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Online Instructor’s Manual – This manual is intended to give professors a framework or blueprint of ideas and suggestions that may assist
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by chapter includes: multiple choice, true/false and short-answer questions that support the key features in the book. This supplement is
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Practice Exercises – Practice skills for each topic - leveled by Bloom’s taxonomy.
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BNow You’re Thinking — Learning to think critically is imperative to student success.
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BBuilding Your Professional Image — Students are motivated by preparing for their future careers through online and in person
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BMyStudentSuccessLab* BSucceeding in Your Diverse World BWelcome to Moodle!
BTime Management* BInformation Literacy is Essential to Success BWelcome to -744-ge!
B"-sources All Around You* BProtect Your Personal Data BSet and Achieve Your Goals
BNow You’re Thinking* B:-)<- Your Personal Brand BPrepare for Test Success
BMaintaining Your Financial Sanity* BService Learning BGood Notes Are Your Best Study Tool
Building Your Professional Image* BStay Well and Manage Stress BVeterans/Military Returning Students
BGet Ready for Workplace Success BGet Things Done with Virtual Teams
Bivility Paves the Way Toward Success BWelcome to Blackboard!
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COLLEGE STUDY
the essential ingredients
SALLY A. LIPSKY
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN-13: 978-0-13-218089-4
ISBN-10: 0-13-218089-8
In loving memory
of Irene and Merle
About the Author
U
pon graduation from the University of New Mexico (B.S. elemen-
tary education), Sally Lipsky began her career as a Title I reading
instructor with the Houston (TX) public school district. After earn-
ing an M.Ed. in reading education from Texas Southern University, she
taught in the Pittsburgh (PA) public schools. She
earned a Ph.D. in language communications and adult
education from the University of Pittsburgh and con-
tinued her career at Indiana University of Pennsylvania,
where she has worked for over 20 years as a faculty
member in the Developmental Studies Department,
College of Education and Educational Technology. Her
work has centered on aspects of student learning at the
post-secondary level, including college reading and study
strategies and peer-to-peer academic support. She is a
long-time member of the College Reading and Learning
Association (CRLA) and the National Association for
Developmental Education (NADE), and has made nu-
merous professional presentations. She authored the text A Training Guide for
College Tutors and Peer Educators, published by Pearson Education, 2011.
Brief Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
Taking Tests 137
CHAPTER 9
vii
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Preface xv
Chapter 1
CREATING ACADEMIC SUCCESS 1
Focus Questions 1
Chapter Terms 1
A System of Study: The Essential Ingredients 2
Your Learning Behaviors 2
Your Learning Attitudes 3
Learning Modalities 4
A Path to Success: Personal Action Statements 5
Conclusion 8
Comprehension Check 10
Chapter 2
MANAGING YOUR TIME 11
Focus Questions 11
Chapter Terms 11
Controlling Your Time: Five Essential Ingredients 12
Use a Weekly Schedule 13
Use a Daily Planner 20
ix
x CONTENTS
Chapter 3
MAXIMIZING YOUR PRODUCTIVITY 35
Focus Questions 35
Chapter Terms 35
Maximizing Your Productivity: Three Essential Ingredients 36
Choose a Suitable Location 36
Get Organized: Reduce Stress and Increase Productivity 38
Minimize Distractions and Maximize Concentration 41
Conclusion 47
Comprehension Check 47
Chapter 4
ACTIVE LISTENING AND NOTE TAKING 49
Focus Questions 49
Chapter Terms 49
Active Listening: Three Essential Ingredients 50
Prepare Before Class 50
Listen and Take Notes During Class 53
1. Listen Selectively 53
2. Take Concise Notes 54
3. Be Clear 57
4. Be Accurate 58
5. Pay Attention 58
Follow Up After Class 60
Dealing with Difficult Lecturers 64
Conclusion 72
Comprehension Check 73
CONTENTS xi
Chapter 5
READING AND STUDYING TEXT MATERIAL 75
Focus Questions 75
Chapter Terms 75
Understanding and Remembering: Five Essential Ingredients 76
Preview What’s Ahead 79
Get an Overview of the Book 79
Get an Overview of the Chapter or Article 79
