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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page research paper that uses Gregory Reck's text In the Shadow of Tlaloc, Life in a Mexican Village (1978) in order to illustrate principles of cultural anthropology as discussed in Kottak's Mirror for Humanity (1996). No additional sources cited.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khkotrec.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
la Cruz. This anthropological narrative follows the course of Celistinos life in his small Mexican village and shows how his orientation is slowly Westernized, culminating with Celistino and his family
leaving the village, presumably for life in an urban area. Examination of Celistinos life demonstrates various anthropological principles. For example, one of the first Westernizing influences in Celistinos life
was a "thick, illustrated dictionary" that he obtained from a medical student (Reck 38). From this dictionary, Celistino is able to learn about many things and concepts that are alien
to his experience, such as the definition for Gothic architecture. Celistino uses such eclectic pieces of information to impress his peers, convinced that "his knowledge of such things would
eventually help him acquire what he desire--a store and a good reputation" (Reck 39). The manner in which Celistino is using language in this instance illustrates various anthropological concepts
concerning language. Human beings possess the unique ability of "linguistic displacement," which refers to "our ability to speak (or write) of things and events that are not present (Kottak 74).
Human communication, unlike animal calls, is not confined by place or personal experience (Kottak 74). Celistinos ability to read began to psychologically broad his worldview long before his tiny village
was connected by a road to the outside world. Throughout his text, Reck offers insight into the socio-political world of Celistino, who was born an "indio," that is a
Nahuatl-speaking Indian" (50). Until the age of five, Celistino spoke fluent Nahuatl, but little Spanish (Reck 50). This social caste was seen by Celistinos father as circumscribing his world. He
would tell Celistino, "El maiz es mi modo" (Corn is my way), but Reck relates that this much more than the literal translation, writing that "He meant that the cultivation
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