Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Amelie - Intercultural Film Review Essay Example for Free
Amelie Intercultural Film Review Essay Amelie is a French movie about a young twenty something girl who’s world opened up to her when her mother dies and she is allowed to venture out. After a health misdiagnoses at a young child Amelie is stranded in her home away from all people and relationships until her mother passes away and she finds herself free. She becomes a waitress and decides to help all the people around her until one day she herself finds love. This film shows a French cultural pattern where the people are open minded, whimsical, unique, and quirky. The main character Amelie, wants to get the most out of her life. She takes the viewer on a path through a series of subplots where she is trying to help people that surround her find happiness and joy. Paris and the people of France are shown in a whimsical and fairytale environment. All the while, Amelie, is removed from all human contact which makes for an interesting film if one is attempting to view this film through the lens of interpersonal communication. All the communicating in the movie is done through the use of metaphors, scheme, plots, tricks, and the like. It’s interesting because Amelie doesn’t directly communicate with people even though she is not anti-social. She is very social and likes to help people but she does so almost exclusively nonverbally. One exception to this is when Amelie helps a blind man to cross a busy street and, opposite to her normally silent nonverbal character, she proceeds to very quickly describe everything that she sees and everything that is happening to the blind man in exceptional detail. This is done as an act of kindness for someone who can’t see and not as a form of actual or real communication. All real communication in this movie, is done in a childlike fashion of cat and mouse. It feels almost like interpersonal communication in this movie is a game that is not to be taken seriously. When Amelie finds a boy that she is romantically interested in, she finds herself needing to communicate with him only from a distance. Amelie once again plays one of her games in order to conceal her identity. Nino, the object of Amelie’s affection, is a boy who collects old photos from an old photo booth. The use of pictures in this movie is overwhelming and must have some reason behind it. Itâ€℠¢s almost as if the characters are communicating through the pictures rather than with words. Even when Amelie was quickly describing the surrounding to the blind man she was helping across the street, it was as if she was creating a picture in his mind so he could connect with her. Perhaps Amelie can only communicate through imagery like metaphors and photographs because she spent her entire childhood alone with only her parents because they thought she was too ill to be around others. I have mixed feelings about this film because I can appreciate a good romantic comedy and I understand the feeling the director was trying to create but I’m not a fan of the fanciful fairytale romances which I think this movie falls into. I would have preferred a movie with a real underlining tone and I could do without all the whimsy. Amelie felt like a child in a woman’s body, not unlike 13 going on 30 ¸ and for me the doe eyed cutesy character began to wear on me and I found myself more annoyed than anything by the end. The setting is Paris, but not the real Paris but rat her a fantasy version of Paris not unlike a dream or the Paris you can see in old movies. The story itself felt very Disney-like in that the mother dies in the beginning which is the impetuous to the main character being forced unprepared onto the world, the main character then helps many sub-characters out along the way to finding her true love. Very Disney indeed. I’m certain that I would not recommend this movie to my friends or my family, but maybe it would have a place in a cultural communications classroom. I think the only problem I would have with it is that it doesn’t portray an actual or real culture, and only portrays a fantasy like culture. The lead character is able to form relationships and make the audience care about her without having to say much at all, which can have some value when it comes to the study of nonverbal communication. Also, there might be a value to getting a feel for the French culture from this film, because even though I didn’t love the story or the film-making, there was something about the ‘sound’ in the film. The dialogue did draw me into the French culture which was interesting because I don’t speak any French. Even though I struggle to pinpoint the feeling or atmosphere of the film, I do think that something was captured even if it was just the Disney version of Paris and French Culture.
Pak Elektron Limited (PEL) Mission And Vision Statements
Pak Elektron Limited (PEL) Mission And Vision Statements Overview Of PEL Company Pak Elektron Limited (PEL) is one of the pioneer producers of electrical goods in Pakistan. It came into being in 1956 in technical cooperation with M/s AEG of Germany. In 1978, the company was bought by Saigol Group of Companies. Since its foundation, the company has been contributing on the way to the advancement and progress of the engineering sector in Pakistan by launching a range of excellence quality electrical equipments and also home appliances and also by producing hundreds of engineers, expert workers and technicians in the course of its apprenticeship schemes system and training programmes. PEL Company Divisions The PEL Company consist of two divisions: Appliances Division Power Division APPLIANCES DIVISION This Division of PEL consists of appliances manufacturing. PEL Air Conditioners There are two types of PEL Air Conditioners: Window Type Air Conditioners PEL window Type air conditioners were launch in 1981 in technical partnership with General Corporation of Japan. Since of their launch, PEL air conditioners have a top position in Pakistan market. Cooling performance of PEL air conditioners has been tested and approved by Copeland and ITS USA. Split Type Air Conditioners As the time goes on, customers demand changes according to their needs. With the shift of customers preference from window to split -type of air conditioners, PEL has started producing split type air conditioners. PEL Refrigerators Refrigerator manufacturing is also very important invention in the electronic devices history. PEL company started manufacturing of refrigerators in the mid of 1986 and 1987 in the technical collaboration with Ms SILTAL of Italy. PELs refrigerators demand is also very high in market same as the air conditioners. At present, PEL Crystal has more than 30 % market share in Pakistan. PEL refrigerators cooling performance is tested and approved by Germany, Danfoss and also its manufacturing facility is IS0 9002 certified by SGS Switzerland. PEL Deep Freezers In 1987 in technical collaboration with Ms Ariston of Italy PEL introduced Deep Freezers. For the reason that of high quality and durability, PEL deep freezers are the preferred choice of the giant companies like Unilever. PEL Televisions With the passage of time needs of a common man increased. Television becomes very popular in the mid of 19 century, so PEL company decided to manufacture PEL Televisions. Competitor of PEL Appliances Air Conditioners: General Ltd. Daiken Waves National Dawlance Sharp LG Refrigerator: Dawlance Phillips Sharp Samsung LG Deep Freezer Waves Candy Dawlance Television: Sony Phillips Panasonic PEL Power Division PEL Power Division based on three plants. These are Transformer Plant, Switch Gear and Energy Meter Plant. These three plants are now ISO 9001:2000 Certified. PEL Power Division manufactures transformers, Kiosks, shunt capacitor banks, energy meters, switchgears etc. These all electrical goods are assembled under strict quality control and also in accordance with Electric International Standards. PEL is one of the biggest electrical equipment suppliers to the largest power companies of Pakistan: Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) Karachi Electrical Supply Corporation (KESC) For many years, PEL Companys electrical equipments have been used in several power scheme of national importance with in Pakistan. PEL Company also has the heritage of getting its equipment agreed and authorized from well-reputed international specialists such as: Preece, Cardew and Rider, England Harza Engineering Company, USA Snam Progeti, Italy Societe Dumezm, France In spite of solid competition from up-and-coming local and multinational brands, PEL Groups Company of appliances and electrical equipments have remained in the attention due to continuous innovation. Strategic affiliation with multinationals of repute have allowed the PEL Group of Companies to incorporate advance technologies into present product ranges, thus providing the Pakistani market entrance to innovative, quality products and affordable. Energy Meters Single-Phase Energy Meters PEL manufactures Electro-mechanical Energy Meters under licence from ABB (USA). The quality of PEL meters has been certified by KEMA Laboratories (Holland) and conforms to IEC 521. Moreover, PEL Energy Meter plant is ISO 9001:2000 certified by SGS Yarsley, U.K. PEL type M8C is a direct connect single-phase meter. The design and constructional features include overload compensation, temperature compensation and self-cleaning, non-aging and tamper resistant magnetic bearing system. Thus providing maintenance-free operation over a longer period and accurate measurement of electrical energy. The frame is sturdy in construction and enclosed in unbreakable high-impact polycarbonate plastic security box. Ratings Voltage Frequency 10(40)A 240V 50Hz Poly-Phase Energy Meters PEL type C8L is a direct connect poly-phase energy meter having improved load performance and accuracy over a wide load range. All meter parts are corrosion protected for long-term reliability. Like single phase energy meters C8L also possesses non-aging, self-cleaning magnetic bearing system, which ensures virtually frictionless operation of the rotor while withstanding abuse from surges and magnetic tampering. The meter is available in high impact polycarbonate security box, which is extended type and completely shrouds service cables. Ratings Voltage Frequency 15(90)A 3*230/400V 50Hz Three Phase Solid State Energy Meter Three Phase Multi-rate Solid State Energy Meter (PE3-D) is used for the measurement of energy in three phase four wire networks. It is a direct connect meter that complies with the IEC 62052-11, IEC 62053-21 (IEC 61036) and optionally with the standards. PE3-D meters are manufactured in compliance with the ISO 9001 standards. Ratings Voltage Frequency 10(100)A 3*230/400V 50Hz Three Phase Solid State LT Type CT and HT Type CT PT Operated Energy Meter PE3-C is 3-phase 4-wire, multi-functional electronic meter with the accuracy of Class 1 for active energy and Class 2 for reactive energy measurement. It is connected Via CTs PTs. Meter complies with the IEC 62052-11, IEC 62053-21 (IEC 61036), IEC 62053-23 ISO 9001 standards. LT Type CT Operated Ratings Voltage Frequency 10(100)A 3*230/400V 50Hz Single Phase Solid State Energy Meter PE1-6 is single phase meter designed to meet the needs of domestic users. It supports single wire operation providing maximum security against tempering. PE1-6 conforms to IEC 62053-21 IEC 62052-11 and ISO 9001:2000 standard requirements. Ratings Voltage Frequency 10(40) A 230V 50Hz PLACE: (DISTRIBUTION) Mostly Producer use intermediaries to bring their products to market. They try to forge a distribution channel a set of inter dependent organizations involves in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by the consumer or business user. Channel Levels: Disrtibution Channels can be described by the numbers of channel levels involved. PEL uses both of the two major Marketing channels. Direct Marketing Channel: Its a marketing channel that has a no intermediary levels.  