How did Cortes describe the Europeans in his July 10, 1519 letter?

Cortes's July 1519 letter was the first of five letters he wrote to Charles V (ruler of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire). In the first letter, Cortes describes his efforts to colonize different regions in Mexico on behalf of the Spanish crown.
In his first letter, Cortes describes the Spanish (Europeans) as ambitious, devout Catholics. He also describes Europeans as more advanced, civilized, and powerful than the civilizations they set out to conquer.
Cortes was originally commissioned by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar (the first Spanish governor of Cuba) to explore Mexico. However, Cortes's ambitious nature put a strain on the relationship between the two men. Velázquez eventually rescinded Cortes's permission to lead a contingent through Mexico. However, Cortes ignored the orders from the governor. Instead, Cortes wrote to Charles V to make his argument for conquering Mexico for the Spanish crown.
In his July 1519 letter, Cortes maintained that he would rather work to increase the Spanish crown's influence rather than to benefit Velázquez and the Cuban coffers. Here, we can clearly see Cortes's ambitious nature at play. With single-minded purpose, he maneuvered Velázquez out of the picture and positioned himself as the Spanish king's emissary in Mexico.
Once in this enviable position, Cortes moved to solidify the Spanish king's trust in him. He flattered the king and continually emphasized his loyalty to the Spanish crown. He also denounced Velázquez's supposedly treacherous nature.
In his July 1519 letter, Cortes advised the king to let him win Mexican converts to the Catholic faith. He presented the work of evangelizing these "barbarian" peoples as a religious service and especially one for which God will bless the Spanish crown. According to Cortes, the Mexican people must be made to give up their uncivilized human sacrifices and their encompassing practice of sodomy.
Cortes wrote that it was God who permitted the Mexican regions to be discovered in the name of his Royal Highness. So, we can see Cortes' ambition at play here. Cortes hid his true purposes under a veneer of religious and patriotic zeal. So, his letter emphasizes not just the ambitious nature of the Europeans who descended upon Mexico, but also his own.

Examine Conrad's craftsmanship as a novelist in Lord Jim.

Lord Jim was written by Joseph Conrad. On a general level, it is a story which is largely about the inner struggles of a young man who attempts to personally and morally redeem himself as he faces painful experiences on his path toward adulthood. The challenge centers around reconciling and justifying his outward actions with his inner beliefs. Conrad's style of writing is brilliant, as he vividly describes the personal tales of a man who is living through a time of incredible colonization changes in the world. Powerful nations are establishing military and trading posts throughout the globe to increase their influence in affairs and economics. Conrad's techniques also showcase his impressive ability to captivate the readers's attention so they want to discover more facts about the story.
As a novelist, Conrad uses a narrative technique in the third person, from the perspective of an all-knowing narrator, who introduces Jim, the main character, and explains his background. Then, Conrad introduces a first-person narrator by the name of Marlow, who continues to tell Jim's story. Marlow discusses Jim's life for a decent portion of the book. He offers his own view of experiences he shared with Jim earlier in the novel. Sometimes, Marlow gives the perspective of somebody else who was with Jim. Conrad also uses Marlow in the story to educate readers about the hurdles that Jim has overcome to be considered as fully initiated into adulthood. In this way, readers can see how Jim has matured. It is another highly descriptive technique that keeps readers's attention on a novel that is basically set up to be a long tale that someone would tell to a group of people for hours and hours.
Additionally, the author's craftsmanship of the novel reflects modernism. Instead of using a single narrator to share a story from his or her own perspective for the whole novel, Conrad showcases modern techniques for the time period in which he crafted his story. He uses multiple narrators who describe events from different times. The story jumps back and forth in time in an almost quantum-like fashion, which challenges readers to stay engaged, but it leaves them with a bigger reward for doing so if they stick with it and follow along. Conrad constantly withholds necessary background information throughout the novel, which can even be somewhat irritating, but the mystery of the story is what drives the suspense. This is a great example of a modern novel for its time, and Conrad masterfully and amazingly showcased his ability to craft an inspiring story.

I am in the process of writing an argumentative/research essay in Women's studies and I don't understand the first question to integrate into my writing. "Which theoretical concepts will be helpful to develop an analytical framework that explains the problem (women's self esteem and media)."Please help!