Identify Your Purpose 80
Break Up Your Reading 80
Check Your Understanding 81
Create Study Guides 82
Question-and-Answer Study Guide 82
Highlighting-Plus-Marking Study Guide 84
Outlining Study Guide 85
Study Cards 85
Visual Study Guides: Maps, Charts, and Timelines 87
Review Periodically 94
Add or Combine Lecture Material 94
Talk Aloud 94
Anticipate Test Questions 95
Conclusion 98
Comprehension Check 99
Chapter 6
ENHANCING YOUR LEARNING AND MEMORY 103
Focus Questions 103
Chapter Terms 103
Learning and Memory: Seven Essential Ingredients 104
Get Enough Sleep 104
Study in Small, Regular Blocks of Time 105
Review Soon After Receiving New Information 105
Organize and Categorize Information 106
Study with Others 107
xii CONTENTS
Chapter 7
PREPARING FOR TESTS 117
Focus Questions 117
Chapter Terms 117
Success with Tests: Be Prepared 118
Keep Up with Academic Work 118
Develop Test Review Guides 118
Rehearse for the Exam 119
Reduce Test Anxiety 123
Do You Have Test Anxiety? 123
Change How You Think About the Test 126
Change How You React Physically to a Test 127
Desensitize Yourself 129
Conclusion 135
Comprehension Check 135
Chapter 8
TAKING TESTS 137
Focus Question 137
Chapter Terms 137
Taking Tests: Two Essential Ingredients 138
Develop Test-Wiseness 138
Use a Five-Step Course of Action 138
Watch for Key Words 140
Look for Qualifying Words 140
Practice Multiple-Choice Questions 141
Practice Essay Questions 148
Review the Test 151
CONTENTS xiii
Conclusion 152
Comprehension Check 154
Chapter 9
CONTINUING YOUR ACADEMIC SUCCESS:
A REVIEW 155
Focus Question 155
Chapter Term 155
Your Personal Action Plan 156
Conclusion 158
INDEX 159
This page intentionally left blank
Preface
T
his text provides a complete and balanced coverage of essential learning
and study techniques at the post-secondary level. The author employs
an active learning approach—the reader chooses, immediately applies,
and then critiques practical strategies, with the goal of creating an effective, effi-
cient, and individualized system of study. Content is presented to help students
become self-regulating learners and problem solvers.
xv
xvi PREFACE
learning, thus the added section on collaborative learning and how to create
study groups.
● Because of the large quantity of information, test-taking content is now
divided into two chapters: Preparing for Tests (Chapter 7) and Taking
Tests (Chapter 8). This separation should ease pacing of content and class-
room presentation. Both chapters contain information about preparing for
and taking online exams, and information on cumulative final exams has
been added to Chapter 7.
● Strategies grouped according to visual, auditory, or tactile/kinesthetic learn-
ing modalities (as opposed to learning styles) are included in the Try It
Out! and Assess Your Success exercises. Students identify, try out, and
assess specific strategies, with the goal of developing multi-modal systems of
study. (The switch from learning styles to modalities reflects current litera-
ture; matching learning styles and strategies appears to have a weak impact
on student learning. Furthermore, incorporating a variety of sensory mo-
dalities seems to have a positive impact on learning and memory, especially
for difficult subject matter.)
● As a means of reinforcing content through practice, application, and addi-
tional resources, the accompanying Instructor’s Resource Manual includes
information on MyStudentSuccessLab, Pearson Education’s online prod-
uct through which students have access to peer-led video presentations,
interactive exercises, and projects. MyStudentSuccessLab presents informa-
tion on these topics related to the text:
● Time Management
● Values/Goal Setting
● Learning Preferences
● Listening and Taking Notes in Class
● Reading and Annotating
● Memory and Studying
● Problem Solving
● Test-Taking Skills
● Stress Management
Features
The text integrates three elements of how students learn:
1. Strategies: Covers important and practical study techniques that students can
apply immediately in their daily academic courses.
2. Attitude: Provides opportunities for students to explore their levels of inter-
est, motivation, and commitment toward transferring learning techniques to
their day-to-day lives as college students.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
course, with considerable elaborations which by no means promote the
correctness, however much the beauty of aspect is improved.
