Disability and the Media Essay Sample free essay sample

In the media today. people with disablements are perceived as tragic heroes or as medical miracles. They are seldom seen for their intelligence or for their achievements excepting their overcoming disablement adversities. The text edition. Everything’s an Argument. contains an extract from Charles A. Riley II’s book â€Å"Disability and the Media: Prescriptions for Change. † Riley. a news media professor at New York’s Baruch College. uses entreaty to ethos. Son. and poignancy to carry his audience that their methods of portraying handicapped people are in desperate demand of alteration. Riley studies that disabled famous persons are seen as the object of commiseration. finally striping them of feelings of normalcy. Equally good as indicating out the common cliches of handicapped people in the media. he provides some guidelines that should be taken when portraying people with disablements in the media. Ultimately. with the usage of precise subject. relevant enunciation. and a serious tone. Riley imposingly organizes and structures his composing to demo that there is a demand for alteration in the media and that the alteration is possible. Therefore. he uses his rhetorical schemes efficaciously to carry his audience into altering the manner able-bodied people portray the handicapped. Riley’s text gives a historical background. which is used as an entreaty to ethos. He has won many awards for his work on issues affecting disablements. Along with his historical background. a list of books that he has written is provided. Knowing about his old work. books. and awards provides the readers with a sense of trust in the writer. Therefore. his entreaty to ethos aid in his persuasion of acquiring able-bodied people to perpetrate to alter in the manner they portray the handicapped. Throughout the text. Riley gives many illustrations of famous persons with disablements and how they are inaccurately perceived through media. With these illustrations. Riley entreaties to Sons ; supplying his audience with grounds that some famous persons are non being perceived as normal worlds. but as heroes in get the better ofing their disablements. He writes. â€Å"In much the same manner. Christopher Reeve and Michael J. Fox have been pigeonholed by print and telecasting hagiographists as lab experiments and tragic heroes† ( 643 ) . Riley besides emphasizes how the media ignores who these famous persons are and alternatively portrays them as an object of inspiration. â€Å" Mullins’ â€Å" inspiring’ saga is recycled about direct by unthreatening journalists for audiences who neer seem to acquire plenty of its feel-good message even if they neer really happen out who Mullins is† ( 642 ) . This entreaties to logos because he provides the grounds that these famous persons aren’t being seen as normal worlds. Supplying this grounds persuades his audience because it reveals that there are famous persons being shown in media in a colored mode. This may be something able-bodied people do non recognize and it entices them to alter. Another device Riley uses to efficaciously reason his point is tone. Riley uses a really serious tone when declaring that handicapped people are being portrayed as holding â€Å"ill-fitted† organic structure parts. â€Å"By jamming Mullins and the others into prefabricated stories—the superior. the medical miracle. the object of pity—writers and manufacturers have outfitted them with the narrative equivalent of an ill-fitting set of prostheses† ( 643 ) . This serious tone is effectual because the audience senses that Riley feels strongly about how unsuitably the handicapped are â€Å"used† to arouse understanding for all crippled or handicapped people in the universe. He besides uses a several tone when analysing the tests that disabled people have had to digest. â€Å"An able-bodied individual falls from grace. progresses through the shadows of rehab and depression. and by force of self-control along with spiritual belief pulls through to achieve a quality of life that is less handicapped. more normal. basking in the freshness of acknowledgment for crushing the odds† ( 645 ) . With this tone. he efficaciously displays the adversities that a handicapped individual brushs which helps his statement. Along with tone. Riley uses enunciation as a manner to efficaciously beef up his statement. He uses such enunciation as â€Å"allegorical† and â€Å"hagiographer. † every bit good as supplying the definitions or backgrounds of certain footings along the boundary lines of the text. Using such words and supplying their definitions gives the reader a sense of feeling that what they are reading is of import. This helps do his statement effectual because the reader will admit the writers good sense of vocabulary and that entirely will demo he is even more believable. The writer uses this as an entreaty to ethos because he is deriving credibleness from his usage of enunciation. One of the entreaties that make Riley’s statement really effectual is his entreaty to pathos. He compares his entreaty to how a individual with a disablement is displayed as a â€Å"poster child† in exchange for understanding and contributions. â€Å"bringing her fiscal wagess of sponsorships. motivational speech production gigs. and patterning contracts at the disbursal of being turned into a latter twenty-four hours posting