PELs power division uses this type of channels. Its major clients are large organizations and not the end user. So people from these organization directly contact PELs marketing department of power division when tenders are flooded, design, specification and price are discussed. Indirect Marketing Channel: It is a marketing channel containing one or more intermediary levels. PELs appliances division works this way. These products are sole through authorized dealer shops or PELs own outlets. DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM: Appliance Division: PEL has got a very effective distribution system that ensures the widespread supply of companys product through out the country for the sake of proper management. Zone                           Area Covered Northern Zone                       Punjab and N.W.F.P Southern Zone                       Sind and Baluchistan REGIONS The zones have been further divided in to six different regions. Karachi Multan Lahore Gujranwala Rawalpindi Faisal-Abad The distribution process at PEL Appliance is being looked after by the following personal. 1.                 National Manager Sales (NMS) National Manager Sales (NMS) mainly responsible for watching the functioning of all Regional Managers Sales, Area Sales Officer and Sales Office at the National Level. 2.                 Regional Manager Sales (RMS) Managers Sales (RMS) controls sales in his specific region and is the connecting link of all area offices currently the company has two controlling operation in Multan Region. 3.                 Area Sales Officers (ASO) Area sales officer is responsible for making contacts with dealers product display and looking orders in his specific area. The company has at present seven ASOs Managaging operations in Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Multan, Bahawalpur, Lahore etc. 4.                 Sales Officers (SO) Sales officer (SO) looks after the sale operation in particular city. Currently there are four sales officers two in Lahore, one in Faisalabad and Gujranwala each. 5.                 Assistant Manager Sales (ASM) Assistant Manager Sales (ASM) looks after the proper functions of sales in Southern Zone.    POWER DIVISION: For Power product there are no particular personal to deal with the distribution. Sales procedure for power division is as follow. Sales Procedure Since the major buyer of PEL in Power Product is Government Sector, the sales procedure of Power/marketing department is quite different from Appliance/Marketing Department. The main steps involved in sales/marketing procedure of Power Division are: Bid Submission Bid opening Bid Evaluation Letter of Indent(LOI) Billing PRICE: Power Division Pricing Procedure: First the tender is received which shows the demand of the product. It is send to the production department. They make calculations about material cost, labor costs and Factory overhead, further taxes and duties are also calculated. Investment is calculated Then gross margin is added. Gross Margin= Labor Cost + FOH + Profit+ Financial cost + Miscellaneous cost Financial cost is found out Term and conditions may be different in some cases. Appliances Division Price Procedures Sales tax, Octroi, excise duty is calculated above the cost of production. There is also a pricing trend depending on the models most demanded. Price is charged according to demand. Consumer product forces also show seasonal, variation i.e., their prices raise during wedding season and before Eid-ul Azha and Eid-ul-fitar. PROMOTION MIX Pak Electron Limited uses advertising personal selling, sales promotion and public relations to pursue its advertising and marketing objectives. Appliances Division: To achieve the sales objectives To increase recall To restore the message in the customer mind. PEL has different Advertising messages for different products. Media for Advertising: There are three types of media on which advertisement are given: Electronic Media In the electronic media, POEL is using PTV,STN, PTV World. Print Media National and local Newspaper Magazines and Periodicals Out-Door Media à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚        Normal Boarding à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚        Neo-signs Incentive Schemes for Customer and Retailers. BBB.jpeg For attracting dealers and potential customers, Pak Electron Limited (PEL use the Pull and Push Strategy. PEL dont have too many outlets and does its major selling through the dealers and retailers, some of the incentives given to the dealers are: A Credit of 60 days. Rs.400/ set if dealer sells a certain amount of sets in six month. Pel gave a car to the dealers if they achieve the set target. Air Conditioners: à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚        Against the sale of 50 air conditioners discount is Rs.200/unit à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚        Against the sale of 50 air conditioners discount is Rs.400/unit. Refrigerator: à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚        For sale of 150 or more refrigerators, the dealer is awarded with a Dubai Tour. All above schemes are changing according to period. POWER DIVISION Advertising Since power division is involved in industrial or direct selling to some big customers, its Promotional and advertising strategies are quite different from appliance division. Personal Selling:  The other promotional activity that the company takes on is personal relating company representative visit their existing and potential clients and describe the technical aspects and unique selling feature of their products. Public Relation /publicity: PEL tries to build its image among its consumers, personal and general public. This because reputation of the business in recent years considerably tansnished. Almost no segment of business has escaped the attacks of activities identified with the social cause such as consumerism, environmentalism, employees safety etc. Management of (PEL) considers value of public relationing in promotion mix because à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚        It is quite inexpensive à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚        Public relations can generated sale leads à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚        Public relationing has more creditability the advertisement In so far as publicity is concerned (PEL) is not using promotional tool effectively, sometimes press releases are published but there is no as such publicity by PEL. However, some activity is taking place. That consists of sponsorships of school cricket teams. But more needs to be done about it. PRODUCT: PRODUCTS 1. Air Conditioners 2. Refrigerator 3.  Deep freezer 4. Microwaves 5. Washers MODELS Imported (2) National/Sharp Above 40 Models Single-door/Twin 20 Liter to 52 Liter. Spinner Without spinner /Computerized Dawlance has an effective Product Development Division so they bring new and effective changes in their models. They claim that they have first introduces Anti-Moisture Tubes in their refrigerators, first introduced metallic sheet and have a very effective compressor having 5 pipes which give 100% results at 52 Centigrade. So they claim that they have strong RD Division. PLACEMENT: Dawlance also use intermediaries to bring their products to market. Dowlance does not divide the customers into institutional buyer and business/consumer users. They sell for all and treated equally. Distribution channels can be described by the number of channel levels involved. Dawlance uses both of the tow major Marketing channels. Direct Marketing Channels (No intermediary level) Indirect Marketing Channels (Containing one or more intermediary level) Distribution System Dawlance has got a very effective distribution system that ensures the widespread supply of companys product through out the country for the sake of proper management. ZONES Northern Zone Southern Zone REGIONS / BRANCHES 15 Branches all over the country. The distribution process at Dawlance is being looked after by the following personal. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚        National Sales Manager (NSM) National Sales Manager (NSM) mainly responsible for watching the functioning of all Branch Managers Sales, Area Sales Officer and Sales Office at the National Level. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚        Branch Manager Controls sales in his specific Branch and is the connecting link of all area offices currently the company has 15 Branch Manager all over the country. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚        Area Sales Officers (ASO) Area sales officer is responsible for making contacts with dealers product display and looking orders in his specific area. The company has at present having ASOs Managing operations in all the branches. PRICING BASIS Sales tax, Octroi, excise duty is calculated above the cost of production. There is also a pricing trend depending on the models most demanded. Price is charged according to demand. Consumer product forces also show seasonal, variation i.e., their prices raise during wedding season and before Eid-ul Azha and Eid-ul-fitar. PROMOTION MIX Dawlance uses advertising personal selling, sales promotion and public relations to pursue its advertising and marketing objectives. To achieve the sales objectives To increase recall To restore the message in the customer mind. Advertising Dawlance involved in both industrial or direct selling to some big customers, so its Promotional and advertising strategies are quite different from PEL because they also have some specific institutional buyers.      Media for Advertising There are three types of media on which advertisement are given: In the electronic media, Dawlance is using PTV, STN, and PTV World. Print Media National and local Newspaper Magazines and Periodical Executive more focus and give priority to print media because viewer dont change the channels as adds comes. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚        Out-Door Media Personal Selling: The Dawlances people claim that they have strong network of financial sound and technical-knowledge parties so their company representative visit their existing and potential clients and describe the technical aspects and unique selling feature of their products. NNN.jpeg Public Relation/publicity: First Dawlance tries to select those dealer and parties who have a strong relations and image among their costumers, personal and general public. This because reputation of the business in recent years considerably tansnished. Almost no segment of business has escaped the attacks of activities identified with the social cause such as consumerism, environmentalism, employees safety etc. Management considers value of public relationing in promotion mix because it is quite inexpensive public relations can geerated sale leads and has more creditability then advertisement. So far as publicity is concerned is not using promotional tool effectively, because they said that control the publicity massage at a certain level what effect it depends. Dawlance have varieties of incentive schemes to its dealer and business parties so they can attract dealers and potential customer efficiently and effectively. .  PRODUCTS PRODUCTS 1.  Deep freezer 2. Refrigerator  3 Air Conditioners 4. Cold Bar MODELS Single door Double door/Glass-door Above 13 Models Cool Heat/cool Both Plastic body (SMALL) Institutional Buyers: à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚        Pepsi Cola International à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚        Canteen Stores Department (CSDs) à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚        Coca-Cola à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚        Be Be Jan Proteins Ltd. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚        Pak. Fruit Juice Co.Pvt.Ltd. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚        Hico Ice Creame à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚        Departmental storesWAVES PROMOTION MIX Waves also uses advertising personal selling, sales promotion and public relations to pursue its advertising and marketing objectives. To achieve the sales objectives To increase recall To restore the message in the customer mind. Advertising Waves involved in both institutional or direct selling to some big customers, so its Promotional and advertising strategies are quite same as PEL because they also have some specific institutional buyers. .      Media for Advertising: There are three types of media on which advertisement are given: Electronic Media In the electronic media, Dowlance is using PTV,STN, PTV World. Print Media National and local Newspaper Magazines and Periodical Out-Door Media Personal Selling: The other promotional activity that the company takes on is personal relating company representative visit their existing and potential clients and describe the technical aspects and unique selling feature of their products. Public Relation/publicity: Waves have completive edge over dowlance and PEL because of its lower prices and having a strong relations and image among their institutions, costumers, personal and general public. This because reputation of the business in recent years considerably tansnished. Almost no segment of business has escaped the attacks of activities identified with the social cause such as consumerism, environmentalism, employees safety etc. Management considers value of public relationing in promotion mix because it is quite inexpensive public relations can generated sale leads and has more creditability then advertisement. PEL have also varieties of incentive schemes for institutions (customers) dealer and business parties so they can attract them on the basis of these pull and push strategies. BBBB.jpeg