[460] Cortés names the well built Mexicaltzinco, Niciaca, and Huchilohuchico (now
Churubusco), to which he gives respectively 3000, 6000, and 4000 to 5000
families. Cartas, 83-4. Gomara, Hist. Mex., 99, names Coioacan instead of
Niciaca, and this change is generally accepted, for the latter name is probably a
mistake by the copyist or printer. Peter Martyr, dec. v. cap. iii.
[461] ‘Mandò que vn Indio en lengua Mexicana, fuesse pregonando que nadie se
atrauessasse por el camino, sino queria ser luego muerto.’ Herrera, dec. ii. lib. vii.
cap. v.
[462] Also referred to as Fort Xoloc. ‘En donde hoy la garita de San Antonio Abad,’
says Ramirez, in Prescott (ed. Mex. 1845), ii. 104.
[464] The avenue is now called el Rastro. The suburb here bore the name of
Huitzitlan. ‘Vitzillan que es cabe el hospital de la Concepcion.’ Sahagun, Hist.
Conq., 23. At Tocititlan, says Duran, Hist. Ind., MS., ii. 439. ‘Junto de la Hermita de
San Anton.’ Torquemada, i. 450. ‘Segun una antigua tradicion conservada en el
hospital de Jesus, el punto en que le encontró fué frente á éste, y por recuerdo del
suceso se hizo la fundacion en aquel parage.’ Alaman, Disert., i. 103; and
Ramirez, note in Prescott (ed. Mex. 1845), ii. 103. The previous authorities
indicate, however, that the meeting took place farther from the centre of the city.
[466] For dress, see Native Races, ii. 178 et seq. Cortés gives sandals only to
Montezuma, but it appears that persons of royal blood were allowed to retain them
before the emperor, as Ixtlilxochitl also affirms. Hist. Chich., 295; Oviedo, iii. 500;
Purchas, His Pilgrimes, iv. 1121.
[467] ‘Cenzeño ... y el rostro algo largo, è alegre.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 67.
‘Motecçuma quiere dezir hõbre sañudo y graue.’ Gomara, Hist. Mex., 103; Acosta,
Hist. Ind., 502-3. It is from this, probably, that so many describe him as serious in
expression. A number of portraits have been given of the monarch, differing
greatly from one another. The best known is Prescott’s, taken from the painting for
a long time owned by the Condes de Miravalle, the descendants of Montezuma;
but this lacks the Indian type, and partakes too much of the ideal. Clavigero’s,
Storia Mess., iii. 8, appears more like him, though it is too small and too roughly
sketched to convey a clear outline. Far better is the half-size representation
prefixed to Linati, Costumes, which indeed corresponds very well with the text
description. The face in Armin, Alte Mex., 104, indicates a coarse Aztec warrior,
and that in Montanus, Nieuwe Weereld, 244-5, an African prince, while the native
picture, as given in Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., ii. 6, is purely conventional. The
text description, based chiefly on Bernal Diaz, is not inappropriate to the weak,
vacillating character of the monarch. Clavigero makes him nearly 54 years old,
and Brasseur de Bourbourg 51; but 40, as Bernal Diaz calls him, appears to be
more correct.
[469] ‘De margaritas y diamantes de vidrio.’ Id. ‘Que se dizen margagitas.’ Bernal
Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 65.
[470] Solis assumes that Cortés was repelled when he sought to place the
necklace on Montezuma. The latter chides the jealous princes, and permits him.
Hist. Mex., i. 370. ‘Pareceme que el Cortès ... le daua la mano derecha, y el
Monteçuma no la quiso, è se la diò â Cortès.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 65. This
phrase, which applies equally to offering the right hand, has been so understood
by those who notice it; but as this would be confusing, Vetancurt, for instance,
assumes improbably that Marina offers her right hand to Montezuma, which he
disregards, giving his instead to Cortés. Teatro Mex., pt. iii. 129.