When studying women's self esteem and media, researching feminist theory, media studies, and social psychology can be helpful. In terms of feminist theory, it is crucial to understand and apply an intersectional lens to this topic. Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw originally coined this term in 1989 to describe the how race and gender shape Black women's experiences in ways not solely contained to race or gender based discrimination, but a combination of both. Women's self esteem is heavily impacted by the images they see in the media, which are often young, white, cisgender, heterosexual, thin, conventionally attractive, abled bodies. This gives a very limited view of what a woman should look and act like, and disproportionately affects women of color, LGBTQ+ women, disabled women, and so on, as they are even less represented in media.
Objectification theory, posed by Fredrickson and Roberts in the Psychology of Women Quarterly journal in 1997, posits that girls and women internalize the objectification of their bodies that they see in the media and in everyday life. This internalization of negative body image leads to disordered eating, habitual self-monitoring, and increased shame and anxiety. If you are looking for specific theories to jump-start your research, this may be a good place to start.

Research on the relationship between media and self-esteem may be based in media theory and feminist theory; both draw heavily on critical cultural studies. In recent years, numerous analysts in feminist media studies have critiqued underlying assumptions and incorporated new avenues of research. Currently, attention to social media has become prominent, overshadowing the previous focus on mainstream media, especially television and magazines. Body image, including aspects such as race, gender, and sexual identity, plays a large role in self-esteem. Theories of intersectionality are especially applicable to this line of research.
Research into self-esteem has increased lately due to a growing recognition of the importance of self-esteem for identity formation among children, adolescents, and young adults, who constitute the majority of users of social media and obtain the majority of their information from it. The racial and gendered dimensions of social media usage are likewise coming under increasing scrutiny. The positive potential uses of social media for LGBTQ people, contrasted to the promotion of heterosexual or cisgender images and the tendency to ignore or denigrate LGBT identities, is also gaining attention.
In addition, the long-term focus on body image in feminist scholarship has broadened to include emotional and intellectual issues, such as depictions of female involvement in pastimes, academic studies, and careers that have traditional gender biases. Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines have received particular scrutiny.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3176168

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6025558/

https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199756841/obo-9780199756841-0002.xml

What does the play Hamlet have to say about political power and the use/abuse of such power?

Political power is shown throughout Hamlet as something that can easily be abused. Since Claudius took over the throne after murdering his brother, Denmark has been plunged into a morally rotten state, so much so that the very air that Hamlet breathes is a "foul and pestilent congregation of vapors."
The whole nation has become decadent, as demonstrated by the nightly drunken parties that take place at Elsinore, much to Hamlet's disgust. Claudius is not exercising political power responsibly, and this lack of dedication to his role filters down through his courtiers and sets the general tone for the population at large.
Hamlet knows that things can be so much better, but he's not the one to provide Denmark with the leadership it so desperately needs. Aside from his constant vacillation, Hamlet lacks the moral fiber necessary to restore the nation to what it once was when his father was king. Despite his constant ravings against Claudius, he has been corrupted by his wicked uncle's abuse of political power as much as anyone.
His feigned madness, which eventually accounts for the deaths of four people—Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern—is nothing more than a game of political chicanery—the kind that Claudius himself would probably play were he in Hamlet's position. Hamlet may see himself as occupying a higher moral plane than Claudius, but in actual fact, he's no less of a scheming politician. It's just that Claudius' tactics are different.
It's instructive that it's only with the arrival of a foreign ruler, Fortinbras, that some semblance of order is finally restored to this rotten kingdom. This indicates the depths to which the nation has sunk since Claudius murdered his way to the throne. The whole atmosphere at court was so polluted by Claudius' moral corruption that there was really no way for Hamlet to survive in such a toxic environment without resorting to the same kind of underhand political tactics used by his hated stepfather.
In the political life of a nation, it's the ruler who sets the tone, and under Claudius, that tone was one of corruption, murder, and double-dealing at the very highest level. One of the many tragedies of the play is that fundamentally good people like Hamlet and Ophelia were unable to escape from this and ended up losing their lives due to Claudius' use and abuse of the power he stole.

As a Chinese or an Asian American, why is it important to learn the history of "Chinese Exclusion" and what is the practical value for us today?

In late nineteenth-century America, one-seventh of the population was foreign born. In the city of New York, 80% were immigrants. Many newcomers fled religious or political discrimination, but most just sought a better life.
The relatively few immigrants with money bypassed Ellis Island and easily entered America. The others who went through Ellis Island were often exploited. They did not know English and were underpaid after securing employment. Immigrants usually settled in their own enclaves—such as Little Italy or Chinatown.
The immigrants were abhorred by many Americans. In 1887, the American Protective Association (APA) was established. It thrived in Protestant areas and was anti-Jewish and anti-Buddhist. The APA lobbied the government to restrict immigration.
The Chinese were treated worse than any other immigrant group. They were ill-treated because of their race, religion, and thrift. The Chinese made up one-ninth of California's population in the late-nineteenth century. In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. This abhorrent legislation excluded people based on their race and class. Restrictions against Chinese immigration lasted until 1943.
Starting in 1910, Chinese people who arrived to the US were kept in the Angel Island Immigration Station at San Francisco. The conditions were oppressive, and they were kept there for many months before being granted or denied entry. Today's immigrants endure similar conditions and face the added stress of family separation.
Today, other groups—such as Muslims and Central Americans—are being targeted by the government. Present-day efforts to exclude immigrants are still largely supported by conservative groups. I recently read an article by a New York Times journalist of Irish descent, Timothy Egan. In the article, Egan urges other Americans of Irish decent to remember the discrimination endured by their ancestors in the nineteenth century and that we are all Americans.