Monday, August 5, 2019
Professional Learning Communities What They Mean To Teachers Education Essay
Professional Learning Communities What They Mean To Teachers Education Essay Professional learning communities (PLCs) have been described as structures within which professionals-particularly teachers-can refine their skills, renew their spirits, and expand the scope of their knowledge (Fogarty Pete, 2006, p. 49). Even though the benefits are clear, there are numerous challenges involved in creating and managing PLCs. Such challenges have typically been broken down into concerns about: (1) finding time and otherwise overcoming logistical challenges to coaching; (2) designing appropriate coaching interventions; and (3) maximizing coaching effectiveness. This literature review will address each of these concepts by examining specific research directions taken by current theorists in the field of professional development, with the purpose of illustrating the spectrum of activity along which coaching can succeed or fail. After doing so, the literature review will also discuss broader theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of coaching, including a nalyses of the roles of: (1) race and other socioeconomic factors; (2) theories of motivation and (3) theories of organizational development. Defining and Contextualizing PLCs Rigorous definitions of the PLC, and evidence-based guidelines for its functioning, began to appear in the late nineteenth century. In the U.S., the entire project of teacher development took a huge step forward with the appearance of a number of periodicals dedicated to the subject, including The National Teacher, which debuted in 1870. It is highly likely that the professionalization of teaching in the U.S. had a great deal to do with the emergence of a standard method of teacher development, including the creation of formal PLCs. In the third volume of The National Teacher, published in 1873, the following passage appeared: First, then, the prospective teacher should be trained in the handling of illustrative material, apparatus, charts, maps, diagrams, objects, etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.his practice in them should be such as will enable him to bring before the eye what can be very imperfectly addressed to the ear. This should be done, in the first instance, privately, or in the presence of the members of a teaching class, subject to their kind but searching criticismà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦(Mitchell, 1873, p. 367) This passage is one of the first allusions, at least in American sources, to the notion of a professional learning community. It is worth situating the emergence of the PLC into the broader stream of professionalization and scientific reordering of vocations in post-Civil War America. Ellis and Hartley (2004) argued that the Civil War, which had mobilized the nations resources in service of total warfare, had exposed glaring weaknesses in the organization and practice of many professions, starting with the army and extending to nursing, teaching, and manufacturing. According to Ellis and Hartley, nursing was one of the first professions to be thoroughly professionalized in the aftermath of the Civil War, but other professions soon followed (p. 133). It is natural to draw the likely connection between the professionalization of nursing and the professionalization of teaching, both of which were historically feminine practices that, in the wake of the Civil War, were re-aligned with male perceptions of the scientific method and the professionalization of work. The emergence of the learning community can certainly be placed into this context of masculinization. Mitchell (1873) himself made a comparison between (largely female) teaching and (largely male) medicine, to the detriment of teaching (p. 362). In Mitchells opinion, one of the variables that made medicine more scientific than teaching was the fact that medical practitioners constantly mentored, critiqued, assisted, and otherwise engaged with one another, whereas American teaching had not benefited from this kind of inter-vocational interchange. At first, American pedagogical theorists did not suggest that a PLC ought to exist separately from a teaching college. Rather, these theorists thought of the professional learning community as a kind of epiphenomenon of the teaching college. For example, an anonymous writer identified only by a city of origin (New Haven, CT) to the U.S. Bureau of Education in 1885 had the following to say about a professional learning community: A few points, enforced each week and perhaps illustrated with a class, will bring up the teaching powers of those who have not had a professional training, and they will not be wearied out by trying to apply a crude mass of theories.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The attendance at such meetings should be voluntary. There should be such a tone of interest and enthusiasm in a community as will inspire teachers with an honest and eager desire to know how to workà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦(p. 274) At this point in American pedagogy, instruction was still meted out by superintendents (or pedagogues) to teachers, but there was a recognition that the input of the peer community of teachers was just as important to teacher development as any model of top-down instruction or professionalization. The PLC was at this point defined not as a separate set of development activities, but as a kind of grassroots camaraderie between teachers in formal development settings. Soon, however, the modern definition of the PLC would emerge. It is impossible to state with certainty when the shift from the early, voluntary PLC led by the superintendent began to give way to the more formal, school-managed PLC. It appears that the shift took place over the 1930s and began to cement itself by the 1940s. Otto (1944) offered an explanation of the changing role of the principal, and how it lent itself to closer, school-level management of the PLC. According to Otto (1944), American secondary schools continued to grow in size and complexity until the superintendent was no longer able to manage or own all of the processes for which the role had previously been responsible; thus, for example, The growing need for more and better supervision of classroom instruction suggested the desirability of planning the administrative organization so that this need could be met (p. 197). There were two stages in the hand-off of PLCs from the superintendent to principals; firstly, in the 1930s and early 1940s, office staff associated with the s uperintendent appear to have taken over responsibility for all aspects of vocational teacher development (Otto, 1944, p. 197); however, when Otto (1944) was writing, there was already another hand-off underway from central bureaucrats to the principal. After the Second World War, the principal emerged as the figure most responsible for defining, managing, and otherwise supporting the professional learning community in American schools. Just as the Civil War had introduced ideas of industrial organization to various vocations, the Second World War created manpower and resource shortages that prompted a faster transition from centralized control over teacher development to a more communal, school-level management of the process (Troyer, Allen, and Young, 1946, p. 241). These forces remain very much in effect today. Instructional Coaching and The Four Types of Coaching According to Wilson and Gislason (2009), there are four types of coaching: internal coaching, peer coaching, manager-performed coaching, and external coaching (p. 56). As their names suggest, peer coaching is about coaching that is delivered by colleagues to each other; manager-based coaching is delivered by managers (or, in the educational context, principals, superintendents, and/or other administrators) to teachers; external coaching is typically performed by consultants; and internal coaching, by contrast, includes all the kinds of coaching that are provided in-house. All four kinds of coaching have been employed in the instructional coaching context. Knight (2005) documented a wave of hiring of outside instructional coaches by U.S. public schools in the 1990s and first half of the 2005, driven by the urgency of achieving basic reading and mathematics competency skills tied to federal funding and the perception that schools themselves did not contain the proper instructional resources to achieve this task. According to Clarkson and Taylor (2005, p. 4), one of the problems created by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) initiative was a push to define instructional coaching as the rote memorization of standards rather than an internalization of the pedagogical principles needed to teach up to those standards. Thus, it can be argued that external coaching becomes more popular in times of external stress on teachers to perform to a particular standard, whereas, in ordinary times, genuinely pedagogical (rather than instrumentalist) internal coaching is the more common form of instructional coaching (Matsumara, Sartoris, Bickel, Garnier 2009). In modern theory, peer coaching is praised for its egalitarian values, but theorists are also concerned that teachers lack the specific pedagogical background and expertise to make other teachers better. For example, Buly, Coskie, Robinson, and Egawa (2006) have argued that the external coach is focused on getting teachers to ask why in a structured fashion, whereas teachers are themselves often concerned with teaching other practical and specific strategies. Barriers in PLCs and Instructional Coaching: Logistics One of the major challenges in creating coaching interventions for PLCs is simply finding the time and opportunity to bring together busy professionals for dedicated learning and training. This challenge is a particularly pressing one in the current economic environment, in which so many working professionals are being called upon to do less with more. Thus, as Fogarty and Pete (p. 49) pointed out, an excellent place to begin a discussion of professional learning communities is in the realm of logistics, i.e. how to create the time and space for such communities, which is as much of a problem today as it was when Troyer, Allen, and Young (1946) wrote about the logistical challenges of organizing and managing the PLC in wartime. Abdal-Haqq (1996) argued that, within school settings particularly, PLCs scheduling ought to be built directly into both the workday and the job descriptions of teachers (although this advice applies equally well to other communities of practice). Abdal-Haqq (1996) concludes that the greatest challenge to implementing effective professional development is lack of time (p. 1), so great responsibility falls on the shoulders of leaders and managers who must accommodate PLCs in terms of schedules and job design. Fernandez (2002) made the point that making time and space for PLCs to thrive is itself partly dependent on cultural approaches. She discussed the case of the Japanese educational system, in which a great deal of emphasis is placed on lesson study, in which teachers are given the time and opportunity to reflect on both their practice and that of others (p. 393). There is more pressure on individual professionals to take advantage of existing resources, and to take the