[471] Cortés, Cartas, 85. Ixtlilxochitl has it that Cacama was left with him; and
Bernal Diaz, that the lord of Coyuhuacan also remained. According to Cortés,
Montezuma accompanied him all the way to the quarters in the city, keeping a few
steps before. Gomara and Herrera follow this version. But Bernal Diaz states
explicitly that he left the Spaniards to follow, allowing the people an opportunity to
gaze; and Ixtlilxochitl assumes that he goes in order to be ready to receive him at
the quarters. Hist. Chich., 295. It is not probable that Montezuma would expose
himself to the inconvenience of walking so far back, since this involved
troublesome ceremonies, as we have seen, not only to himself but to the
procession, and interfered with the people who had come forth to gaze. The native
records state that Montezuma at once surrendered to Cortés the throne and city.
‘Y se fueron ambos juntos á la par para las casas reales.’ Sahagun, Hist. Conq.,
23-4. Leading Cortés into the Tozi hermitage, at the place of meeting, he made the
nobles bring presents and tender allegiance, while he accepted also the faith.
Duran, Hist. Ind., MS., ii. 440-1.
[472] About 6000 in all. ‘Nosotros aun no llegauamos á 450 soldados.’ Bernal
Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 65. Prescott places the number at about 350.
[473] According to Sahagun not a soul was to be seen, either upon the causeway
or along the streets, the people having taken this manner to express their
indignation at the semi-forcible entry of the Spaniards. Montezuma came to
receive them purely out of a feeling of humanity. Startled at this solitude, Cortés
fears dangers, and vows, if all goes well, to build a church. This was the origin,
says Bustamante, of the Hospital de Jesus. Sahagun, Hist. Conq. (ed. Mex. 1840),
79-84. See note 12, this chapter. Brasseur de Bourbourg accepts this view. Hist.
Nat. Civ., iv. 212-13. Still Sahagun describes the interview with Cortés as most
cordial. He is in fact contradictory, and it is evident that the order issued to the
people to keep the narrow causeway clear, and the etiquette which required them
to give way to the emperor, have been hastily interpreted by the chronicler into
‘deserted streets’ and ‘popular indignation.’ Had the citizens objected to receive
the strangers, the bridges could have been raised against them.
[474] ‘Au coin de la rue del Indio triste et de celle de Tacuba,’ says Humboldt,
Vues, i. 58, prudently, without attempting to give its extent. Ramirez and Carbajal
do so, however, and in allowing it about the same length as the temple inclosure,
they place it right across the eastern avenue of the city, which like the other three
is admitted to have terminated at one of the temple gates. Carbajal Espinosa, Hist.
Mex., ii. 222; Ramirez, notes in Prescott’s Mex. (ed. Mex. 1845), ii. app. 103.
‘Donde hoy las Casas de el Marqués del Valle,’ says Lorenzana, in Cortés, Hist.
N. Esp., 86, a statement disputed by later writers. Prescott quotes Humboldt, but
evidently does not understand him, for he places the palace ‘facing the western
gate,’ which is not only on the wrong side, but across the western avenue. Mex., ii.
79. ‘Adonde ... tenia el gran Monteçuma sus grandes adoratorios de idolos ... nos
lleuaron á aposentar á aquella casa por causa, que como nos llamauã Teules, é
por tales nos tenian, que estuuiessemos entre sus idolos.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist.
Verdad., 66. The idea of being regarded as a god seems to have pleased the old
soldier immensely.
[475] They doubtless formed a double necklace, with gold setting and pendants.
Cortés writes that on the way to the palace Montezuma halted to place them round
his neck. Cartas, 85; Gomara, Hist. Mex., 100-1; Sahagun, Hist. Conq., 23.
[476] ‘A throne of gold,’ is Peter Martyr’s briefer yet grander term. dec. v. cap. iii.
[477] Hist. Verdad., 65-6; Herrera, dec. ii. lib. vii. cap. v.; Sahagun, Hist. Conq., 25-
6.
[478] Bernal Diaz states that the emperor always addressed him as Malinche, and,
indeed, it was common among Mexicans to address persons by a name given
them in later life in connection with some peculiarity, deed, or incident. Hence
Cortés, as master of the prominent female interpreter, received a name implying
that relationship.
[479] For which see Native Races.
[480] Cortés, Cartas, 86. This is in substance the speech of Montezuma, as given
by native as well as Spanish records; yet it appears improbable that the emperor
should have been so ready, at the first interview, and in presence of his courtiers,
to humble himself so completely before a few strangers whom he regarded as
mortals. See note 19. ‘Myself, my wife and children, my house, and all that I
possess, are at your disposal,’ says the Spaniard, even in our day, to the guest
whom he wishes to impress with his hospitality. Perhaps Montezuma was equally
profuse with hollow words, which have been recorded as veritable offers.
