Journal 5 - Jarrod Mautz

I did my research on Leif Erikson's Life. After reading Mariano and Clara Lucca's profile (pg 163), my interest was peaked, since he said he liked him but he wasnt his favorite. I had previously known that historians suggested that a Viking/Norwegian had discovered North America far before Columbus. Leif Erikson was the son of Erik the Red, who founded the first European settlement on what is now known as Greenland. However, according to one school of thought, Erikson sailed off course on his way back to Greenland and landed on the North American continent, where he explored a region he called Vinland (although historians don't agree on the true location of Vinland). Some historians also speculate Leif may have sought out Vinland based on stories of an earlier voyage by an Icelandic trader.

I also thought the writing style Isay used for the Lucca's profile was interesting. Throughout most of the book Isay displays the interviewee's dialogue in normal paragraph format. When doing interviews with two or more people he typically separates their dialogues altogether. However in this one he seems to display both simultaneously as if to purposefully display the elderly couples unity and connection.

One passage I thought was pretty deep was when Mike Gashwazra's daughter explained "He doesn't want to talk anymore, he's saying he's worried that people will say, 'Why is he telling the white people these things that they don't need to know?'" I thought this clearly displayed the mistrust and animosity that still exists between cultures in America. I think many times people have two faces, one they put on when interacting with the public, and the other when they are at home or with people of the same culture/ethnicity.

http://www.history.com/topics/exploration/leif-eriksson