The handsomest drowned man in the world Essay

Magical realism is a genre that portrays both reality and fantasy. As defined by Faris (2004) in Ordinary enchantments, magical realism is a genre of writing that includes an irreducible element of magic and details that suggest phenomenon (Faris, 2004, p. 7). He describes the irreducible element as: â€Å"†¦something we cannot explain according to the laws of the universe as they have been formulated in Western empirically based discourse†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Faris, 2004, p. 7). In Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s short story, The handsomest drowned man in the world, the facets of magical realism are rife. He uses magical realism to enchant the reader. The story is of a small cliff-side and coastal community that is inhabited by about twenty people and is barren, flowerless land. This village is forever changed by the arrival of an awe-inspiring corpse. The elements of magical realism start to appear when this body that has washed ashore is of a man who is unimaginably beautiful, tal ler than any person they had ever seen, and is not rotted; although, any corpse traveling through the ocean should have been rotted by then. The villagers immediately take him in as one of their own. They name him Esteban and imagine what their lives would be like with him around. This story is in a realistic environment, but the features of this man they have found are â€Å"magical† almost, and the fact that they so effortless accept him is one of the factors that constitute this short story as magical realism. The elements of magical realism are exposed as Marquez compels readers to question their way of thinking by portraying characters and situations that illustrate phenomenon and extreme faith. The villagers show tremendous faith in their immediate acceptance, instead of questioning and fear, of the astonishing drowned man who has so many qualities that are above and beyond that of a normal human being. â€Å"†¦the drowned man was becoming all the more Esteban for them, and so they wept so much, for he was the more destitute, most peaceful, and most obliging man on earth, poor Esteban. So when the men r eturned with the news that the drowned man was not from the neighboring villages either, the women felt an opening of jubilation in the midst of their tears. ‘Praise the Lord,’ they sighed, he’s ours!’† (Marquez, 1972, p. 3). The town falls in love with Esteban, treating him like one of their own, but even better. The women imagine what his life was like before, being so much bigger then everyone else and being more handsome then the rest. They make clothes and jewelry for him and imagine what their lives would be like having him as a husband. The villagers really seem to come together in their admiration of Esteban. Their faith strongly exemplifies the magical realism elements in this story, seeing as normally a reader would expect society to not so readily except something that is so unnatural and uncommon to them. The villagers later decide they need to hold a magnificent funeral for Esteban and they hope that he will return to them one day, as he is a part of their community in their eyes. â€Å"They let him go without an anchor so that he could come back if he wished and whenever he wished, and they all held their breath for the fraction of centuries the body took to fall into the abyss. They did no t need to look at one another to realize that they were no longer all present that they would never be† (Marquez, 1972, p. 4). They hold Esteban in such high esteem, yet he is only a dead corpse. This shows the characteristics of magical realism, Esteban having the irreducible element of magic that enchants the village. Also, they have this blind faith that this dead body will return to them which is why they did not tie an anchor to him. That phenomenon would likely never happen in the real world, but it makes readers question if this glorious being would actually return and be part of their village. During the grand funeral, the villagers recognize the emptiness and dryness of their streets, land, and dreams. Not only do the people of the village desire Esteban to return, but they want to transform their village to be a better fit for him, and ultimately for themselves as well. â€Å"†¦everything would be different from then on, that their houses would have wider doors, higher ceilings, and stronger floors†¦ they were going to paint their house fronts gay colors to make Esteban’s memory e ternal and they were going to break their backs digging for springs among the stones and planting flowers on the cliffs†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Marquez, 1972, p. 4). Esteban’s marvel has charmed the village into wanting to better themselves. Even if over a non-living body, this village will now not be a bland and flowerless desert. The community is over all bettered through their blind faith in Esteban. Is blind faith really a bad fixation? If a community chooses to become a greater place because of the belief in an unlikely event, then there does not seem to be much harm. And the concept is not only in fairy tales and magical realism stories. In many religions, the people believe in an idea that seems absurd; but, it can bring them together and set a standard for positive lifestyles and actions. Some religions even have beliefs similar to the story line of Marquez’s short story, where there is a magnificent being that has died and the people are waiting on the beings return. While in the mean time they try to better their community and their selves for this individual. An example of this is Jesus Christ, and the Christians belief that he will one day return to this world. It seems plausible that Marquez was making a statement on society’s blind faith in his short story. But also, he fascinates the reader with a tale of a phenomenon, while stilling maintaining the readers feeling of reality. Furthermore, not only is The handsomest drowned man in the world an insightful short story, but it also greatly exemplifies the unique style of writing that is magical realism. References Marquez, G. (1972). The handsomest drowned man in the world: A tale for children. In Leaf storm and other stories (pp. 98-104). Retrieved from http://books.google.com/ Faris (2004). Magical Realism between Modern and Postmodern Fiction. In Ordinary Enchantments (pp. 7-42).