[481] Cortés, Cartas, 86-7. Bernal Diaz introduces this paragraph during the next
interview.
[482] Id. ‘Á cada vno de nuestros Capitanes diò cositas de oro, y tres cargas de
mantas de labores ricas de plumas, y entre todos los soldados tambien nos diò á
cada vno á dos cargas de mantas.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 66; Gomara, Hist.
Mex., 101-2; Peter Martyr, dec. v. cap. iii.; Duran, Hist. Ind., MS., ii. 441-2;
Herrera, dec. ii. lib. vii. cap. vi.; Torquemada, i. 452-3; Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich.,
296; Peralta, Not. Hist., 107-8. Acosta implies that Cortés now reconciled the
Tlascaltecs with the Aztecs. Hist. Ind., 521.
[484] Gomara, Hist. Mex., 102-3. ‘Los haçia proveer luego, assi de mugeres de
serviçio, como de cama, é les daba á cada uno una joya que pessaba hasta diez
pessos de oro.’ Oviedo, iii. 500-1.
[485] Vetancvrt, Teatro Mex., pt. iii. 129. Sahagun, followed by Acosta, Brasseur
de Bourbourg, and others, states that the artillery was discharged at night to
startle the natives. Hist. Conq. (ed. 1840), 85.
[486] It is so depicted in the old Nuremberg view of the city, already referred to.
Ramirez, Carbajal Espinosa, and Alaman give the extent, and the latter enters into
quite a lengthy account of its situation with respect to present and former outlines
of the quarter. Disert., ii. 202, etc.; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., ii. 221-2;
Ramirez, notes in Prescott’s Mex. (ed. Mex. 1845), ii. app. 103. Humboldt places it
opposite the southern half of the western temple side, Essai Pol., i. 190, but that
site is assigned by all the above historians to the old palace of Montezuma, so
called—not the Axayacatl where Cortés was quartered. The mistake is probably
owing to his ignorance of the fact that the residence of the Cortés family stood first
on the site of the new palace of Montezuma, whence it was moved to that of the
old palace when the government bought the former.
[487] The Spaniards were also ‘costretti a scalzarsi, ed a coprirsi gli abiti sfarzosi
con vesti grossolane,’ says Clavigero, Storia Mess., iii. 83, but that is unlikely.
[488] ‘Con esto cumplimos, por ser el primer toque.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad.,
67.
[489] ‘Â nosotros los soldados nos diò á cada vno dos collares de oro, que valdria
cada collar diez pesos, è dos cargas de mantas.’ The rest went to their officers. Id.
CHAPTER XVII.
CAPTURE OF THE EMPEROR.
November, 1519.
One reason with Cortés for not touching the treasures was to
hold out an alluring bait to those who, more prone to listen to the
warnings of timid allies than to the ambitious promptings of their
leader, were ever ready to take alarm and urge withdrawal from a
position which they regarded as dangerous. Unbending in his
resolution, the general had nevertheless grasped all the perils of
their position. Hitherto no firm ground existed for alarm. They had
been a week in the capital, and were still receiving from all hands the
kindest treatment and the most generous hospitality. Cortés was
aware, however, that this depended on the favor of the emperor,
whose power over the submissive people resembled that of a god,
and whose person appeared to them as sacred as his will was
absolute. He had also learned that this monarch was a man
affrighted by his superstitions, and often influenced by trifling
circumstances; ready to strike where he had fawned the moment
before, and little bound by words or pledges, particularly when they
involved his own sovereignty. One misstep by the Spanish leader or
any of his men, ill-behaved and importunate as they were, according
to his own statement, might precipitate the change. The presence of
the hated Tlascaltecs was itself a burden, and the drain for
supporting the self-invited guests would soon be felt. The religious
topic had already created a momentary irritation, which might rankle
and grow under the promptings of the priests, who must naturally
object to rival interference.