child† ( 642 ) . This efficaciously supports Riley’s claim because the audience will now experience sympathetic for the handicapped portrayed in the media as person necessitating aid or a patron. Another illustration is when he attempts to find how much the media is take downing handicapped people as a group. â€Å"It is impossible to cognize the full grade of harm wreaked by the demeaning and wildly inaccurate portraiture of people with disablements. nor is it wholly clear whether much current advancement is being made† ( 645 ) . This accent causes the reader to experience commiseration for people with disablements and elicits the audience to hold with Riley’s claim. which is that able-bodied are being portrayed inaccurately in the media. Through Riley’s usage of entreaty to ethos. Son. and poignancy. he efficaciously argues his claim that disabled people in the media is being inaccurately portrayed. He presents a job. discusses what should be done. and so gives illustrations on how that solution can be achieved. Overall. Riley uses his rhetorical schemes and enunciation to efficaciously reason that people with disablements are non being portrayed suitably. Plants CitedCharles A. Riley. â€Å"Disability and the Media: Prescriptions for Change† . 2005. Everythings anArgument. 5th erectile dysfunction. Eds. Lunsford. Andrea. John. J. Rusziewicz. and Keith Walters. Boston. MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2009. 641-650.

So Long a Letter Essay Example

So Long a Letter Essay So Long a Letter is a novel written by Mariama Ba, a black Sengalese author. It was assumed that she had lived a life that was very similar to the two main female characters of her story. Mariama Ba is an educated woman, who attended school at Ecole Normale Institution, an exclusive Western school situated in her own native country. During the publication of her work, she was a schoolteacher who is doing her share to help ease the societys unrest caused by their transition to freedom from being Frances colony for a long time. Mariama Ba is an active feminist and a women’s rights activist. And as a divorced woman herself, she is against polygamous marriages. And it is primarily because of the many difficulties that it causes women.II. Type of WorkSo Long a Letter was a novel that is presented in a form of a letter. The main character in the story writes a very long epistle to her friend, narrating all the pains and hardships that she had been through from the time her husband t ook a second wife up until his recent death and thereafter. The literary work touches on Muslim-African culture and traditions. It was written against a backdrop of a turbulent society where women are inferior to men.III. Type of PlotSo Long a Letter follows an episodic type of a plot. The book is composed of several series of stories included in each chapter that narrates the lives of the main characters in the story.   All these stories are linked to each other. They were all about trials, difficulties, and the choices people have to make. Each chapter has its own climax that slowly builds towards an end. Generally, there were no overall high point or plot to the entire story.   Instead, everything was a smooth and steady narration of the events that happened in the storyteller’s life in a reversed chronological order, starting from the death of his husband and back to the time he took a second wife, where most of the storys tragedies occurred. But the story doesnt stop there. It pushed forward into the future towards the time when the main character dealt with her loss and the things she did to live with a new life following her husbands death.IV. Setting, Time, and Locale of the PlotThe story is set during the time that Senegal was in transition to become an independent country. Senegal was previously a colony of France; and as they move towards liberty, the society is in total unrest. Politics was always brewing and trade unionism was very rampant. New Africa is expected to be on the rise. And it is also during the said point in time that the society follows the strict Islamic tradition of putting men in a pedestal much higher than the women. It is the time where the husbands are supposed to provide for their wives and their children and the women’s main job is to merely take care of their husbands.V. Social or Political ContextIt was only in 1960 that Senegal has gained its independence from France and became a separate entity. Senegal was under the French colony since the 17th century. And during that period of time, there were civic disturbance everywhere. It is also in the same year that only a few African women were given a chance to education. Most of privileged few that were able to study came only from the elite society, as not many believe in the importance of education for African women. A lot of it is because women are given a role in the society that doesnt require much of education. With the great influence of Islam in the nation of Senegal, the only thing that a woman should do for the country is to rear children. And it is not important that she be educated to do that well.Mariama Ba, like the main characters of her story, were one of those few educated women of Africa. As a result, she was able to teach in schools and was able to give back to the younger generation what she had attained. With this story she had written, she