Eth 125 Final Project

ETH/125 Final Project Diversity in America History has never been one of my favorite subjects; however this class has sparked a new interest in me in regards to my culture and how that culture came to be. This Cultural Diversity course has made me pay more attention to the people around me. I think this awareness has helped me relate to and also understand people in a way that I never have before. The one thing that totally surprised me was finding out that white privilege was something real. I thought that this was an ill feeling and belief that mostly Black people had in regards to the White race.White people, in my mind, had it all; they had certain advantages simply because they were White. The White Privilege section in Chapter 13 of Racial Ethnic Groups states a few of those advantages. I knew that being considered financially reliable, having the ability of articulation, and seeing people of the same race being represented in popular media were common advantages of the White r ace. Consequently, I thought they saw themselves as privileged and were proud about it. The information from this course that will be the most memorable is that, in general, the people from the White race do not see themselves as have any ethnicity.They feel as though they have been separated from their European roots; they are simply Caucasian. They are also victims of reverse discrimination; I almost laughed the first time I read this in the text. Now, I know that this is a laughing matter. I have seen evidence of this in my life. I asked 50 of my neighbors a yes or no question. This question was: â€Å"Do you believe that most Black people would label a random White person they see on the street as a racist? † Out of the 50 people, of evenly varied ethnicities, 41 of them replied with a yes.These results are a relevant example of how much diversity affects the person, currently and throughout history. Something New With my mother being Black and my father being Puerto Rica n, I have always been curious about my cultural roots; however, they both passed away when I was very young, so I never had the chance to inquire about my Hispanic side. One of things that I learned from this course was that there are about 4. 4 million Puerto Ricans here in the United States; I never could have imagined that number being so great in value.Another surprising fact I learned was that between the years of 1990 and 2009, the population of Puerto Ricans in New York fell by more than 100,000. U. S. Population in Year 2050 Let’s take a break on the present and think about the future of the United States. With all of the immigrants relocating here daily, along with the increasing amounts of interracial marriage, it should come to no surprise that by the year 2050 the Whites will no longer be the majority race. The Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American portion of the population is estimated to rise from 36 percent to 54 percent.This nation is comparable to a sup er-magnet; America attracts people from all over the world. The population is expected to rise 100 million by the year 2050, but this number all depends on the amount of immigration. Estimates of the United States population around the year 2050 vary from the U. N. ’s 404 million to the U. S. Census Bureau’s 422 to 458 million. U. S. + Diversity = Challenges The challenges that the United States have faced and overcome are a small reflection of the future challenges that America will have in the future.There will be challenges based around race, equality/inequality, and energy in the future. My great-grandmother said, â€Å"There is nothing new under the sun. Some days are just a shade darker or brighter in some people’s eyes. † I also believe that illegal immigration will become more of a problem in the future because of the direct relation that it has to the American population. The more people who come illegally, has a direct relation to certain increa ses in crime for most major cities.This is because they are not able to work in America legally; they have to get their money somehow, and illegal crimes is the most common choice of immigrants who come here illegally. Benefits of a Diverse Society Benefits of a diverse society help in every aspect of our individual lives and in our lives as a whole. People of different cultures offer different views in many areas. These benefits enrich our lives and the acceptance of those benefits is enriching to the immigrants’ lives. The different seasonings at your local supermarket are a very small example of this country’s diversity.People bring their cultures with them; those cultures, beliefs, and ways of living are new to us and many have been adapted and frequently used by the American people in their everyday lives. For example, acupuncture originally was used solely by the Chinese/Oriental people, but there are currently hundreds of thousands of people in America that eith er use, or practice acupuncture. Climate of Acceptance and Cultural Pluralism The question was posed, â€Å"How can we foster a climate of acceptance and cultural pluralism in the U. S. My very simple