I have to write a 500-word narrative essay. My story has to be one scene. I must identify a conflict that my character is facing and how my character changes. My essay must contain three literary devices, three uses of dialogue, and three uses of characterization. Once my essay is completed, I must explain the theme and what lines contribute to that theme. The scene I have come up with involves a young teen by the name of Grace who has Asperger Syndrome. The kids at her school knows that she's different, and that's why they pick on her and tease her all the time. Grace is a very special young lady, and she loves to draw and create beautiful things—although she feels like she's not smart or beautiful. One day, things gets so bad at school with the other students picking on Grace that she runs out of school and goes home; she seriously considers dropping out of school, because she can't handle it any more. All Grace needs is that one special person that she can talk to in order to help her gather the courage, confidence, and strength she needs to set those bullies at her school straight: Grace just want to be able to go to school without being afraid. Bullying is a big problem in schools across our country, and so many kids are emotionally and even physically harmed by bullies everyday. This is the concept that I'm trying to put into a narrative essay.

I'm happy to help you with your narrative essay! You already have an idea of what story you want to tell, so let's look at the requirements and see how we can fulfill them.
It seems like you already have a conflict: the conflict is that Grace is bullied at school to the point that she feels like dropping out.
With regards to how the character changes, you can answer this by thinking of how you want to resolve the conflict. Does Grace learn to stand up to her bullies? Does she go from being hurt by them to not letting their words bother her? Does she start off lonely but by the end has learned how to make a friend?
There are many literary devices that you can use, including alliteration, metaphor, simile, personification, and foreshadowing. You can incorporate literary devices in your descriptions. Here's an example: "Their words stung like knives, sharply stabbing into her heart." I used alliteration with "sharply stabbing" and simile with "stung like knives."
For the dialogue, think about who you want Grace to talk to in this story. Perhaps one use of dialogue could be what her bullies say, so we can understand the conflict. Then, perhaps, one special person stands up for Grace.
When thinking about characterization, consider the following: How will you describe Grace? Is the story from her point of view (so we get a glimpse into her thoughts)? Or is the characterization more indirect, and we learn about her through her actions?
As for the theme, you seem to have already picked out the theme of overcoming bullying. You sound passionate on this subject!

What is the full summary of "Hot-Foot Hannibal" from Charles Chesnutt's The Conjure Woman?

"Hot-Foot Hannibal" opens with John being roused from a nap due to Mabel, Annie's younger sister, fighting with the local boy she fell in love with. Annie claims that their relationship is irreparable and they shall never get back together.
Ten days after the fight, John, Mabel, and Annie embark on a trip to a neighbor's vineyard. While driving them, Julius encounters two different roads to follow, a long road and a short road. Despite Julius's attempts to take the long road, Annie insists that they take the short road so she can pick flowers. Partway down the road, the horse stops in its tracks and refuses to go on any further. Julius claims this is because the horse has seen the ghost of Chloe, and he launches into the tale of a young slave girl who died of a broken heart.
Chloe was in love with Jeff, but her master chose Hannibal, another slave, to stay with them in the house instead. Jeff sought the help of Aunt Peggy and her conjuring, and she gave him a voodoo doll to control Hannibal. The goopher appears to work, as Hannibal continually messes up and is eventually banished back to the field, after which Jeff takes his place with Chloe in the house. Scorned, Hannibal tells Chloe that he saw Jeff meet up with another woman down by the swamp. Hannibal dresses as a woman and tricks Jeff into embracing him as Chloe watches. She is heartbroken and convinces her master to sell Jeff down South. After all is revealed, the master attempts to buy Jeff back but finds out he jumped off of the boat and drowned. Chloe died of a broken heart, knowing she sent Jeff to his death, and haunts the very spot where the horse is stopped.
Shifting back to the present, Annie and Mabel are clearly taken by the story, as they have tears in their eyes. Since the horse is not budging, they decide to go back and take the long road to their destination. On the long road they happen to run into Mabel's lover. He and Mabel embrace and forgive each other for their argument, eventually getting married. John is left to speculate why Julius was so adamant about taking the long road that day and how the horse never stopped along the short road again.