BLOG 5

While reading Caribe Gris I encountered difficulty with the language barrier. Although it was translated to English, I feel as if some details get lost through translation and some ideas could be lost or misinterpreted. A translation can often give the literal meaning of each word rather than capturing what a whole phrase means in the original language. I overcame those difficulties by using context clues to piece together the main idea. Other things I had difficulty with was keeping up with the flow of the reading. It was choppy and jumped from idea to idea making it hard to focus and understand the big picture. 

 

After I read Caribe Gris, my general understanding was that Columbus made many mistakes. Some mistakes included his dimensions and diversity of the world. To me, the main idea was there were many misconceptions about the Caribbean, due to Christopher Columbus text. The fact that many journals were lost during his voyage created additional problems as people had to fill in the blanks leaving room for more incorrect statements.  

 

My understanding of the main idea did fluctuate after re-reading Caribe Gris.  My first understanding was there were incorrect statements written by Columbus which lead to misunderstandings of the Caribbean. My final understanding is that Caribe Gris was wrote to showcase their dislike for Columbus and bash him for his mistakes. The author felt as if Columbus was “delusional” and his writing mixed “clumsy with superstitious”. This writing took several turns, but I think my conclusion is solid. 

 

• StudentNewsDaily.com. “Columbus' First Voyage.” Student News Daily, 4 Oct. 2018, www.studentnewsdaily.com/editorials-for-students/columbus-first-voyage/