answer is by treating others the way that you would want to be treated by others. Compared to when my mother was a teenager, the level of â€Å"rudeness† is more than topped the charts. It seems like the everyday, normal â€Å"Joe† and â€Å"Jane† are always in a rut or exhibiting anger in some form. I believe this is a reaction what goes on their lives, like the people they interact with. So if the current reaction is different from past reactions, in a way it could be tied to their understanding of the people around them.Diversity is very scary for some; those people feel this way because of some personal fear or cultural fear that has been passed down to them. The way to overcome this fear, is to prove this fear wrong. If I fear white people because I think the y will look down on me, then I should be around them more to find out if that is true for every person of that race. Since that is not likely, it will prove that not every person of every race is that specific way. This is how we become more pluralistic. Meet more people of different races and ethnicities and your life will become more enriched.A Change for Pluralism Pluralism is the term used for when people of all racial and ethnic groups have equal overall standings in their social lives; furthermore, the different identity groups coexist, but they also maintain their own distinctive cultures. As of yet, the United States has not achieved social pluralism, but if we all put forth our best efforts to change some of our behaviors, we could more than possibly achieve this incredible goal. Personally, the first behavioral change that I would make would be to avoid telling, listening, and participating in ethnic-based jokes.I believe that people sometimes do not realize how hurtful th ose â€Å"LOL’s† can be. Reading books/magazines and watching plays and movies about various groups not of your own can better acquaint and prepare you for face to face interactions. The most exciting change that I will make is learning about the various cultures, along with their beliefs, and traditions. Embracing and experiencing at least some part of another group’s ways, helps to close the gap between cultures and brings our society a little closer to being pluralistic.This world is ours to make wonderful. Diversity is something that will enrich our lives, but has hindered our progress as a whole in the past. Pluralism is the next step in progression for the human race. Embrace your neighbor and all of their differences. References American Multicultural Publications, 2007-2012, Cultural diversity, www. diversity-books. com Wikipedia, September 2012, cultural pluralism, http://wikipedia. org Wendy Baldwin, November 2012, Population Reference Bureau, www. prb . org John J. Macionis, 2011-2012, Social Problems, Pearson

Management Assignment: Human Intelligence Essay

Traditionally organisations have concentrated upon the intelligence of individuals and held the point of view that intelligent people in terms of IQ succeeded more. However, these ideas are continually challenged by the idea of emotional intelligence being key indicators of management performance (cited in Khosravi, Manafi, Hojabri, Aghapour and Gheshmi, 2011, pg 3). Emotional intelligence is ones ability to perceive and regulate other people’s emotions (cited in Sadri, 2012, pg 536). In present society, emotional intelligence of management is essential to positive communications in projecting ideas, increasing value of teams through creating common team values and hence increasing the job satisfactions of individuals in workplaces from corporations to sales. Emotional intelligence is consequently directly related to the overall performance of a company and also the efficiency of individual employees. It can also be said that emotional intelligence is much more important then pure intelligence in shaping leadership success (cited in Sadri, 2012, pg 537). Managers use communication as a method to transfer meaning to others for the ultimate purpose of achieving their goals and objectives. The ability to communicate efficiently depends upon the manager’s capability to empathise with his or her peers, that is, the manager’s level of emotional intelligence. Goleman’s study asserts the notions of emotionally intelligent individuals are more successful at communicating their ‘ideas, goals and intentions’ (cited in Zeidner, Matthews, Roberts, 2004, pg 386). Similarly, Wasielewski’ studies suggests emotionally intelligent individuals are able to ‘excite and enthuse’ or make others ‘feel cautious and wary’ (cited in George, 2000, pg 7). This sort of behavior will consequently motivate or demotivate individuals in the workplace. Thus emotional intelligence is crucial as it allows managers to communicate effectively and therefore achieve his or her goals by influencing the mood and emotion of his or her team. Bar On further asserts that managers are also able to use communication to ensure a positive result in environmentally demanding work situations (cited in Zeidner, Matthews, Roberts, 2004, pg 374). Managers will only be able to do this if they understand their employees’ personal feelings, hence