Unit 3 Portfolio - Encounter Portfolio
For this portfolio project, you will explore different perspectives on Columbus’s encounter between the Europeans and the Taino.
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Your final product will describe the initial meeting between Columbus’s crew and the Taino natives from both perspectives. It should give historically accurate facts, but some historically plausible creative license can be taken to fill in the gaps in the details. Your description should also include sensory details about the encounter, such as the brightness of the sun or the smell of the air.
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If you would like a recorded video walking you through these following steps click this link:
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Your portfolio has 2 steps:​
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Research:
List basic facts about the voyage-include who, what, when, why, where
Describe the Taino lifestyle before Columbus's voyage
List some differences between European and Taino ways of life
Describe the European view of Columbus's voyage and his encounter with the Taino
Describe the Taino view of Columbus's voyage and their encounter with the Europeans.
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Step 2 - Write a Fake Journal From Two Perspectives
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​For this project, you will write two journal entries.
One will be from a member of Columbus’s crew, and one will be from a member of the Taino community that met Columbus and his men.
Each of your entries should include the following: • a personal narrative of the day the two cultures met • accurate historical facts about Columbus and his crew’s voyage, their meeting with the Taino, and Taino life and culture • creative details that can be inferred from the historical facts • sensory imagery that appeals to the five senses Remember that these two cultures are meeting for the very first time, and almost everything about the other culture will be completely new and unknown.
Try to imagine what it would have been like for each group to encounter the other, and let those feelings show through in your writing. ​