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Historical Viewpoints Sketch

You will be reading three different assessments of Latin American history this week:

Each of these texts provides a vision of Latin America, that at least in part, contradicts the vision found in the other two books. The books by Galeano and Grandin, in particular, differ in tone significantly from the book by Reid.

Meanwhile, the Reid and Grandin books in particular are dense with unfamiliar terms, information, and events. How can a reader, new to these topics, make sense of this new information?

In this assignment, you will follow the spirit of curiosity of Alberto Cairo’s The Truthful Art. Just as Cairo did for his daughter when she asked why planets keep spinning, you will create a sketch of a particular historical term, process, or event from the above readings, which you wish to understand better. This sketch may be just that: a rough, hand-drawn sketch meant to render a difficult concept simple. Include textual annotations and labels in conjunction with visual images to explain your chosen topic.

Use this exercise as a means to fulfill your curiosity. Use it to better understand a topic. Then, use the sketch to teach or explain the concept to your classmates.

Possible topics include:

Once you have chosen your topic, please post your choice on Slack to avoid duplicate topics.