Emperor and subjects were evidently restrained only by the
military prestige of the Spaniards, and to some extent by the belief in
their divine mission; but they were also aware that, whatever might
be the prowess of the visitors and the power of their weapons and
steeds, they were mortals, for this had been proved quite lately by
the unfortunate defeat of Escalante, and in the Nautla campaign.
The soldiers of Montezuma had but to raise the bridges of the
causeways and cut off retreat, then stop supplies and reduce them
by starvation. True, there was the fate of Cholula before the
Mexicans; but they had gained experience, and could mass vastly
more warriors and arms, while the Spaniards would have no allies in
reserve to operate in the rear. Besides, what mattered the
destruction of a part, or even of the entire city, when thereupon
depended the safety of the throne, menaced by a horde of cruel,
avaricious monsters!
Cortés had considered all these points, and knew the
expediency of resolute action. He had undertaken an enterprise
wherein one bold move must be supported by another, and to these
all means had to be subordinate. He had not come all this way to
place himself within the power of a suspicious and vacillating despot,
nor to waste his time in waiting for what events might bring forth,
while his enemies, headed by Velazquez, were arranging for his
overthrow. He had formed his plans long beforehand, as indicated in
his first letter to the king, wherein he promised to have the great
Montezuma “a prisoner, a corpse, or a subject to the royal crown of
your Majesty.”[496] Conquest, followed by settlement and conversion,
was his aim. It would not pay him to play for a smaller stake.
Just now rumors began to circulate tending to stir anew the fears
which Montezuma’s friendly and hospitable demeanor had soothed.
One was that the nobles had actually prevailed on the emperor to
break the bridges, to arm the whole city, and to fall on the Spaniards
with all available strength.[497] Soldiers were readily found who
fancied that the mayordomo was less obsequious than formerly, and
that he gave scantier supplies. It was also understood from
Tlascaltecs that the populace appeared less friendly during the last
day or two. These reports may have sprung wholly from timid minds
still agitated by the warnings uttered by Tlascaltecs before the
departure from Cholula, or they may have been promoted by Cortés
himself in furtherance of his plans. He at any rate seized the
pretence to hold a council, composed of Alvarado, Leon, Ordaz, and
Sandoval, together with twelve soldiers whose advice he most
valued, “including myself,” says Bernal Diaz. His chief reason was to
persuade them of the necessity for the measure he had resolved on,
and to win their hearty coöperation. Laying before them the current
rumors which confirmed the warnings formerly received, and
representing the unreliable and suspicious character of Montezuma,
his great power, and the peculiar position and strength of the city, he
concluded by proposing the daring venture of seizing the emperor
and holding him a hostage.[498]
Here was folly run mad! Four hundred men, after penetrating
formidable barriers and gaining the very heart of a great empire,
whose vast armies could oppose a thousand warriors to every
Spaniard there, coolly propose to take captive the worshipped
monarch of this vast realm, and then to defy its millions of subjects!
The wildest tales of mediæval knights hardly equal this project.
Reckless as was the conception, it was the fruit of yet greater
audacity. Cortés reared his structure of folly insensate upon the
platform of still greater insensate folly. If it was true that he had
practically placed himself in the position of a captive, then he would
cut the knot by capturing the captor. And yet, foolhardy as might
appear the scheme when coolly viewed from the isle of Cuba,
situated as the Spaniards were, it was doubtless the best they could
do; it was doubtless all they could do. The efficiency of hostages had
been frequently tried by the conquerors in the Antilles, and the
opportune seizure of the Cempoalan lord had not been forgotten; but
this had been effected under the impulse of the moment, while the
chieftain was surrounded by Spaniards. Here was required not only
a calm resolution, unflinching to the end, but a well laid stratagem.
Cortés stood prepared with both.
Producing the letter from Villa Rica, which had been kept secret
all this time, he gave an account of the unfortunate successes at
Almería, describing in exaggerated terms the treachery of
Quauhpopoca, and consequently of Montezuma as his master, and
stirring the feelings of the council by an appeal to avenge their
comrades.[499] Here was a pretence[500] which served also to set
aside the suggestion that the emperor would be only too glad to let
them depart in peace, for it was argued that a retreat now, since the
Spaniards stood revealed as mortals, would draw upon them not
only the contempt of allies and countrymen, but a general uprising,
with the most fatal results. Retreat meant also the surrender of all
hopes of wealth, preferment, and honor, to be followed by
punishment and disgrace for their irregular proceedings so far. With
Montezuma in their power, they possessed a hostage whose
sacredness in the eyes of his subjects insured their safety, and made
the people pliable to their will, while disaffected vassals could be
secured by alliances, or by the promise of reforms. Should the
seizure result in the monarch’s death, the succession would
doubtless become the cause of division and dissension, in the midst
of which the Spaniards might influence affairs in their own interest.