unconsciously aims to raise the position of Senegalese women in a rank thatà ¢â‚¬â„¢s closer, if not within the same level, as with the men.V. Character AnalysisThe main characters of the story are as follows:RamatoulayeRamatoulaye is the main character of the story. She is also the same one who wrote the letter to her friend, Aissatou. It is her life story that was the main focus of the novel. Ramatoulaye is a schoolteacher in Senegal and when she wrote the letter, she was 55 years old and a widow.Ramatoulaye is a strong woman and was able to live through the pain and struggles associated with the Islamic traditions and the transformations in the society. Despite the infidelity directed to her by her husband, she was still the same woman who performs most inside a family setting. And as such, she stood by her children throughout the ordeal. Ramatoulaye is the perfect blend of the old and new woman of the society. She is devoted to her children and yet she is able to hold on a career that enriches her being. And more importantly, she never believes that wome n were merely meant for the home and has lesser rights than men.AissatouAissatou is Ramatoulaye’s friend who is the recipient of the letter. Ramatoulaye regards her like a true sister, as both of them had shared childhood went to the same school and together. And like Ramatoulaye, Aissatou had gone through the same hardships when his husband took a second wife. Being educated and liberal, Aissatou left Senegal after she requested for a divorce and served in the Senegal Embassy in the U.S. She lived independently and provided for her son then after.If Ramatoulaye is a showcase of a woman both of the past and of the present, Aissatou is a picture of the modern liberated female. She doesn’t want to conform to the beliefs that the society unresistingly accepts, more particularly about polygamous marriage. Instead, she came out and openly asserted herself and her right. She lived liberally after which.Modou FallModou Fall is the husband of Ramatoulaye. He was the object of love and obsession of Ramatoulaye for a whole twenty-five years. And she was equally adored by Modou Fall up until he decided to marry a much younger woman. Modou and Ramatoulaye had twelve children and all of them had suffered from the day their father was absent in favor of his new wife. Modou Fall died of heart attack years after he had remarried.Modou Fall is but society’s regular male. He does according to his whims and tries to justify it with the law. He had not the courage to even face Ramatoulaye when he abruptly decided to marry another woman. He is basically weak and had merely used religion as a weapon. He is a coward who can’t even face his wife under his supposedly muscular build.Mawdo BaMawdo Ba is Aissatou’s husband. He is a doctor by profession and a man who is well regarded by a society where herbs and potions are next best thing when it comes to finding a cure for common sicknesses. However, Mawdo Ba’s elitist mother is not in favor of his marriage to Aissatou, even if it is very clear that Mawdo loved her so much. Mawdo Ba is Modou Fall’s friend. He is also the one who had introduced the two to each other.Mawdo Ba is the type of a man whose resolve is not absolute. He succeeded in going against her mother’s wishes when he chose to marry Aissatou. But he merely threw that resolution away the very moment he blindly fell into her own mothers trap by leading her to take another woman as a second wife. This fact could even go to show that men might just be polygamous in nature.BinetouAlthough Binetou’s actions in the story are not much told about, her role is very important for it is her who caused a turn in Ramatoulaye’s life. Binetou is the second wife Modou Fall had took indiscriminately. She is a much younger woman and actually the friend of Modou’s oldest daughter, Daba. Binetou was not rich and doesn’t have a father to look out for her. And so when Modou proposed marriag e, it was mother who was very much in favor of it. Binetou accepted Modous proposal for a marriage because of the security blanket that it would be able to provide her and her family. Binetou was merely 19 when Modou Fall died.TamsirTamsir is Modou Fall’s elder brother. He, along with Mawdo and the local Imam, is the person who broke the news to Ramatoulaye about Modou having a second wife. And on the fortieth day of Modou’s death, Tamsir indicated that he would like to marry Ramatoulaye in regards to the Islam tradition that the younger brother is supposed to inherit another brother’s wife the moment he died. Tamsir intended to use the tradition eventhough he is Modou’s elder brother and not a younger brother just like the custom implied.Daba FallDaba is Ramatouleye’s oldest daughter. She is also the person who took Binetou to their house because she was her friend and schoolmate. It was during those times that Binetou was their guest that their f ather had developed some affection to the young girl. Modou always volunteers himself to bring her home. Consequently, Binetou has Daba as confidante when it comes to the things that were happening in her life.   