emotional intelligence is the tool that lets managers communicate effectively in any sort of situation. Regardless of whether the situation is difficult or not, emotional intelligence will always be significant because it allows the manager to communicate effectively with his or her employees (cited in George, 2000, pg 8). A consequence of managers who communicate with high emotional intelligence creates value adding member interaction, which in turn increases team productivity. Positive emotions of certain individuals such as managers can influence team member mentality and is high likely to increase group cohesion through relationship building, this is also known as positive ‘emotional contagion’ (cited in Ashanasy and Daus, 2002, pg 79). However oppositely, negative emotions of an individual can decrease the efficiency of other team members since negative attitudes can ‘infect’ co-workers and is hard to reverse (cited in Ashanasy and Daus, 2002, pg 79). Consequently due to these polar outcomes the need for emotionally intelligent managers is crucial to the operation of a team to complete tasks efficiently. More importantly, high emotional intelligence can impact a leaders and teams ability to construct team goals and objectives (cited in Ashanasy and Daus, 2002 pg 81). This is asserted by Rosete and Ciarrochi study in which concluded that high emotional intelligent leaders performed more efficiently and was not affected by cognitive ability (cited in Sadri, 2012, pg 538). Apart from leadership highly emotional intelligent team members also increased team efficiency. A Study by Jordan and Troths concluded this through their experiment where they concluded high emotional intelligent team members performed more exceptional then low emotional intelligent teams (cited in Sadri, 2012, pg 538). Thus leadership through high emotional intelligent individuals increases the value of a team, however high emotional intelligent team members also contribute to positive team interaction. Another aspect of high emotional intelligent leaders is improved job satisfaction and hence increased performance. Emotionally intelligent leaders are able to influence ‘shared beliefs’ of groups, allowing them to shape ones abilities and skills to communicate and co-ordinate with each other (cited in Zampetakis and Moustakis, 2011, pg 84 ). These ‘shared beliefs’ allow groups to have high job satisfactions due to improved performance due to positive emotional norms created by the manager (cited in Zampetakis and Moustakis, 2011, pg 84). Henceforth, an increase in group job satisfaction will allow individual satisfaction growth, this will in turn increase overall efficiency. In the studies of Ashkanasy and Daus, we can also view the importance of emotionally related job satisfaction. The study contains scenarios, which stress how negative satisfaction partly due to leadership problems can have adverse affects upon other team members. Research has also exemplified the need for emotionally intelligent managers to heighten positive emotions with employees particularly in the sales industry to increase customer rentention (cited in Ashkanasy and Daus, 2002, pg 77). Hence, job satisfaction is highly correlated with the emotional intelligence of managers. Job satisfaction is clearly an important factor in the workplace as it is able to increase efficiency. As organisations and businesses seek to increase efficiency, the use of emotionally intelligent individuals will be employed to redefine groups and individuals in the workplace. Over time as stronger evidence builds upon that high emotional intelligent individuals make better leaders, companies will undergo a transition to recruit or train emotionally intelligent individuals. As companies continually gain knowledge in this field, competitive strategies will be formed to better firm performance. As they embrace these types of changes, competitive advantages particularly in the sales industry will experience large competitive advantages. Communication from highly emotionally intelligent allows more positively regulated team ambitions and hence allow greater team collaboration, which increases inter-personal relationships. Team collaboration is highly effective in producing superior job satisfactions and consequently job efficiency. Hence, emotional intelligence is essential for leaders to manage successfully in workplaces. References: Sadri, G. , (2012). Emotional intelligence and leadership development, Public Personnel Management, Vol. 41 No. 3, pp. 535-548 Date Viewed – 10 April 2013 <http://web. ebscohost. com. wwwproxy0. library. unsw. edu. au/ehost/detail? vi d=3&sid=7e41ae83-e0b2-455b-ac25-1568e4f33f6f%40sessionmgr110&hid=112&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=buh&AN=79656429> Khosravi, R. D. , Manafi, M. , Hojabri, R. , Aghapour, A. H. , Gheshmi. R. , (2011). The relationship between emotional intelligence and effective delegation. International Journal of Business and Social Science, Vol. 2 No. 19, pp. 223-235 Date Viewed – 10 April 2013 lt;http://search. proquest. com. wwwproxy0. library. unsw. edu. au/abiglobal/docview/904526890/13D5FC8D9CD73AEC7F5/1? accountid=12763> Zeidner, M. , Matthews, G. & Roberts, R. D. , (2004). Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace: A Critical Review. Applied Psychology, 53(3), pp. 371–399. Dated Views – 10 April 2013 <http://online library. wiley. com. wwwproxy0. library. unsw. edu. au/doi/10. 1111/j. 1464-0597. 2004. 00176. x/abstract;jsessionid=BC2DC14C7B9282FD9361B666E034A2C9. d02t02> George, J. M. , (2000). Emotions and Leadership: The Role of Emotional Intelligence. Human Relations, 53(8), pp. 1027–1055. Date viewed – 10 April 2013 <http://search. proquest. com. wwwproxy0. library. unsw. edu. au/docview/231437575/fulltextPDF? accountid=12763> Ashkanasy, N. M. & Daus, C. S. , (2002). Emotion in the workplace: The new challenge for managers. The Academy of Management Executive, 16(1), pp. 76–86. Date viewed – 10 April 2013 <http://www. jstor. org. wwwproxy0. library. unsw. edu. au/stable/4165815> Zampetakis, L. A. & Moustakis, V. , (2011). Managers’ Trait Emotional Intelligence and Group Outcomes: The Case of Group Job Satisfaction. Small  Group  Research, Vol. 42 No. 1, pp. 77-102 Date Viewed – 10 April 2013

Learning Styles and Personality Types in a Group Dynamic

Learning Styles and Personality Types in a Group Dynamic When working in a group environment, one will encounter different people who think, learn and act in different ways. In order to succeed, we must understand these differences and how to use them to our advantage while working with others. Multiple Intelligences When Gardner developed his Multiple Intelligence theory, it gave people a new insight to the way we learn. This breakthrough also helped us to work more effectively with one another as well as how to better communicate with each other. Verbal-Linguistic Someone who is Verbal-Linguistic is very simply good with language. A Verbal-Linguistic person will excel with writing, talking or listening. Therefore, to better work with this type of an individual, one should either write notes or have a face-to-face conversation. This way the Verbal-Linguistic person can best understand and contribute to the group. Intrapersonal Intrapersonal individuals excel at being alone and their own thoughts and feelings. They may at first seem to be a detriment to a group because of their tendency to want to be quiet and observe. This behavior may be seen by others as someone who does not want to work together or contribute, which can lead to conflict. To work with someone who is intrapersonal, one should be aware that they might not express their ideas openly. Any tasks that need to be done that don’t involve the group as a whole could be delegated to this individual. Visual-Spatial Artwork, design and formatting are all things Visual-Spatial people do best. When working with someone who is Visual-Spatial, it will help to not give long speeches. Visual-Spatial learners best learn and contribute through the use of pictures, maps and diagrams. To effectively make use of these individuals, any tasks that relate to this would be best. Personality Types According to the Myers-Briggs Personality Test, there are four types of personalities: thinker, organizer, giver and adventurer. When working in a group, it is beneficial and essential to understand what types of personalities lie within your group. Organizer If someone is an organizer, they tend to be focused on details. This is good for a group because they will be very thorough in each task making sure everything is complete and accurate. To best work with organizers, make sure each requirement is clear and defined and everything is understood and laid out in a clear manner. Adventurer Adventurers seek to do things in a non-conventional way. They may want to take a more active approach to the project as opposed to standard discussions and writing. In some groups this may be seen as a waste of time or unwillingness to complete the task up to the group standard. Allowing adventurers to take a different approach, even if it is not used in the final product, will not only allow them to understand the material better, but it could also add different elements into the group project that might not have been thought of that could raise the quality of the project as a whole. Thinker When working with thinkers, it is important to understand the need to work alone. Like individuals who are intrapersonal, thinkers work best by themselves. To help make them feel more at ease in a group environment, allow them to complete tasks that do not require the entire group. While working with the group at large, thinkers will be useful to solve problems the group may be facing during a task. Conclusion Assessing the learning styles and personality types of the members in your group is essential to the group’s ultimate success. Failure to use member’s strengths could result in conflicts and not achieving the goals the group has set. When each member is utilized in a way that they are strong in and in a way they are comfortable in, they will not only be productive and active within a group, but also achieve a higher quality of work which will only help the whole group succeed.

