Christopher Columbus

Temmi Adeyeni
M.Brown Per.11
AP English 3
“Christopher Columbus: from letter to Luis de Santangel, Regarding the 1st Voyage”
In Christopher Columbus’ letter to Luis de Santangel, he tells him all about his experiences in the New World. He comes across as being excited and proud of himself, because of the discovery he had made. One can conclude this through the way he describes everything he sees. The main argument in his letter is that the world he had just discovered is bountiful, plentiful and full of abundance. It is a place of endless land. He proves and makes sense of his argument using imagery. He uses colorful and vivacious words that are very attractive and appealing to the mind. “All the most beautiful, of a thousand shapes; and all are accessible and filled with trees of a thousand kinds and tall and they seem to touch the sky” (Christopher Columbus 1451-1506). This line is significant, because it expresses that this place is untouched, like a virgin land. Because this place is far and wide and spacious, he feels that there are no boundaries to what this place can become in the future. One can tell that this place gives him a sense of freedom. He is free to explore this land wherever and whenever he wants. This is important to him, because he wants to be known as the founder of something great. He wants to be recognized. “And some of them were flowering some bearing fruit, and some in another stage, according to their nature. And the nightingale was singing and other birds of a thousand kinds… There are six and eight kinds of palms, which are a wonder to behold on account of their beautiful variety, but so are the other trees and fruits and plants. In it are marvelous pine groves, and there are very large tracts of cultivatable lands, and there is honey and there are birds of many kinds and fruits in great diversity. In the interior are mines of metals…Espanola is a marvel” (Christopher Columbus 1451-1506). He describes what this land is like. He makes it seem like this place is like a wonderland and somewhat surreal. He is very intrigued by how everything is so much different from his homeland. He never knew that such a place existed and it was just refreshing to see and experience. He states that the land is fertile, meaning that it is very tangible and a lot could be done with it. This place has many different things. No two things are alike. This makes everything even more interesting, because everywhere you turn there is something different. He wants his audience to be wowed by his expedition, because he wants to be portrayed as a legend and someone who would matter later on in life. He wants to be a part of a prestigious and noble society. He wants people to look up to him and to want to follow his example.
In conclusion, Christopher Columbus portrays this new world as a fantasy world, as if it was Heaven. He effectively uses imagery, because he is appealing to some of our five senses. He describes his escapades and observations in detail. He does a fantastic job at drawing in his audience and keeping them interested in what he has to say. The way he approached this is by putting himself in their shoes. He has to make this place seem as real as he can to people that are reading it and not actually there. He has to make it believable. He puts an enthusiastic emotion behind his words, which works in his advantage.