Thus were answered the various objections raised.
As for the manner of seizure, the safest plan would doubtless be
to inveigle Montezuma to their quarters and there detain him; but this
would cause delay, and might arouse suspicion,[501] and, since
prompt action was considered necessary, the best way would be to
seize him in his own palace. This was agreed upon, and the same
evening the facts and arguments were effectively presented to the
men and preparations made.
“All night,” writes Bernal Diaz, “we passed in earnest prayer, the
priests devoutly imploring God to so direct the undertaking that it
might redound to his holy service.”[502]
In the morning Cortés sent to announce that he would visit the
emperor. He then despatched a number of small parties as if for a
stroll, with orders to keep themselves in and near the palace, and on
the way to it, ready for any emergency. Twenty-five soldiers were
told to follow him, by twos and threes, into the audience-chamber,
whither he preceded them with Alvarado, Sandoval, Velazquez de
Leon, Francisco de Lugo, and Ávila.[503] All were armed to the teeth,
[504]and as the Mexicans had been accustomed to see them thus
equipped no suspicions were aroused. Montezuma proved on this
occasion to be particularly gracious, and after a brief chat he offered
several presents of finely wrought gold, and to Cortés he presented
one of his daughters, the captains being given women of rank from
his own harem, which was a mark of great favor.[505] Cortés sought
to decline for himself the favor, on the ground that he could not
marry. Montezuma nevertheless insisted, and he yielded not
unwillingly.[506]
Assuming a serious tone, the latter now produced the letter from
Villa Rica, and informed the emperor that he had received an
account of the outrageous conduct of Quauhpopoca, resulting in the
death of some of his men, and that he, the sovereign, had been
accused of being the instigator. Montezuma gave an indignant
denial,[507] and Cortés hastened to assure him that he believed the
charge to be false, but as commander of a party he had to account
for the men to his king, and must ascertain the truth. In this
Montezuma said he would aid him; and calling a trusted officer, he
gave him a bracelet from his wrist bearing the imperial signet—a
precious stone graven with his likeness[508]—bidding him to bring
Quauhpopoca and his accomplices, by force, if necessary.[509]
Cortés expressed himself pleased, but added that, in order to cover
his responsibility as commander, and to convince his men that the
emperor was indeed as innocent as Cortés believed him to be, it
would be advisable for him to come and stay at their quarters till the
guilty parties had been punished.[510]
Montezuma was dumfounded at this unhallowed impudence. He,
the august sovereign, before whom even princes prostrated
themselves, at whose word armies sprang into existence, and at
whose name mighty rulers trembled, he to be thus treated by a score
of men whom he had received as guests and loaded with presents,
and this in his own palace! For a moment he stood mute, but the
changing aspect of his countenance revealed the agitation within. At
last he exclaimed that he was not the person to be thus treated. He
would not go. They could always find him at his palace.
Cortés pleaded that his presence among the soldiers was
necessary, not merely as a declaration of his innocence, but to allay
the rumors which had reached them that he and his people were
plotting for their destruction. Montezuma again made an indignant
denial; but added that, even if he consented to go, his people would
never allow it. His refusal, insisted the general, would rouse the
worst suspicions of his men, and he could not answer for their acts.
Mexico might meet the fate of Cholula, and he with it.[511]
Montezuma now began to implore, and offered to surrender his
legitimate children as hostages if he were but spared the disgrace of
being made a prisoner. This could not be, was the reply. The
Spanish quarter was his own palace, and he could readily persuade
his subjects that he went there for a short time of his own accord, or
at the command of the gods.[512] He would be treated with every
consideration, and should enjoy his usual comfort, surrounded by
favorites and councillors. The plan involved no change beyond that
of residence, to a place where he would be under secret
surveillance.