Diversity among individuals Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Diversity among individuals - Assignment Example Nurses, patients, and other stakeholders play a fundamental role in both health promotion and health education. In light of this observation, it is important for these parties to embrace diversity and subsequently understand how diversity-related practices influence education. The aforementioned teaching principles, learning styles, and teaching methodologies aid in the understanding of critical issues in the health sector. In the process, these aspects make it possible for scholars to identify areas of education that make the highest difference in the society as far as health and education are concerned. Most importantly, teaching principles, learning styles, and teaching methodologies make it possible for education to target specific issues and problems that subsequently promote positive outcomes in both health promotion and disease prevention (Bensley & Brookins-Fisher, 2009). In a bid to overcome differing views, health care providers address disease prevention and health promotion from the community or local level upwards. Given that health concerns differ from one community to another, the idea is to have health care providers customize their approach to disease prevention and health promotion towards the community, local population, or the society they

The NSA, Government Spying, and Privacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The NSA, Government Spying, and Privacy - Essay Example Business records and domestic phone calls got recorded (Lee 1). Snowden also releases that the NSA has been spying on the foreign leaders. From the report, it had targeted at least 35 leaders. The Agency also spies on ordinary people overseas. It has been collecting data from common people, as in Germany and Brazil. The Agency also tracked the telephone location around the world (Lee 1). The agency does not have the authority to target the cell phone users deliberately in the US, but it collected the phone records incidentally. With nine major internet companies, the PRISM program lets the National Security Agency and access to the private user data on the online services. Snowden reveals that the companies comprise of the Google, Microsoft, YouTube, Facebook, Pal Talk, Yahoo, Skype, Apple, and AOL. The program enables NSA to get private information such as stored documents, Facebook messages, and emails (Lee 1). The NSA uses the Tailored Access Operations in hacking a wide variety of business IT systems and consumer gadgets. It also taps long distance internet connections. The agency works with countries around the world and taps into fiber optic cables known to carry much fiber optic data. Moreover, NSA has also intercepted the data flowing from Yahoo and Google data centers. From the encryption as one log into Gmail is an example in which the Agency harvested the bulk user data. The agency has also been collecting information on the internet usage of American citizens between the years 2001 to 2011 (Lee 1). NSA has also undermined the security of encryption products by persuading technology companies to make their products exploitable. Modification of the product was to make them vulnerable to attacks by the agency. The company has also been using tracking cookies in choosing hacking targets. In 2013, the company cracked one of the most popular encryption standards, A5 and intercepted contents of the cell

Book Assignment Part 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Book Assignment Part 5 - Essay Example Actors on a historical stage do not just exist; they act, and they act out of the conditions of their character and circumstances. Human life is biographical as well as biological, and it is clear that memory has sense from both of these perspectives. Following Martnez (1994), Wilson and Donnan state that: "transnationalism is the process whereby borderlanders are influenced by, and sometimes share the values, ideas, customs and traditions of, their counterparts across the boundary line" (Wilson and Donnan 1999, p. 5). Unlike the stage actor, whose assumed identity is not taken seriously to represent the self within, the spy must convince skeptical and suspicious others of the reality of an assumed identity, when that assumed identity is in fact false. Thus, the spy poses an interesting case for a psychology of self and identity, especially when the possibilities of double agents or counterspies are considered. In contrast to other borders, the uniqueness of the U.S.-Mexican border is explained by historical relations between the nations and political struggle. The war between the United States and Mexico (1846-48) ended with the defeat of Mexico and its resultant loss of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. For the first time the Spanish Americans realized that the "Colossus of the North" was a threat to them. Although Mexico has had to accept the loss of half the territory it claimed, that loss is still a source of bitterness. In South America after the wars of independence there were no developments of international importance comparable to those in Mexico. Though for some purposes and in some contexts the 'native' population was treated as homogeneous, there was in colonialism, an ideology and practice of classification' which usually divided that population into further, hierarchically ordered and stereotyped, categories. Sometimes these were very broad: Spaniards in Mexico referred to the 'wild' Indians. This kind of transformation often emerged through an 'ethnic dialectic'. In the colonial classification of indigenous populations there was a dialectical relationship between existing ethnic categories, often those of the locally dominant group with which the colonizers first established contact, or with which they had their most enduring relationship, and the categories of the colonizers' own language and culture. They did not impose or operate solely with a preformed system of classification, nor did they adopt existing systems wholesale. In the shaping and reshaping of indigenous ethnic and cultural pluralism there was a complex i nterplay between colonizers' systems of classification and those of the colonized (which in any case were not timeless or unchanging). The transformation of ethnic space involved various forms of social and political incorporation. "The exploration of Mexican and Mexican-American political values and actions at the border is an early example of ethnicity as a factor which gives character to the borderlands, binds communities to each other across the borderline" (Wilson and Donnan Wilson and Donnan 1999, p. 54) . The relations between the U.S. and Mexico were based on unique cultural values and traditions shaped by both cultures. The historical and sociological process we have