But when she talks about her story, she omits Modou’s name and merely referred to him as a sugar daddy. Daba even asked for an advice from her mother to help out Binetou, not knowing that they are actually talking about Binetou and her father all the while.Daouda DiengDaouda Dieng is Ramatoulaye’s former suitor. He is also the same person that her mother wants her to marry. Daouda Dieng is also a doctor and he had reappeared in Ramatoulayes life from Modou’s funeral thereafter. And much of it is because he still cares for her. Like Tamsir, Daouda Dieng also expressed his desire to marry Ramatoulaye. But Ramatoulaye openly refused. Daouda Dieng already has a wife and although their law permits taking another wife, Ramatoulaye chooses not to go between him and his family. She doesn’t want to do what Binetou had done to her.VI. Summary of the Storyâ€Å"So Long a Letter† started off with Ramatoulaye reminiscing the events that happened to her the past few days. She created the letter with the main intention of telling Aissatou about the death of his husband, Modou. And along that path, Ramatoulaye had begun a journey back in time, starting from when she and Modou met.Modou died from heart attack while dictating something to his secretary in his office. He was a lawyer. He studied in France and went back to Senegal to practice. But he wasn’t like any regular lawyer who merely works for money. Primarily, he does his job for the community. This is what makes Modou a person of great dignity and social position. Ramatoulaye had described him as the perfect man during their courtship stages. And despite her mother’s disapproval of Modou, she chose him to be her husband because she felt that he was the man that was meant for her.Ramatoulaye and Aissatou were best friends and even treat each other as sisters. They both went to the Western same school and are one of the few women who were given the elusive opportunity to finish a degree. Ramatoulaye became a schoolteacher. And in the long twenty-five years that she is married to Modou, she had balanced her time between her work and her family with great success.Everything was perfect in Ramatoulaye’s household up until her oldest daughter, Daba, brought a classmate with her in the house. And just like any mother, Ramatoulaye merely shrugs the fact that her husband is especially fond with Daba’s classmate, whose name is Binetou. But she was able to see the young woman’s transition from wearing plain and basic clothes to something that comes from an expensive clothes store. The once shy and timid girl is no longer one either. And she had made it very apparent every time she was in their house.But despite that, Ramatoulaye never had once doubted Modou’s love for her. That was up until her brother-in-law Tamsir, Mawdo, and the local Imam had paid her an unannounced visit one day. They have all come to inform her that Modou had, just a few seconds ago, married another woman, giving himself a second wife. And that woman was indeed, Binetou.During those years that Modou left them abandoned, Ramatoulaye had tried to live in the exact same way as she does. But even so, she started to question the whole idea surrounding polygamous marriages. She even would like to shout out the fact that even if a man is allowed a second wife, each wife should be treated as equal. It is as if his husband had forgotten that he still has a lot of responsibility to her and her children. But even so, Ramatoulaye and her twelve children had managed on their own. And despite their hardships, she still want her children to think well of their father. It is just that they all fail to understand what was happening to them and why it did. The biggest pain of all was with their oldest daughter, Daba.But as Ramatoulaye recounts her story, she can’t stop writing about Aissatou’s ordeal along with it. Like her, Aissatou was a victim of a polygamous marriage. Mawdo Ba, who eventually became Aissatou’s husband, was a doctor. It was Modou who introduced Mawdo to their circle of friends and that had included Aissatou. When the two of them decided to get married, Mawdo’s mother was very much against it. Mawdo’s mother used to be a Princess of the Sine and she could not dwell on the fact that her only son is marrying an ordinary woman without wealth, title, and social prominence. Despite being educated, Mawdo’s mother regarded Aissatou merely as a goldsmith’s daughter. But Mawdo was resolute. He married Aissatou against her mother’s wishes.But her mother was not soon to be defeated. She actually devised a ploy to make Mawdo marry Nabou. Nabou is the daughter of Diouf and Diouf is her younger brother. Mawdo gave in and in essence, he took his cousin as his second wife. When that happened, Aissatou didnt sit back and merely watch thing befall her. She asserted herself, asked for a divorce, and fled to a different land to start a new life. Since then, she had worked in the Senegal Embassy in the U.S. After the divorce, she had lived independently supporting herself and her son.Ramatoulaye’s reaction to her husband’s second marriage was different though. She chose to stick with the situation in the hope that Modou will assume his forgotten responsibility to her and her family in due time. But all her thoughts were disrupted with the death of her husband. And it is only during that time that she started to break free from the idea that women are merely created to serve, act, and think, behind the shadow of men.During the days of seclusion and mourning, Ramatoulaye was able to realize a lot of things. And on the fortieth day fol lowing Modou’s death, Modou’s elder brother Tamsir