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Structure for Compare/Contrast Essay
Topic: Compare and contrast Aztec and Mayan cultures
First paragraph - hook and thesis statement (hook and thesis should be more than one sentence)
Second paragraph - Major cities in Aztec/Mayan culture
Third paragraph - Societal similarities and differences
Fourth paragraph - Religious similarities and differences
Fifth paragraph - Concluding
Mayan Notes
Pok-a-Tok is a game similar to soccer that Mayans played to the death.
The Maya deserted their cities because they didn't have enough resources to sustain themselves as a civilization.
A Catholic priest burned the Mayan history and religious text to force them into Christianity.
The Mayans knowledge of astronomy was so accurate that they could predict eclipses and other astronomical events within 33 seconds.
Mayans predicted the end of this world to be December 23, 2012.
They believed that the soul resides in the blood, therefore, if you give some of your blood in sacrifice to a god that is the highest honor. This practice made it easier for them to except Christianity because of the talk of the "Blood of Christ."
Cenotes were wells were the Mayans would throw tributes of gold and jade to the gods. A sacred well in Chichen Itza had skeletons of sacrificial volunteers. They believed that well sacrifice led them directly to heaven.
We're losing the Mayan culture because acid rain is wearing away the building facades (outsides). Also looters are taking pieces of the building to sell to tourists.
Tikal was the largest city in the Mayan empire (200,000 citizens). The Mayans had city-states each with a ruler. They fought with other city-states in their area, but preferred not to war until necessary.
Aztec Notes
Aztec notes for compare/contrast essay Download Aztecnotes.doc
Hooks for Expository Writing
Write hooks for each of the categories below. Remember that a hook is an interesting fact that will hook the reader into reading your paper and should be one or two sentences long.
Aztec Hook Categories: 1) Calendar, 2) Religion (human sacrifices), 3) Writing system, 4) Trading/barter system, 5) Wowerful culture (warriors), 6) City built on a lake.
Aztec Notes from video clips:
- Writing system consisted of illustrations much like a picture book.
- Marketplace in the center of the city where citizens traded goods and food by bartering because the Aztec had no money system.
- Religion was the focus of Aztec life and centered on human sacrifice because the Aztec believed the gods fed on human blood and hearts.
- The Spaniards estimated that the Aztec sacrificed 30,000 people per year. The sacrifices were mainly captured warriors, but a few were volunteers who were treated with honor until they were sacrificed.
- The Aztec had two calendars - one solar calendar and one religious calendar. These calendars rotate together and begin at the same time every 52 years. Every 52 years when the calendars coincide the Aztec believe something momentous will happen.
- Cortes landed in a year where the Aztec were waiting for a momentous event. This lead them to assume Cortes as a god.
