauty of American nature? Explain.
4-13. What does Father Las Casas have to do with Columbus' Diary?
4-14. Why did Columbus give the name "the Indies" to his discovery?
4-15. What happened to the name "caribs"?
4-16. Does Columbus exaggerate the riches he found? Why?
4-17. Explain the religious theme (the conversion of the Indigenous)
in Columbus' Dairy.
4-18. How does Columbus describe the Indigenous people he encountered?
Why?
4-19. Did the Indigenous people found by Columbus know about sharp-edged
weapons such as swords?
4-20. Explain the meaning of the phrase "Come see the men who have
come from the sky!"
Lesson 4C. The Treaty of Tordesillas.
4-21. What was the origin of the Treaty of Tordesillas?
4-22. Explain the significance of the phrase "that is to say, from
the arctic pole to the antarctic pole, which is North to South".
4-23. Can you speculate on how the Treaty of Tordesillas was received
by the non-Catholic nations of Europe?
4-24. The Treaty of Tordesillas gave the Portuguese only a small portion
of what is today's Brazil. How do you explain the fact that Brazil today
occupies half of South America?