In his book “Daily Life of the Aztecs: People of the Sun and Earth,” David Carrasco successfully explained the life of the Aztecs, so the reader could better comprehend what the Aztecs went through. Carrasco effectively accomplished reliving the Aztecs life in 282 pages which was constructed of a preface, a chronology of Central Mexico, nine chapters, notes, glossary, selected bibliography, and an index. The “Daily Life of the Aztecs: People of the Sun and Earth,” was published in 1998 by The Greenwood Press. From the preface of the book, we discovered that the author’s thesis is, “attempt[ing] a new interpretation of the complex relationships between cultural practices, social order, and religious myths and symbols. The book is organized as
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Carrasco productively communicated his thesis of writing this book in the preface. The first chapter is set up to assist the reader by providing a general account of the “geography and geographical imagination of the Aztec people” (xii). The author profitably assists the reader in developing an representation of the Aztecs geography by integrating a quote by Eric Wolf that states, “Mountains from the massive backbone of this land, and these mountains set off the three precincts of the Middle American citadel: a central highland in south-central Mexico, a southern highland in southern Mexico, and a southeastern highland in southeasternmost Mexico and Guatemala” (1). The reader can develop a spectacular image of the geography of the Aztecs from this quote, so Carrasco did a splendid job of describing the Aztecs geography and geographical imagination. Chapter two used vivid imagery of the “cosmic tree” and the Aztecs “four quarters” to discuss Aztecs …show more content…
The focus of chapter four is the human life cycle with the importance of looking at the educational process that the Aztec children followed. The reader learns just how important the education process is believed to be in the Aztec culture by a quote from the author that states, “The direction this education would take was determined early in the child’s life, in fact twenty days after birth” (93). Carrasco emphasizes the importance of education by showing how the parents decided what educational path their child was following just twenty days after the child’s birth. Chapter five focused on the social pyramid and how important it was for elders to maintain their statues. “The Aztecs, like many peoples, constructed a pyramidal society, a hierarchical society (127),” was stated by the author to show the reader that the Aztecs had a social pyramid. Chapter six explored the artistic view of the Aztecs. The author described the artistic view of the Aztecs by explaining, “When the German painter and engraver Albrecht Durer first saw a collection of Aztec art objects that had been given by Motecuhzoma to Hernan Cortes and sent to the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, soon after the conquest of Tenochtitlan, he exclaimed, ‘These objects are so valuable that they have been set at a hundred thousand florins’”
Carrasco productively communicated his thesis of writing this book in the preface. The first chapter is set up to assist the reader by providing a general account of the “geography and geographical imagination of the Aztec people” (xii). The author profitably assists the reader in developing an representation of the Aztecs geography by integrating a quote by Eric Wolf that states, “Mountains from the massive backbone of this land, and these mountains set off the three precincts of the Middle American citadel: a central highland in south-central Mexico, a southern highland in southern Mexico, and a southeastern highland in southeasternmost Mexico and Guatemala” (1). The reader can develop a spectacular image of the geography of the Aztecs from this quote, so Carrasco did a splendid job of describing the Aztecs geography and geographical imagination. Chapter two used vivid imagery of the “cosmic tree” and the Aztecs “four quarters” to discuss Aztecs …show more content…
The focus of chapter four is the human life cycle with the importance of looking at the educational process that the Aztec children followed. The reader learns just how important the education process is believed to be in the Aztec culture by a quote from the author that states, “The direction this education would take was determined early in the child’s life, in fact twenty days after birth” (93). Carrasco emphasizes the importance of education by showing how the parents decided what educational path their child was following just twenty days after the child’s birth. Chapter five focused on the social pyramid and how important it was for elders to maintain their statues. “The Aztecs, like many peoples, constructed a pyramidal society, a hierarchical society (127),” was stated by the author to show the reader that the Aztecs had a social pyramid. Chapter six explored the artistic view of the Aztecs. The author described the artistic view of the Aztecs by explaining, “When the German painter and engraver Albrecht Durer first saw a collection of Aztec art objects that had been given by Motecuhzoma to Hernan Cortes and sent to the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, soon after the conquest of Tenochtitlan, he exclaimed, ‘These objects are so valuable that they have been set at a hundred thousand florins’”