asked for her hand in marriage. Ramatoulaye knew that he was doing this merely for economic reasons. So she outwardly turned down the offer telling him that he cannot simply ask that of her because she is a woman with her own mind, body, and dignity. And that marriage and companionship means a lot to her so she wouldn’t marry anybody she doesn’t have affection for.Ramatoulaye has another suitor, Daouda Dieng. Daouda Dieng is the man who had cared for her tracing back from the day she had first met Modou. In fact, her mother voted for Daouda Dieng instead of Modou. And after Modou’s death, he became visible again. He even shared Ramatoulaye’s the ideas about feminism and believed that there should be more laws that protect women in the same way as men. In their resurrected friendship, Ramatoulaye had rekindled her fondness for Daouda Dieng. And much of it is because they share parallel views on a lot of things. Daouda Dieng never lost his love for her either. And one day, he asked for Ramatoulaye’s hand in marriage. But being the woman who learned so much from her own experiences, Ramatoulaye had refused his offer for the reason that Daouda Dieng already has a family. And even if Islam allows men to have up to four wives, she did not choose to come between him and his family.VII. Analysis of the WorkThe novel â€Å"So Long a Letter† is an accurate overview of Senegal circa 1970. It can even be used as a historical basis of what was happening prior to the development of New Africa. But digging deeper in the social and political context of the literary work, it is depicts as a mesh of African culture with a Muslim religion in a semi-European context.The overall tone of the letter is remorse and pain. And the feminist ideas integrated in it cannot be left ignored. This is because a woman wrote the novel – a woman who has long been regarded as merely a face without a name and a shadow instead of a person. But more importantly, that woman is black. History has it that African natives have long been suffering the pains of inferiority over the white race. Therefore, it can be said that the narrative is spoken with the voice of a black woman who has been victim in many ways. And being so, you can never underestimate the magnitude of her cry.What the whole story would like to impart were the choices that are presented to a woman. With the society, tradition, and culture all seemingly working in favor of the men, women are left with nothing but their own strength to drive their selves upon. In a society where polygamous marriages are allowed, it has become easy for the man to put the woman in her position – and it is a position that was way below where he is. In 1960 Senegal, that position is somewhere down the deepest remorse of her own soul.Through her novel, Mariama Ba had shown those choices to the many women who had gone thr ough the same circumstances similar to her and her two main characters. When a womans husband takes another wife, she is presented two options – you can either stick by him and do what was expected of you; or leave him and reclaim your own independence. And those are exactly what Ramatoulaye and Aissatou had done. Ramatoulaye had chosen to sit back and wait for everything else to be how it used to be while her husband is in the company of another wife. Aissatou, on the other hand, is different. Instead of choosing to do what everybody had anticipated, she body did otherwise, went against the current, and liberated her own self from the claws of the society.The novel had also clearly depicted the mentality of African Muslim women. The characters in the story have represented the varied frame of thinking women have – while all of them being influenced by all the events transpiring around them. Ramatoulaye is the ever trusting and faithful wife. Aissatou is the liberal wo man ready to face the world, with or without the company of men. Binetou is the woman ready to give anything and do anything in exchange for financial security and social standing. Modou’s mother is much the same. All she wanted to do was to clothe herself in what her son had attained and make it the subject of envy to all her friends– even if she was never material in any of it. All she could do was to associate her own success to anything that her son possesses. On the other hand, Mawdo Ba’s mother is the woman who clutches firmly to what was used to be hers – and that would be her fame and glory of long ago.These are the type of women that Mariama Ba would like to identify her own women audience with. Indirectly, the author is infusing change in the way society thinks by showing them the errors in their mentalities.VIII. Thematic Structure and Development of ThemeThe major theme of the story is the depiction of the clash between African-Muslim traditio ns and French-European ways. African-Muslim traditions say men are allowed to have multiple wives while the French-European culture indicates that the answer to infidelity is divorce. And much of that is because a woman is free to do what she wants. The idea behind that new-found freedom has a lot to do with the fact that a woman should decide whether she would like to delegate herself as one of the wives or not.And this theme leads us to yet another, which is the feminist tone of the novel. A lot of ideologies that are added in the story are subconsciously evoking to empower the