lead in overcoming logistical barriers to embed themselves within PLCs. While there is extensive lip service paid to the value of PLCs, professional development is often subject to self-regulation rather than proper top-down guidance, argued Butler, Lauscher, Jarvis-Selinger, and Beckingham (2004). Having surveyed the history of PLC development, it becomes clear that the absence of top-down guidance is itself part of the steady downward transfer of administrative power tracked by Otto (1944). While Japan appears to have retained a centralized and top-down structure for managing and supporting PLCs and other forms of teacher development, in the U.S. such responsibility has devolved down to the principal. For many theorists, the logistics of PLCs are inseparable from school system support for teachers. For example, Lappan (1997) offered the following insight: The local capacity to support change is central to implementing reforms. Teachers, and those who support teachers, need time-time to learnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (p. 207). Of course, in this context, it should be pointed out time is a valuable commodity. There is a powerful tension between the time and resources needed for supporting the local logistics needed for nurturing professional learning communities and the time and resources needed by principals, administrators, and other supporters of development for other tasks. Unfortunately, as Abdal-Haqq (1996, p. 1) also suggests, schools are faced with a zero sum environment, in which to support the PLC is to remove support from some other organizational goal. It is in this context that the logistical difficulties of PLC support should be understood. Moreover, until schools enjoy increase d funding, it is not clear that the logistical problems noted as early as Troyer, Allen, and Young (1946) will simply evaporate. Of course, one way in which the problem could be solved is by employing PLCs themselves to ease the logistical problems faced by schools. To the extent that teachers could train and develop other teachers without extensive time and resource commitments, PLCs could be of great economic benefit; as in the Second World War, the teacher-training-teacher paradigm could yield economic benefits rather than sucking up resources. For PLCs to actually operate in this fashion requires close attention to the variable of coaching design. Barriers in PLCs and Instructional Coaching: Change Management From at least the 1870s onwards, there has been a rich debate on how to best deploy teachers to train and develop other teachers. In the first stage of this debate, from Mitchell (1873) to Arnold (1898), it was assumed that merely talking about pedagogy and other teaching-related issues in a voluntary, informal meeting would assist junior teachers in their development. Over the decades, voluntary meetings gave way to more formal in-school development programs, particularly when the Second World War forced schools to consider more resource-efficient ways to engage in teacher training. In this context, the promise of coaching design is that, if there is a sound system under which to transfer teacher knowledge from senior to junior colleagues, the PLC can save school systems time, money, and administrative commitment. On the other hand, if coaching design is itself weak or unmotivated, then teachers will resist it and the PLC will fail to fulfill its promise. These issues are at the heart of the modern debate on coaching design. In contemporary times, there is much more urgency around the subject of coaching design thanks to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2002, which has directly tied student performance to federal funding and accreditation. Killion (2005) is one of many theorists who has pointed out that one response to NCLB is the implementation of instructional coaching to improve instruction and student achievement. Instructional coaching is a relatively new phenomenon, at the core of which is a conviction that professional learning improves teaching practices and teaching practices improve student achievement (Knight, 2007; Killion Harrison, 2006; Knowal Steiner, 2007). Instructional design is not easy to implement because, as Knight (2007) has pointed out, teachers are not innately resistant to change will tend to resist poorly-designed agendas of change. As such, it is of the utmost importance to arrive at an understanding of the best practices of coaching design. In an organizational context, instructional coaching provides motivation to mentees, which in turn is intended to improve the productivity and morale of mentees. When instructional coaches work with students, their sole purpose is to demonstrate and model best teaching practices to teachers in order to improve student teaching (Knight, 2007). Motivation is the key to understanding the role that good coaching should play within a professional learning community (Bransford, 2000). Coaching design principles vary widely depending on the specific kind of professional development that is being pursued. Fortunately, however, there appears to be some consensus on best practices for coaching design. Bransfords (2000) seminal book, How People Learn, argued that coaching design should have four centrisms; i.e., it should be learner-centered, knowledge-centered, assessment-centered, and community-centered (p. 188). There are many different interpretations of how these four foci can be best captured in a PLC. For example, Beyerbach, Weber, Swift, and Gooding (1996) emphasized that the knowledge focus of PLC design ought to have a practical component, so that members of the community understand the practical applications of what they are being taught (pp. 101-102). For teachers, this practical component can be satisfied by understanding why, in the context of real-world problem solving, it is necessary for them to develop a new skill or refine an existing one. Another recent emphasis in coaching design for community-centered learning is the utilization of collaborative software, particularly blogs and wikis, which have the potential to span each of Bransfords focus areas for coaching design. Higdon and Topaz (2009) stated that blogs and wikis had an important role in creating a more centered learning environment, There is wide consensus in the academic literature about the usefulness of instructional coaching within professional learning communities. Within a professional learning community, the qualities of good teaching for students should also be evident in professional learning for teachers (DuFour Eaker,1998; Bransford, 2000). However, there are also a number of obstacles to the implementation or the success of instructional coaching, including logistical factors (such as potential coaches lack of time), institutional factors (such as a lack of managerial support for coaching), and professional factors (such as coaches lack of relevant skills). Leaving aside these barriers, good coaching design may not be so much a matter of pedagogical design as it is a matter of change management. Bransford (2000) and other researchers have already explained the evidence for best practices in specific aspects of coaching design; the issue is not so much the content of coaching design as it is the necessity of convincing teachers to go along with coaching. In this regard, there are some helpful theoretical contributions from business literature, which has long struggled with the question of optimal change management in organizations. Jensen and Kerr (1994, p. 408), based on a case study of change at Pepsi, argued that the following five questions had to be satisfactorily answered before constituents bought into a change agenda: Why must we change, and why is this change important? What do you want me to do? What are the measures/consequences of change/no change? What tools and support and available to me? Whats in it for me? These questions of change management emerge at the point of implementation: i.e., as soon as it becomes necessary to transition from a theory of the professional learning community to an actual implementation, requiring intellectual and emotional buy-in from teachers. But change management is an issue that is better tackled not by coaching designers, whose responsibility is to transfer principles such as those of Bransford (2000) to local pedagogical contexts, but at the level of what can be called effectiveness maximization of the PLC. Effectiveness Maximization and Theoretical Approaches There is wide-ranging agreement on the importance of PLCs, and even on the operational and conceptual details that PLC must satisfy in terms of coaching design. The crux of the problem lies not necessarily in those details but more in the question of how to maximize the effectiveness of PLCs. First, there is the logistical question. If there is little institutional time, resources, and guidance put into PLC program creation and management, then coaching programs are unlikely to be effective. However, even organizations that have hurdled over the logistical challenge and implemented some form of PLC must still solve the question of how to maximize their coaching programs effectiveness, including the considerations of change management as highlighted by Jensen and Kerr (1994). There are some convincing arguments that PLCs resist straightforward methods of evaluation and improvement, which creates a fundamental challenge at the level of effectiveness maximization. Revans (1979), the pioneer of the action research concept, saw the creation and functioning of a PLC as a holistic process, one that cannot be dissected and improved on a part-by-part level. To Revans (1979), a functional PLC is something that both managers and participants can recognize only by taking part in it. This dynamic has something of a chicken-and-egg quality to it, as an effective PLC requires planning, but the proper inputs of planning may only become apparent after a PLC has been launched. Even with this limitation in mind, it is still possible to both measure and improve the effectiveness of a coaching component of a PLC by surveying participants about how they are benefiting from the specific coaching program, and employing these insights to structure the back-end processes that feed into the PLC. Borko (2004) argued that it is certainly possible to measure factors such as teacher (or, for that matter, any other form of professional) learning and satisfaction; moreover, teacher performance in classrooms can also be measured by such standards as student evaluations and standardized test scores. The point is that, when a PLC is working properly, its results will show themselves in a number of domains. It is incumbent on managers or others who oversee these programs to collect baseline data in order to measure the programs achievements, and also to identify the areas that need renewed attention and resources. Maximizing the effectiveness of PLCs thus comes down to both measurement and targeted action (Dufour, Dufour, Eaker Karhanek, 2004; Saphier West, 2010; and Knight 2009), whose basis can be the experience of mentees. It is necessary, at this point, to consult some theories of motivation and organizational development in order to consider how to best maximize the effectiveness of PLCs. Much of the literature on PLCs takes it for granted that teachers are motivated to buy into the program; however, it need not be the case that teachers are motivated, or that PLCs are constituted so as to maximize the strengths of the organization. Fortunately, theoretical literature has made it easier to understand the overlap between PLCs, motivation, and organizational development. Herzberg (1966) argued that: someone who is motivated is truly a sight to behold, as they put all of their heart and soul into an activity. Love of work is certainly the strongest motivator of people (p. 141). Coaches exist partly to instill mentees with love of work, via a number of mechanisms, including that of instrumentality, or making sure that people have the tools that they need to accomplish a work task. Note that instrumentality was also part of Jensen and Kerrs (1994) framework for appropriate change management. If people lack the tools to achieve what is asked for them, they will not only resist change but also lose motivation. As such, administrators should bear in mind that every tool (including time) put in the hands of PLC members effects the motivation