We’ve finally made it to our first integrated essay that has been written by one of my students. Chaco Great House is what we’ll be covering today. First, we’ll go over the potential grammatical mistakes, look at the sentence structures, etc.

After that, we need to see if the information we hear actually matches the information that was both in the article and essay. Remember, 60% of the focus must be on the listening portion with just 40% on the article.

Finally, I’ll make some notes and we’ll go from there. Remember, lots of the independent and integrated essay tasks are available on my Patreon, as well as essay reviews (price increase coming January 1st), so be sure to inquire!

Chaco Great House – Her Essay

In the lecture, the professor made several points about the Chaco Great Houses. The teacher argues that all the theories related to  the use of these architectures are not convincing. However, the author of the passage contends that these theories are competing and can provide plausible explanations. The professor’s lecture casts doubt on the reading by using several points that are contrary to the use of the space in the Chace Great Houses.

The first point that the instructor uses to cast doubt on the reading is that even though thiseven this architecture looks from the outside like apartment buildings, the inside space looks the opposite. According to the professor, if these architectures were constructed with a residential purpose, they shouldshould have more fireplaces where the families would have been able to cook. Furthermore, the professor argues that the Chaco Great House willHouse it will only have the space of fireplaces for 10 families. This point differs from the reading in that the reading states that Chaco architectures can holdheld hundreds of people.

Another point that the professor uses to cast doubt on the reading is about the use of Chaco Great Houses as storageas a storage. The teacher claims that if it will be used as a storage construction, it would have needed large container spaces. However, the reading states that the ideal size of these architectures would have made it perfect places to storestorage the grain maize.

Additionally, the instructor claims that the Chaco Great Houses were not used as ceremonialas a ceremonial gathering places. He explains that besides broken pots, specialists specialist founded also, building materials as sand and stones and even construction materials. For these reasonsreason, the professor claimsaims that, even archeologists can suppose that broken pots are related with special ceremonies; theceremonies the fact of having found otherothers materials can be more related that Great Houses can be useduse as a normal space for trash. However, the reading states that these broken pots can be interpreted as evidenceas an evidence that inside the Great Houses, the inhabitants performed important ceremonies.

In conclusion, the points made in the lecture contrast with the reading. The lack of space in these architectures, the not evidence of large space for storages and the discovery of different objects than broken pots demonstrate that the three theories about the use of Great Houses in Mexico are in doubt. 

Reading Article

The settlements of New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon in American Southwest were notable for their massive stone buildings, known as great houses, containing hundreds of rooms and standing three or four stories high since the twelfth century A.D. Archeologists have been trying to determine how these buildings were used but still have not come up with a universally agreed-upon explanation. However, there are three competing theories that provide plausible explanations.

One theory states the Chaco structures were residential and held hundreds of people. Supporters of this theory look too similar architectural structures in more recent Southwest societies. One structure, in particular, that is strikingly similar to the Chaco buildings is the apartment building at Taos, New Mexico, which has housed several people of the centuries.

The second theory argues that the Chaco structures were used as food storage facilities. Since one of the main crops of the Chaco people was grain maize, it could be stored for an extended time period without spoiling. The large size of the structures made them ideal for storing large crops of maize.

A third theory proposes the houses were used as ceremonial gathering places. Archeologists discovered a large mound of old material near one house called Pueblo Alto. Further inspection of the mound revealed deposits containing several broken pots. It has been documented in other Native American cultures that during special ceremonies they ate a festive meal and discarded the pots that the meal had been prepared or served with. Because of these documented ceremonies, the finding at Pueblo Alto has been interpreted as evidence that people gathered there for special ceremonies.

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