▶ Your Answer : The reading passage depicts Hernando Cortes as the one of the most brilliant strategists of human history and credits him with toppling the great 5-million-strong Aztec empire with only a few man, horses, and cannons. More specifically, it proposes he was a genious who can exploit local politics, myths, and the spectacle of small but advanced military to achieve an effective negotiation with other nations and eventually the conquer of the Aztec. In contrast, the lecturer casts doubt on the version of history and credit Cortes's interpreter and concubine, Dona Malina, as being the mastermind behind his campaign of conquering the Aztecs. Specifically, the speaker argues that it is more probable that Dona Malina, who was a native speaker of the local language and knew all of the political and cultural environments, represented and led the negotiation with other troops to achieve their goal, instead of the total stranger to the region, Cortes. In addition to this rational conjecture, the lecturer cites various sources, including accounts from Spanish soldiers and other conquistadors, as well as the depcitions in Nahura art, which support the idea that Dona Malina was much more than a mere interpreter and perhaps just as significant as Cortes himself. |