of individual members, and therefore the overall success of the PLC. According to the theoretical foundation provided by organizational psychologists such as Herzberg, Vroom (1964), and Maslow (1993), instructional coaching should have a salutary effect on mentees in so far as coaching instills mentees with instrumentality and motivation. One part of this dissertations purpose is to measure the impact of good coaching, as reported by mentees, and also to assess the impact of bad or nonexistent coaching. Doing so is an exercise in the measurement of organizational motivation and morale as conceptualized by a number of influential theorists in the field. For example, Banduras (1997) social learning theory is sometimes cited in the coaching literature and explains human behavior in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioral, and environmental influences. The central aspect of Banduras (1977) theory is the claim that humans learn by watching others model behavior. Thus, psychological theory now provides firm support for the i dea of coaching as a transfer of desirable behavior from senior to junior members of a community. Clearly, then, theory has a great deal to tell us about the scientific basis for PLCs, and also about how best to maximize their effectiveness. Some of the theories surveyed in this section, for example, have emphasized the importance of motivation and instrumentality in the PLC. One final theory that ought to be considered is that of so-called toxic mentorship. It will be recalled that, as early as Arnold (1898), there is an assumption that, when teachers come together for purposes of development, mutual reinforcement and learning will inevitably take place. It is taken for granted, both by Arnold (1898) and by Mitchell (1873), that senior teachers have the best interests of the profession, and of their junior colleagues, in mind. This assumption, however, might be naÃÆ' ¯ve. There is now a great deal of research on dimensions of coaching and mentorship that fail due to the attitudes of senior teachers. Webb and Shakespeare (2008), Atkin and Wilmington (2007), and Grossman (2007) have all discussed so-called toxic mentorship as one of the ways in which coaching goes wrong, for example when coaches are burned out, unhelpful, scornful of their own profession, unethical, or not involved enough or knowledge to provide adequate feedback. The aforementioned res earchers have called attention to toxic mentorship in the nursing field, in which there has been more of an attempt of late to critique bad coaching. However, educational literature in general has not yet grappled as extensively with the concept of the toxic mentor, which is another reason why it is timely and relevant to ask mentees about this concept, as part of a more general data-gathering project on the measurable impact of mentorship on productivity and morale. Conclusion This literature review has covered a great deal of ground in attempting to illuminate the concept of the professional learning community, all the way from the seventeenth century to the present day. The conclusion is reserved for discussing an important lacuna in the research, and employing this lacuna to lend context to the research carried out by this dissertation. It will be noted that, for all of its history, teacher development in general and the PLC in particular have been defined by people other than the constituents. At first, superintendents had the greatest input into the process; later, principals took on this mantle. Throughout the process, senior teachers exercised a great deal of influence, as they had the prized knowledge that was to be passed on and passed down to junior colleagues. In the century of literature surveyed here, it is interesting to note that very few, if any, researchers have focused on the ability of mentees to provide important feedback about the nature of coaching within the PLC. It is almost invariably assumed that some outside authority, whether the superintendent or principal, is the owner of the process, while senior teachers are the drivers of the process. This attitude may be about to change because, in PLCs as in business communities, there is a move to recognize the centrality of the so-called customer. In this case, the customer of coaching is the mentee, the recipient of coaching. In both private business and public policy contexts, the customer has increasingly become both the owner and the driver of certain processes. Businesses conduct surveys of customers in order to determine what to produce. Public sector organizations, similarly, turn to the citizen-stakeholder as the ultimate owner of a process, and try to orient processes accordingly. It may be that, in coaching, the focus is about to shift from the top of the pyramid to the base: That is, from the traditional owners of coaching to its customers, namely teachers. It is possible that teachers will, in future, play an enhanced role in guiding the direction of coaching, specifically by providing input as to what kind of coaching works and what kind does not. Of course, this kind of input does not constitute the sum total of what is needed to create an effective PLC, but it is also unthinkable that learning communities can long thrive or survive without being driven by the interests and predilections of their own customers. It should also be noted collegiality has been a foundational value of the PLC. Indeed, the functioning of PLCs from the nineteenth century onwards has required a spirit of collegiality in that members of such communities must be open to critique, generous with help of others, and committed to coexistence and mutual advancement.
Sunday, August 4, 2019
moralhf Huckleberry Finn Essays †Moral :: Adventures Huckleberry Huck Finn Essays
Huckleberry Finn – Moral The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain tell the story of how a young boy learns how to overcome the idea that colored folks are less equal then white folk. Regardless of the positive lessons portrayed throughout this book, it has been miss represented even from the very day that it was published. In fact, it has been said that this "book has been controversial since it was published it 1885" in a Los Angeles Times article written by Henry Weinstein in 1998. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a classical story which was written for enjoyment and future education. This book was not written to encourage any derogatory slurs to any ethnic groups. Even though Jim, the colored friend of Huckleberry Finn, felt that every white person though of color people as less equal, his friendship with Huck should be an inspiration to everyone to overcome differences. America has become a country that has given every one of its citizens an awesome privilege to be equal. Along w ith this privilege to be equal, America citizens have the opportunity to learn and become educated. The schools that provide this education should had the right to teach people how this country has evolved into a great nation. This right should include an ability to examine both the good and the bad and it should include a proper response to both. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn provides an excellence chance for teachers to explain to young people how America has now treats everyone equal. Many times in the friendship of Huck and Jim, Jim's idea that all white people treat colored people as less equal then white people show up. Jim, who is a run-a-way slave, was always trying to avoid any contact with white people of town. One specific example of how Jim thought about white people was when he stumbled across a dead man on the river in a house. Jim did not what to tell anyone, not even Huck. He thought that if anyone found out they would blame him for murdering the fellow. Jim was always in hiding. He thought that if a white person saw him, he would be sent back to his owner and punished.
Saturday, August 3, 2019
Comparison of London by William Blake and Westminster Bridge. :: English Literature
Comparison of London by William Blake and Westminster Bridge. "I wander thro' each chartered street," this is William Blake, walking slowly, almost lost, taking notice of everything he sees around him. By 'chartered' William Blake can mean two different things, he can mean wealthy and prosperous or he can mean streets that are chartered / charted on a map, this is better explained in the next line where he speaks of the 'chartered' Thames, giving us the impression that he is in fact speaking of the chartered / charted meaning. "Near where the chartered Thames does flow," the second line of the first verse sheds some more light on where William Blake actually is, he is on the 'streets' by the Thames -London. As London was quite small he is probably talking about the whole of London, not just a certain part. "And mark in every face I meet, marks of weakness, marks of woe," By weakness William Blake again mean two things, he can mean physical weakness resulting from starvation or hunger and the work they have done, he can also mean mental weakness, lack of hope or happiness and maybe lack of intelligence, as many people in those times in the poor/working class areas may not have gone to school. By 'woe' Blake can mean anguish and despair. Altogether William Blake states that all the people he meets are glum and/or sad. "In every cry of every man, In every infants cry of fear In every voice, in every ban The mind-forged manacles I hear" This is the second of four verses, and it describes what William Blake 'hears' as he 'wanders thro' each chartered street.' He states that in every mans cry, in every infants cry, in every voice and every sign he can see the limits set to the people by themselves in the mind and the lack of hope. The limits and lack of hope, I think, stem from the mental 'weakness' described in the first verse. "How the chimney-sweepers cry Every blackening church appals." I think that these two opening lines of the third verse have a lot of meaning. Chimney-sweepers were often young children who were forced to climb up/down chimneys to clean them. They often worked long hours and received little pay. Then William Blake mentions the 'blackening church' - a church is almost like a sanctuary for most people, but for the chimney-sweepers, there is no rest or sanctuary, no place to forget about there troubles, even the church needs to be cleaned, a place of purity is tainted and blackened ant the work goes on for the chimney-sweepers. "And the hapless soldiers cry Comparison of London by William Blake and Westminster Bridge. :: English Literature Comparison of London by William Blake and Westminster Bridge. "I wander thro' each chartered street," this is William Blake, walking slowly, almost lost, taking notice of everything he sees around him. By 'chartered' William Blake can mean two different things, he can mean wealthy and prosperous or he can mean streets that are chartered / charted on a map, this is better explained in the next line where he speaks of the 'chartered' Thames, giving us the impression that he is in fact speaking of the chartered / charted meaning. "Near where the chartered Thames does flow," the second line of the first verse sheds some more light on where William Blake actually is, he is on the 'streets' by the Thames -London. As London was quite small he is probably talking about the whole of London, not just a certain part. "And mark in every face I meet, marks of weakness, marks of woe," By weakness William Blake again mean two things, he can mean physical weakness resulting from starvation or hunger and the work they have done, he can also mean mental weakness, lack of hope or happiness and maybe lack of intelligence, as many people in those times in the poor/working class areas may not have gone to school. By 'woe' Blake can mean anguish and despair. Altogether William Blake states that all the people he meets are glum and/or sad. "In every cry of every man, In every infants cry of fear In every voice, in every ban The mind-forged manacles I hear" This is the second of four verses, and it describes what William Blake 'hears' as he 'wanders thro' each chartered street.' He states that in every mans cry, in every infants cry, in every voice and every sign he can see the limits set to the people by themselves in the mind and the lack of hope. The limits and lack of hope, I think, stem from the mental 'weakness' described in the first verse. "How the chimney-sweepers cry Every blackening church appals." I think that these two opening lines of the third verse have a lot of meaning. Chimney-sweepers were often young children who were forced to climb up/down chimneys to clean them. They often worked long hours and received little pay. Then William Blake mentions the 'blackening church' - a church is almost like a sanctuary for most people, but for the chimney-sweepers, there is no rest or sanctuary, no place to forget about there troubles, even the church needs to be cleaned, a place of purity is tainted and blackened ant the work goes on for the chimney-sweepers. "And the hapless soldiers cry