rest of the women readers black, Muslim, or neither, to break free from the clutches of tradition and be their own person. The novel is also a call for all women to unite – because with their varied ideologies and mentalities, it is near impossible to achieve the change that all women wanted to attain. The novel attempts to make a woman realize her important role in the society, including all the co mmon situations she is involved in. The novel presents the woman her options. And the story’s theme greatly implies that she has the ability to do whatever she wanted to do. Her very existence gives her that right.IX. Language, Structure, and StyleSo Long a Letter is a type of an epistolary novel. Epistolary novels are literary works that use long narratives, mostly in the form of a correspondence, a diary, or news clippings. In this particular work, the main character, Ramatoulaye, relates the most recent and past events of her life to her friend, Aissatou in a very long missive. The author even referred to it as a diary in the first few pages of the narrative. As the story progresses, Ramatoulaye conveys both the events and her feelings about it. She broadcasts her thoughts to the letters recipient, as well as quotes important conversations that had transpired between her and others.The authors choice of using this format must be the fact that she would like to make her wor k appear as real as possible. The subject is certainly close to her heart, because she has been through the same pains and aches as the main story of the character had. It is also very apparent that both of them almost share the same ideas and principles when it comes to the role of the female in the society. And this is why the main character of the story is directly compared to her. Though it, readers can see and feel through the realism, or at least the appearance of it, that echoes out of from the pages of the literary work.X. Literary Techniques and DevicesThe choice of the authors literary techniques and devices are all very effective in this novel. Being an epistolary novel, which is a literary technique on its own, the work had clearly relayed all the events that happened before and after the main characters husband has died. The main purpose of writing the letter was to inform Aissatou that Modou had died – but as she did so, Ramatoulaye was not able to resist the te mptation of recounting the events that happened since the time she and her husband met, up until he decided to leave her in favor of a younger second wife. She also cannot stop herself from point out the fact that she and Aissatou had experienced the same fate in the hands of their husbands. Ramatoulaye had related not only her own story as she goes along, but the life story of Aissatou, the letters recipient, as well.Ramatoulayes and Aissatous characters are a juxtaposition, which is another literary technique. The author had placed two people with the same experiences in one story. But their ways of solving the conflicts that were presented to them were different. When Aissatou learned about her husbands second marriage, she revolted and moved away. Ramatoulaye, on the other hand, went along the situation and continued her life as is. It is the purpose of the author to make readers compare the two women in the hope that they can identify themselves with them.In this story, it is a lso clear that Mariama Ba had successfully used another literary technique, the author surrogate technique. Clearly, one of the two characters of the story is an idealized version of the author. Mariama Ba, known to be divorced and a feminist herself, had wanted to show her audience the things that she had been through and how she should have handled it. It is also possible that Mariama Ba is a little bit of the two main characters combined, and she is merely conveying the choices women like her has, given the same situation.XI. Critical Evaluation/General AssessmentSo Long a Letter had effectively captured the sentiments of all women, not merely the Africans or the Muslims. Reading the novel had allowed a lot of people to realize the emotions of a woman and how hard it must have been for them to be given limited choice and be virtually powerless over the men. Through her work, Mariama Bas had indeed found a creative way of voicing out her feminist views. As a result, this work was written along the refreshing views of a woman writer. There have been quite too few of them before. This, added to the fact that the author is a true African in her own right, made the whole story a lot more realistic that it ought to be.The words and lines used are all rich and clear. The thoughts conveyed are straightforward. And the events in the story are related in a highly logical and comprehensible manner. Mariama Bas style of writing is simplistic. And it allows readers to easily understand the things, ideas, and concepts that she is trying to point out. There was never any event and information that can be considered irrelevant to the main story. Simply stated, the novel was concise and true to its form.Overall, the novel is written with the voice of a victim – but it is the type of a victim who would like to see changes. The story is not about a victim who merely sits and laments. The story is about the victim who tries to struggle out from where her place is suppos ed to be. This is a story of empowerment. And