Friday, August 2, 2019
Lung Cancer Essay -- essays research papers fc
There are two different types of lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer. It is all depending on the size of what the cells look like under a microscope. Both of these types of lung cancer can grow differently which leads to them both being treated differently. Non-small cell lung cancer is the more common of the two and it usually grows fairly slow. There are three main types of non-small cell lung cancer and they are squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, and large cell carcinoma. Small cell cancer is the least common and it grows fairly rapid and it can easily spread to other organs in the body (Cavendish, p.946). Usually cells grow and divide at a specific pace that keeps the body working healthy but sometimes the cells start to divide at an uncontrollably pace. When the cells grow too much they make a tumor. The cells in this tumor are cancer cells and when the cancer cells are in the lungs, they eat away at the lungs, which leads to killing someone. Some people that might get cancer are people who smoke cigarettes, cigars, and pipes, and people who get close to radon, asbestos, and pollution. In most people that cancer, the cancer cells are not found until it is in the later stages. Only 15% of the people that get cancer get it found in the early stages. When someone is found that they have cancer, they have at the most, five years to live. It matters if the cancer cells have gotten to the local lymph nodes or elsewhere. Most people figure out they have cancer by pure accident. They will go in to get an x-ray or CAT scan for something else and figure out they have cancer (http://my.webmd.com). There are many different symptoms for lung cancer. Most of them do something with breathing or something to do with their mouth. Some of the symptoms are; a cough that doesn’t go away, chest pain that is sometimes aggravated by deep breathing, hoarse sounding voice, weight loss or loss of appetite, bloody spit, shortness of breathe, fever with no known reason, recurring infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia, and wheezing (http://my.webmd.com). There is a lot of ways for Lung Cancer to be diagnosed. A CT (Computed Tomography) scan will tell the exact size, shape, and position of the tumor. A MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) will help tell where the cancer is going to spread. A PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scan traces a... ...dy from the outside, and it is focused on the cancer. The other kind is brachytherapy, which a small pellet of radioactive material is placed directly into the cancer or an airway near it. I think that lung cancer is very severe. I thought that this report would be very good for me to do because a lot of people are going to know someone with lung cancer and if someone close to me gets lung cancer, then I will know what they are going threw. I may even get lung cancer someday and if I do, then I will know what my possibilities of living and what to do to help myself. I learned a lot while doing this report and I think that lung cancer and all other kind of cancers are a big deal and everything should learn all they can about them. Bibliography Encyclopedia of Family Health, volume 8, Marshall Cavendish, 1998, pp. 974 – 978 Johnston, Lorraine, Lung Cancer: Making Sense of Diagnosis, Treatment, and Options, O'Reilly & Associates, 2001 National Cancer Institute, What You Need to Know About Lung Cancer, 2000, http://my.webmd.com, May 16, 2001. The World Book Encyclopedia, volume 3, Scott Fetzer, 1998, pp. 167 – 174 Types of Treatment, 2000, http://www.cancer.org, May 16,2001
Thursday, August 1, 2019
An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’
Achebe, Chinua. â€Å"An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's ‘Heart of Darkness'†Massachusetts Review. 18. 1977. Rpt. in Heart of Darkness, An Authoritative Text, background and Sources Criticism. 1961. 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough, London: W. W Norton and Co. , 1988, pp. 251-261 In the fall of 1974 I was walking one day from the English Department at the University of Massachusetts to a parking lot. It was a fine autumn morning such as encouraged friendliness to passing strangers. Brisk youngsters were hurrying in all directions, many of them obviously freshmen in their first flush of enthusiasm.An older man going the same way as I turned and remarked to me how very young they came these days. I agreed. Then he asked me if I was a student too. I said no, I was a teacher. What did I teach? African literature. Now that was funny, he said, because he knew a fellow who taught the same thing, or perhaps it was African history, in a certain Community College not far from her e. It always surprised him, he went on to say, because he never had thought of Africa as having that kind of stuff, you know. By this time I was walking much faster. Oh well,†I heard him say finally, behind me: â€Å"I guess I have to take your course to find out. †A few weeks later I received two very touching letters from high school children in Yonkers, New York, who  bless their teacher  had just read Things Fall Apart . One of them was particularly happy to learn about the customs and superstitions of an African tribe. I propose to draw from these rather trivial encounters rather heavy conclusions which at first sight might seem somewhat out of proportion to them. But only, I hope, at first sight.The young fellow from Yonkers, perhaps partly on account of his age but I believe also for much deeper and more serious reasons, is obviously unaware that the life of his own tribesmen in Yonkers, New York, is full of odd customs and superstitions and, li ke everybody else in his culture, imagines that he needs a trip to Africa to encounter those things. The other person being fully my own age could not be excused on the grounds of his years. Ignorance might be a more likely reason; but here again I believe that something more willful than a mere lack of information was at work.For did not that erudite British historian and Regius Professor at Oxford, Hugh Trevor Roper, also pronounce that African history did not exist? If there is something in these utterances more than youthful inexperience, more than a lack of factual knowledge, what is it? Quite simply it is the desire  one might indeed say the need  in Western psychology to set Africa up as a foil to Europe, as a place of negations at once remote and vaguely familiar, in comparison with which Europe's own state of spiritual grace will be manifest.This need is not new; which should relieve us all of considerable responsibility and perhaps make us even willing to l ook at this phenomenon dispassionately. I have neither the wish nor the competence to embark on the exercise with the tools of the social and biological sciences but more simply in the manner of a novelist responding to one famous book of European fiction: Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness , which better than any other work that I know displays that Western desire and need which I have just referred to.Of course there are whole libraries of books devoted to the same purpose but most of them are so obvious and so crude that few people worry about them today. Conrad, on the other hand, is undoubtedly one of the great stylists of modern fiction and a good storyteller into the bargain. His contribution therefore falls automatically into a different class  permanent literature  read and taught and constantly evaluated by serious academics. Heart of Darkness is indeed so secure today that a leading Conrad scholar has numbered it â€Å"among the half-dozen greatest short n ovels in the English language. I will return to this critical opinion in due course because it may seriously modify my earlier suppositions about who may or may not be guilty in some of the matters I will now raise. Heart of Darkness projects the image of Africa as â€Å"the other world,†the antithesis of Europe and therefore of civilization, a place where man's vaunted intelligence and refinement are finally mocked by triumphant beastiality. The book opens on the River Thames, tranquil, resting, peacefully â€Å"at the decline of day after ages of good service done to the race that peopled its banks. But the actual story will take place on the River Congo, the very antithesis of the Thames. The River Congo is quite decidedly not a River Emeritus. It has rendered no service and enjoys no old-age pension. We are told that â€Å"Going up that river was like traveling back to the earliest beginnings of the world. †Is Conrad saying then that these two rivers are very di fferent, one good, the other bad? Yes, but that is not the real point. It is not the differentness that worries Conrad but the lurking hint of kinship, of common ancestry. For the Thames too â€Å"has been one of the dark places of the earth. It conquered its darkness, of course, and is now in daylight and at peace. But if it were to visit its primordial relative, the Congo, it would run the terrible risk of hearing grotesque echoes of its own forgotten darkness, and falling victim to an avenging recrudescence of the mindless frenzy of the first beginnings. These suggestive echoes comprise Conrad's famed evocation of the African atmosphere in Heart of Darkness . In the final consideration his method amounts to no more than a steady, ponderous, fake-ritualistic repetition of two antithetical sentences, one about silence and the other about frenzy.We can inspect samples of this on pages 36 and 37 of the present edition: a) it was the stillness of an implacable force brooding over an inscrutable intention and b) The steamer toiled along slowly on the edge of a black and incomprehensible frenzy. Of course there is a judicious change of adjective from time to time, so that instead of inscrutable, for example, you might have unspeakable, even plain mysterious, etc. , etc. The eagle-eyed English critic F. R. Leavis drew attention long ago to Conrad's â€Å"adjectival insistence upon inexpressible and incomprehensible mystery. That insistence must not be dismissed lightly, as many Conrad critics have tended to do, as a mere stylistic flaw; for it raises serious questions of artistic good faith. When a writer while pretending to record scenes, incidents and their impact is in reality engaged in inducing hypnotic stupor in his readers through a bombardment of emotive words and other forms of trickery much more has to be at stake than stylistic felicity. Generally normal readers are well armed to detect and resist such under-hand activity.But Conrad chose his subject w ell  one which was guaranteed not to put him in conflict with the psychological predisposition of his readers or raise the need for him to contend with their resistance. He chose the role of purveyor of comforting myths. The most interesting and revealing passages in Heart of Darkness are, however, about people. I must crave the indulgence of my reader to quote almost a whole page from about the middle of the stop/when representatives of Europe in a steamer going down the Congo encounter the denizens of Africa. We were wanderers on a prehistoric earth, on an earth that wore the aspect of an unknown planet.We could have fancied ourselves the first of men taking possession of an accursed inheritance, to be subdued at the cost of profound anguish and of excessive toil. But suddenly as we struggled round a bend there would be a glimpse of rush walls, of peaked grass-roofs, a burst of yells, a whirl of black limbs, a mass of hands clapping, of feet stamping, of bodies swaying, of eyes rolling under the droop of heavy and motionless foliage. The steamer toiled along slowly on the edge of a black and incomprehensible frenzy. The prehistoric man was cursing us, praying to us, welcoming us  who could tell?We were cut off from the comprehension of our surroundings; we glided past like phantoms, wondering and secretly appalled, as sane men would be before an enthusiastic outbreak in a madhouse. We could not understand because we were too far and could not remember, because we were traveling in the night of first ages, of those ages that are gone, leaving hardly a sign  and no memories. The earth seemed unearthly. We are accustomed to look upon the shackled form of a conquered monster, but there  there you could look at a thing monstrous and free. It was unearthly and the men were †¦. No they were not inhuman.Well, you know that was the worst of it  this suspicion of their not being inhuman. It would come slowly to one. They ho wled and leaped and spun and made horrid faces, but what thrilled you, was just the thought of their humanity  like yours  the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar. Ugly. Yes, it was ugly enough, but if you were man enough you would admit to yourself that there was in you just the faintest trace of a response to the terrible frankness of that noise, a dim suspicion of there being a meaning in it which you  you so remote from the night of first ages  could comprehend.Herein lies the meaning of Heart of Darkness and the fascination it holds over the Western mind: â€Å"What thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity  like yours †¦. Ugly. †Having shown us Africa in the mass, Conrad then zeros in, half a page later, on a specific example, giving us one of his rare descriptions of an African who is not just limbs or rolling eyes: And between whiles I had to look after the savage who was fireman. He was an improved specimen; he could fire up a vertical boiler.He was there below me and, upon my word, to look at him was as edifying as seeing a dog in a parody of breeches and a feather hat walking on his hind legs. A few months of training had done for that really fine chap. He squinted at the steam-gauge and at the water-gauge with an evident effort of intrepidity  and he had filed his teeth too, the poor devil, and the wool of his pate shaved into queer patterns, and three ornamental scars on each of his cheeks. He ought to have been clapping his hands and stamping his feet on the bank, instead of which he was hard at work, a thrall to strange witchcraft, full of improving knowledge.As everybody knows, Conrad is a romantic on the side. He might not exactly admire savages clapping their hands and stamping their feet but they have at least the merit of being in their place, unlike this dog in a parody of breeches. For Conrad things being in their place is of the utmost importance. â€Å"Fine fellows  cannibals –in their place,†he tells us pointedly. Tragedy begins when things leave their accustomed place, like Europe leaving its safe stronghold between the policeman and the baker to like a peep into the heart of darkness.Before the story likes us into the Congo basin proper we are given this nice little vignette as an example of things in their place: Now and then a boat from the shore gave one a momentary contact with reality. It was paddled by black fellows. You could see from afar the white of their eyeballs glistening. They shouted, sang; their bodies streamed with perspiration; they had faces like grotesque masks  these chaps; but they had bone, muscle, a wild vitality, an intense energy of movement that was as natural and hue as the surf along their coast.They wanted no excuse for being there. They were a great comfort to look at. Towards the end of the story Conrad lavishes a whole page quite unexpectedly on a n African woman who has obviously been some kind of mistress to Mr. Kurtz and now presides (if I may be permitted a little liberty) like a formidable mystery over the inexorable imminence of his departure: She was savage and superb, wild-eyed and magnificent †¦. She stood looking at us without a stir and like the wilderness itself, with an air of brooding over an inscrutable purpose.This Amazon is drawn in considerable detail, albeit of a predictable nature, for two reasons. First, she is in her place and so can win Conrad's special brand of approval and second, she fulfills a structural requirement of the story: a savage counterpart to the refined, European woman who will step forth to end the story: She came forward all in black with a pale head, floating toward me in the dusk. She was in mourning †¦. She took both my hands in hers and murmured, â€Å"I had heard you were coming. â€Å"†¦ She had a mature capacity for fidelity, for belief, for suffering.The differ ence in the attitude of the novelist to these two women is conveyed in too many direct and subfile ways to need elaboration. But perhaps the most significant difference is the one implied in the author's bestowal of human expression to the one and the withholding of it from the other. It is clearly not part of Conrad's purpose to confer language on the â€Å"rudimentary souls†of Africa. In place of speech they made â€Å"a violent babble of uncouth sounds. †They â€Å"exchanged short grunting phrases†even among themselves. But most of the time they were too busy with their frenzy.There are two occasions in the book, however, when Conrad departs somewhat from his practice and confers speech, even English speech, on the savages. The first occurs when cannibalism gets the better of them: â€Å"Catch ‘im,†he snapped with a bloodshot widening of his eyes and a flash of sharp teeth  â€Å"catch ‘im. Give ‘im to us. †â€Å" To you, eh? †I asked; â€Å"what would you do with them? â€Å"Eat ‘im! †he said curtly. . . . The other occasion was the famous announcement:†Mistah Kurtz  he dead. †At first sight these instances might be mistaken for unexpected acts of generosity from Conrad.In reality they constitute some of his best assaults. In the case of the cannibals the incomprehensible grunts that had thus far served them for speech suddenly proved inadequate for Conrad's purpose of letting the European glimpse the unspeakable craving in their hearts. Weighing the necessity for consistency in the portrayal of the dumb brutes against the sensational advantages of securing their conviction by clear, unambiguous evidence issuing out of their own mouth Conrad chose the latter. As for the announcement of Mr.Kurtz's death by the â€Å"insolent black head in the doorway†what better or more appropriate finis could be written to the horror story of that wayward ch ild of civilization who willfully had given his soul to the powers of darkness and â€Å"taken a high seat amongst the devils of the land†than the proclamation of his physical death by the forces he had joined? It might be contended, of course, that the attitude to the African in Heart of Darkness is not Conrad's but that of his fictional narrator, Marlow, and that far from endorsing it Conrad might indeed be holding it up to irony and criticism.Certainly Conrad appears to go to considerable pains to set up layers of insulation between himself and the moral universe of his history. He has, for example, a narrator behind a narrator. The primary narrator is Marlow but his account is given to us through the filter of a second, shadowy person. But if Conrad's intention is to draw a cordon sanitaire between himself and the moral and psychological malaise of his narrator his care seems to me totally wasted because he neglects to hint however subtly or tentatively at an alternative frame of reference by which we may judge the actions and opinions of his characters.It would not have been beyond Conrad's power to make that provision if he had thought it necessary. Marlow seems to me to enjoy Conrad's complete confidence  a feeling reinforced by the close similarities between their two careers. Marlow comes through to us not only as a witness of truth, but one holding those advanced and humane views appropriate to the English liberal tradition which required all Englishmen of decency to be deeply shocked by atrocities in Bulgaria or the Congo of King Leopold of the Belgians or wherever.Thus Marlow is able to toss out such bleeding-heart sentiments as these: They were dying slowly  it was very clear. They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now, nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation lying confusedly in the greenish gloom. Brought from all the recesses of the coast in all the legality of time contracts , lost in uncongenial surroundings, fed on unfamiliar food, they sickened, became inefficient, and were then allowed to crawl away and rest.The kind of liberalism espoused here by Marlow/Conrad touched all the best minds of the age in England, Europe and America. It took different forms in the minds of different people but almost always managed to sidestep the ultimate question of equality between white people and black people. That extraordinary missionary, Albert Schweitzer, who sacrificed brilliant careers in music and theology in Europe for a life of service to Africans in much the same area as Conrad writes about, epitomizes the ambivalence. In a comment which has often been quoted Schweitzer says: â€Å"The African is indeed my brother but my junior brother. And so he proceeded to build a hospital appropriate to the needs of junior brothers with standards of hygiene reminiscent of medical practice in the days before the germ theory of disease came into being. Naturally he bec ame a sensation in Europe and America. Pilgrims flocked, and I believe still flock even after he has passed on, to witness the prodigious miracle in Lamberene, on the edge of the primeval forest. Conrad's liberalism would not take him quite as far as Schweitzer's, though. He would not use the word brother however qualified; the farthest he would go was kinship.When Marlow's African helmsman falls down with a spear in his heart he gives his white master one final disquieting look. And the intimate profundity of that look he gave me when he received his hurt remains to this day in my memory  like a claim of distant kinship affirmed in a supreme moment. It is important to note that Conrad, careful as ever with his words, is concerned not so much about distant kinship as about someone laying a claim on it. The black man lays a claim on the white man which is well-nigh intolerable. It is the laying of this claim which frightens and at the same time fascinates Conrad, â€Å"†¦ he thought of their humanity  like yours †¦. Ugly. †The point of my observations should be quite clear by now, namely that Joseph Conrad was a thoroughgoing racist. That this simple truth is glossed over in criticisms of his work is due to the fact that white racism against Africa is such a normal way of thinking that its manifestations go completely unremarked. Students of Heart of Darkness will often tell you that Conrad is concerned not so much with Africa as with the deterioration of one European mind caused by solitude and sickness.They will point out to you that Conrad is, if anything, less charitable to the Europeans in the story than he is to the natives, that the point of the story is to ridicule Europe's civilizing mission in Africa. A Conrad student informed me in Scotland that Africa is merely a setting for the disintegration of the mind of Mr. Kurtz. Which is partly the point. Africa as setting and backdrop which eliminates the African as human fa ctor. Africa as a metaphysical battlefield devoid of all recognizable humanity, into which the wandering European enters at his peril.Can nobody see the preposterous and perverse arrogance in thus reducing Africa to the role of props for the break-up of one petty European mind? But that is not even the point. The real question is the dehumanization of Africa and Africans which this age-long attitude has fostered and continues to foster in the world. And the question is whether a novel which celebrates this dehumanization, which depersonalizes a portion of the human race, can be called a great work of art. My answer is: No, it cannot. I do not doubt Conrad's great talents.Even Heart of Darkness has its memorably good passages and moments: The reaches opened before us and closed behind, as if the forest had stepped leisurely across tile water to bar the way for our return. Its exploration of the minds of the European characters is often penetrating and full of insight. But all that ha s been more than fully discussed in the last fifty