even if it is a storyline that is expected of black authors, the power of it has never diminished. The victim-perpetrator type of a story can still captivate and move, especially if it is done in the same heart-felt way as this story was.From my own critique of the story, So Long a Letter can be considered as a masterpiece. It will never cease to touch the emotions of both the women and even men for that matter, who had seen, much more gone though, the same instances that the characters of the story had. And because the story deals on the three popular sectors of the society, namely the women, the Blacks and the Muslims, it definitely had a universal appeal as expected.Outlineâ€Å"So Long a Letter† started off with Ramatoulaye reminiscing the events that happened to her the past few days. It is a novel that is presented in a form of a letter.   The main character, Ramatoulaye, created the letter with the main intention of telli ng Aissatou about the death of his husband, Modou. And along that path, Ramatoulaye had begun a journey back in time, starting from when she and Modou met.Modou died from heart attack while dictating something to his secretary in his office. He was a lawyer. But he mostly does his job for the community. As such he is a person of great dignity and social position.Ramatoulaye and Aissatou were best friends and even treat each other as sisters. They both went to the Western same school and are one of the few women who were given the elusive opportunity to finish a degree. Ramatoulaye became a schoolteacher. She was married for long twenty-five years to Modou.Then Modou abruptly made the decision to have a second wife. And worse, it was in the person of his daughters friend. He didnt even have the courage to face her that he did remarry. Instead, he just sent his bother, his friend, and the Imam to tell her wife about it.Even so, the story had shown that Ramatoulaye was a strong woman a nd was able to live through the pain and struggles associated with the Islamic traditions and the transformations in the society. Despite the infidelity directed to her by her husband, she was still the same woman who performs most inside a family setting. And as such, she stood by her children throughout the ordeal. Ramatoulaye is the perfect blend of the old and new woman of the society. She is devoted to her children and yet she is able to hold on a career that enriches her being. And more importantly, she never believes that women were merely meant for the home and has lesser rights than men.On the other hand, Modou Fall is a portrait of society’s ordinary male. He does according to his whims and tries to justify it with the law. He had not the courage to even face Ramatoulaye when he abruptly decided to marry another woman. He is basically weak and had merely used religion as a weapon. He is a coward who can’t even face his wife under his supposedly muscular build .In her letter, Ramatoulaye also wrote Aissatou’s ordeal that was very much like her. Aissatou was also a victim of a polygamous marriage. Mawdo Ba was Aissatou’s husband. When the two of them decided to get married, Mawdo’s mother was very much against it. Mawdo’s mother used to be a Princess of the Sine and she could not dwell on the fact that her only son is marrying an ordinary woman without wealth, title, and social prominence. Despite being educated, Mawdo’s mother regarded Aissatou merely as a goldsmith’s daughter. But Mawdo was resolute. He married Aissatou against her mother’s wishes.But her mother was not soon to be defeated. She actually devised a ploy to make Mawdo marry Nabou. Nabou is the daughter of Diouf and Diouf is her younger brother. Mawdo gave in and in essence, he took his cousin as his second wife. When that happened, Aissatou didnt sit back and merely watch thing befall her. She asserted herself, asked for a di vorce, and fled to a different land to start a new life. Since then, she had worked in the Senegal Embassy in the U.S. After the divorce, she had lived independently supporting herself and her son.If Ramatoulaye is a showcase of a woman both of the past and of the present, Aissatou is a picture of the modern liberated female. She doesn’t want to conform to the beliefs that the society unresistingly accepts, more particularly about polygamous marriage. Instead, she came out and openly asserted herself and her right. She lived liberally after the ordeal.The overall tone of the letter is remorse and pain. And the feminist ideas integrated in it cannot be left ignored. This is because a woman wrote the novel – a woman who has long been regarded as merely a face without a name and a shadow instead of a person. But more importantly, that woman is black. History has it that African natives have long been suffering the pains of inferiority over the white race. Therefore, it ca n be said that the narrative is spoken with the voice of a black woman who has been victim in many ways. And being so, you can never underestimate the magnitude of her cry.The storys author, Mariama Ba had successfully used the author surrogate technique in her work. Clearly, one of the two characters of the story is an idealized version of the author. Mariama Ba, known to be divorced and a feminist herself, had wanted to show her audience the things that she had been through and how she should have handled it. It is also possible that Mariama