years. His obvious racism has, however, not been addressed. And it is high time it was! Conrad was born in 1857, the very year in which the first Anglican missionaries were arriving among my own people in Nigeria.It was certainly not his fault that he lived his life at a time when the reputation of the black man was at a particularly low level. But even after due allowances have been made for all the influences of contemporary prejudice on his sensibility there remains still in Conrad's attitude a residue of antipathy to black people which his peculiar psychology alone can explain. His own account of his first encounter with a black man is very revealing: A certain enormous buck nigger encountered in Haiti fixed my conception of blind, furious, unreasoning rage, as manifested in the human animal to the end of my days.Of the nigger I used to dream for years afterwards. Certainly Conrad had a problem with niggers. His inordinate love of that word itself should be of interest to psychoanalysts. Sometimes his fixation on blackness is equally interesting as when he gives us this brief description: A black figure stood up, strode on long black legs, waving long black arms. . . . as though we might expect a black figure striding along on black legs to wave white arms! But so unrelenting is Conrad's obsession. As a matter of interest Conrad gives us in A Personal Record what amounts to a companion piece to the buck nigger of Haiti.At the age of sixteen Conrad encountered his first Englishman in Europe. He calls him â€Å"my unforgettable Englishman†and describes him in the following manner: â€Å"(his) calves exposed to the public gaze . . . dazzled the beholder by the splendor of their marble-like condition and their rich tone of young ivory. . . . The light of a headlong, exalted satisfaction with the world of men. . . illumined his face. . . and triumphant eyes. In passing he cast a glance of kindly curios ity and a friendly gleam of big, sound, shiny teeth. . . his white calves twinkled sturdily. Irrational love and irrational hate jostling together in the heart of that talented, tormented man. But whereas irrational love may at worst engender foolish acts of indiscretion, irrational hate can endanger the life of the community. Naturally Conrad is a dream for psychoanalytic critics. Perhaps the most detailed study of him in this direction is by Bernard C. Meyer, M. D. In his lengthy book Dr. Meyer follows every conceivable lead (and sometimes inconceivable ones) to explain Conrad. As an example he gives us long disquisitions on the significance of hair and hair-cutting in Conrad.And yet not even one word is spared for his attitude to black people. Not even the discussion of Conrad's antisemitism was enough to spark off in Dr. Meyer's mind those other dark and explosive thoughts. Which only leads one to surmise that Western psychoanalysts must regard the kind of racism displayed by Co nrad absolutely normal despite the profoundly important work done by Frantz Fanon in the psychiatric hospitals of French Algeria. Whatever Conrad's problems were, you might say he is now safely dead. Quite true. Unfortunately his heart of darkness plagues us still.Which is why an offensive and deplorable book can be described by a serious scholar as â€Å"among the half dozen greatest short novels in the English language. †And why it is today the most commonly prescribed novel in twentieth-century literature courses in English Departments of American universities. There are two probable grounds on which what I have aid so far may be contested. The first is that it is no concern of fiction to please people about whom it is written. I will go along with that. But I am not talking about pleasing people.I am talking about a book which parades in the most vulgar fashion prejudices and insults from which a section of mankind has suffered untold agonies and atrocities in the past a nd continues to do so in many ways and many places today. I am talking about a story in which the very humanity of black people is called in question. Secondly, I may be challenged on the grounds of actuality. Conrad, after all, did sail down the Congo in 1890 when my own father was still a babe in arms. How could I stand up more than fifty years after his death and purport to contradict him?My answer is that as a sensible man I will not accept just any traveler's tales solely on the grounds that I have not made the journey myself. I will not trust the evidence even off man's very eyes when I suspect them to be as jaundiced as Conrad's. And we also happen to know that Conrad was, in the words of his biographer, Bernard C. Meyer, â€Å"notoriously inaccurate in the rendering of his own history. †But more important by far is the abundant testimony about Conrad's savages which we could gather if we were so inclined from other sources and which might lead us to think that these people must have had other occupations besides erging into the evil forest or materializing out of it simply to plague Marlow and his dispirited band. For as it happened, soon after Conrad had written his book an event of far greater consequence was taking place in the art world of Europe. This is how Frank Willett, a British art historian, describes it: Gaugin had gone to Tahiti, the most extravagant individual act of turning to a non-European culture in the decades immediately before and after 1900, when European artists were avid for new artistic experiences, but it was only about 1904-5 that African art began to make its distinctive impact.One piece is still identifiable; it is a mask that had been given to Maurice Vlaminck in 1905. He records that Derain was ‘speechless' and ‘stunned' when he saw it, bought it from Vlaminck and in turn showed it to Picasso and Matisse, who were also greatly affected by it. Ambroise Vollard then borrowed it and had it cast in bronze. . . The revolution of twentieth century art was under way! The mask in question was made by other savages living just north of Conrad's River Congo. They have a name too: the Fang people, and are without a doubt among the world's greatest masters of the sculptured form.The event Frank Willett is referring to marks the beginning of cubism and the infusion of new life into European art, which had run completely out of strength. The point of all this is to suggest that Conrad's picture of the people of the Congo seems grossly inadequate even at the height of their subjection to the ravages of King Leopold's lnternational Association for the Civilization of Central Africa. Travelers with closed minds can tell us little except about themselves. But even those not blinkered, like Conrad with xenophobia, can be astonishing blind.Let me digress a little here. One of the greatest and most intrepid travelers of all time, Marco Polo, journeyed to the Far East from the Mediterranean in the thi rteenth century and spent twenty years in the court of Kublai Khan in China. On his return to Venice he set down in his book entitled Description of the World his impressions of the peoples and places and customs he had seen. But there were at least two extraordinary omissions in his account. He said nothing about the art of printing, unknown as yet in Europe but in full flower in China.He either did not notice it at all or if he did, failed to see what use Europe could possibly have for it. Whatever the reason, Europe had to wait another hundred years for Gutenberg. But even more spectacular was Marco Polo's omission of any reference to the Great Wall of China nearly 4,000 miles long and already more than 1,000 years old at the time of his visit. Again, he may not have seen it; but the Great Wall of China is the only structure built by man which is visible from the moon! Indeed travelers can be blind. As I said earlier Conrad did not originate the image of Africa which we find in h is book.It was and is the dominant image of Africa in the Western imagination and Conrad merely brought the peculiar gifts of his own mind to bear on it. For reasons which can certainly use close psychological inquiry the West seems to suffer deep anxieties about the precariousness of its civilization and to have a need for constant reassurance by comparison with Africa. If Europe, advancing in civilization, could cast a backward glance periodically at Africa trapped in primordial barbarity it could say with faith and feeling: There go I but for the grace of God.Africa is to Europe as the picture is to Dorian Gray  a carrier onto whom the master unloads his physical and moral deformities so that he may go forward, erect and immaculate. Consequently Africa is something to be avoided just as the picture has to be hidden away to safeguard the man's jeopardous integrity. Keep away from Africa, or else! Mr. Kurtz of Heart of Darkness should have heeded that warning and the prowli ng horror in his heart would have kept its place, chained to its lair. But he foolishly exposed himself to the wild irresistible allure of the jungle and lo! he darkness found him out. In my original conception of this essay I had thought to conclude it nicely on an appropriately positive note in which I would suggest from my privileged position in African and Western cultures some advantages the West might derive from Africa once it rid its mind of old prejudices and began to look at Africa not through a haze of distortions and cheap mystifications but quite simply as a continent of people  not angels, but not rudimentary souls either  just people, often highly gifted people and often strikingly successful in their enterprise with life and society.But as I thought more about the stereotype image, about its grip and pervasiveness, about the willful tenacity with which the West holds it to its heart; when I thought of the West's television and cinema and newspapers, a bout books read in its schools and out of school, of churches preaching to empty pews about the need to send help to the heathen in Africa, I realized that no easy optimism was possible. And there was, in any case, something totally wrong in offering bribes to the West in return for its good opinion of Africa. Ultimately the abandonment of unwholesome thoughts must be its own and only reward.Although I have used the word willful a few times here to characterize the West's view of Africa, it may well be that what is happening at this stage is more akin to reflex action than calculated malice. Which does not make the situation more but less hopeful. The Christian Science Monitor, a paper more enlightened than most, once carried an interesting article written by its Education Editor on the serious psychological and learning problems faced by little children who speak one language at home and then go to school where something else is spoken.It was a wide-ranging article taking in Spanis h-speaking children in America, the children of migrant Italian workers in Germany, the quadrilingual phenomenon in Malaysia, and so on. And all this while the article speaks unequivocally about language. But then out of the blue sky comes this: In London there is an enormous immigration of children who speak Indian or Nigerian dialects, or some other native language. I believe that the introduction of dialects which is technically erroneous in the context is almost a reflex action caused by an instinctive desire of the writer to downgrade the discussion to the level of Africa and India.And this is quite comparable to Conrad's withholding of language from his rudimentary souls. Language is too grand for these chaps; let's give them dialects! In all this business a lot of violence is inevitably done not only to the image of despised peoples but even to words, the very tools of possible redress. Look at the phrase native language in the Science Monitor excerpt. Surely the only native language possible in London is Cockney English. But our writer means something else  something appropriate to the sounds Indians and Africans make!Although the work of redressing which needs to be done may appear too daunting, I believe it is not one day too soon to begin. Conrad saw and condemned the evil of imperial exploitation but was strangely unaware of the racism on which it sharpened its iron tooth. But the victims of racist slander who for centuries have had to live with the inhumanity it makes them heir to have always known better than any casual visitor even when he comes loaded with the gifts of a Conrad.
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