Ba is a little bit of the two main characters combined, and she is merely conveying the choices women like her has, given the same situation.;;; So Long a Letter Essay Example So Long a Letter Paper So Long a Letter is a novel written by Mariama Ba, a black Sengalese author. It was assumed that she had lived a life that was very similar to the two main female characters of her story. Mariama Ba is an educated woman, who attended school at Ecole Normale Institution, an exclusive Western school situated in her own native country. During the publication of her work, she was a schoolteacher who is doing her share to help ease the societys unrest caused by their transition to freedom from being Frances colony for a long time. Mariama Ba is an active feminist and a women’s rights activist. And as a divorced woman herself, she is against polygamous marriages. And it is primarily because of the many difficulties that it causes women.II. Type of WorkSo Long a Letter was a novel that is presented in a form of a letter. The main character in the story writes a very long epistle to her friend, narrating all the pains and hardships that she had been through from the time her husband t ook a second wife up until his recent death and thereafter. The literary work touches on Muslim-African culture and traditions. It was written against a backdrop of a turbulent society where women are inferior to men.III. Type of PlotSo Long a Letter follows an episodic type of a plot. The book is composed of several series of stories included in each chapter that narrates the lives of the main characters in the story.   All these stories are linked to each other. They were all about trials, difficulties, and the choices people have to make. Each chapter has its own climax that slowly builds towards an end. Generally, there were no overall high point or plot to the entire story.   Instead, everything was a smooth and steady narration of the events that happened in the storyteller’s life in a reversed chronological order, starting from the death of his husband and back to the time he took a second wife, where most of the storys tragedies occurred. But the story doesnt stop there. It pushed forward into the future towards the time when the main character dealt with her loss and the things she did to live with a new life following her husbands death.IV. Setting, Time, and Locale of the PlotThe story is set during the time that Senegal was in transition to become an independent country. Senegal was previously a colony of France; and as they move towards liberty, the society is in total unrest. Politics was always brewing and trade unionism was very rampant. New Africa is expected to be on the rise. And it is also during the said point in time that the society follows the strict Islamic tradition of putting men in a pedestal much higher than the women. It is the time where the husbands are supposed to provide for their wives and their children and the women’s main job is to merely take care of their husbands.V. Social or Political ContextIt was only in 1960 that Senegal has gained its independence from France and became a separate entity. Senegal was under the French colony since the 17th century. And during that period of time, there were civic disturbance everywhere. It is also in the same year that only a few African women were given a chance to education. Most of privileged few that were able to study came only from the elite society, as not many believe in the importance of education for African women. A lot of it is because women are given a role in the society that doesnt require much of education. With the great influence of Islam in the nation of Senegal, the only thing that a woman should do for the country is to rear children. And it is not important that she be educated to do that well.Mariama Ba, like the main characters of her story, were one of those few educated women of Africa. As a result, she was able to teach in schools and was able to give back to the younger generation what she had attained. With this story she had written, she unconsciously aims to raise the position of Senegalese women in a rank thatà ¢â‚¬â„¢s closer, if not within the same level, as with the men.V. Character AnalysisThe main characters of the story are as follows:RamatoulayeRamatoulaye is the main character of the story. She is also the same one who wrote the letter to her friend, Aissatou. It is her life story that was the main focus of the novel. Ramatoulaye is a schoolteacher in Senegal and when she wrote the letter, she was 55 years old and a widow.Ramatoulaye is a strong woman and was able to live through the pain and struggles associated with the Islamic traditions and the transformations in the society. Despite the infidelity directed to her by her husband, she was still the same woman who performs most inside a family setting. And as such, she stood by her children throughout the ordeal. Ramatoulaye is the perfect blend of the old and new woman of the society. She is devoted to her children and yet she is able to hold on a career that enriches her being. And more importantly, she never believes that wome n were merely meant for the home and has lesser rights than men.AissatouAissatou is Ramatoulaye’s friend who is the recipient of the letter. Ramatoulaye regards her like a true sister, as both of them had shared childhood went to the same school and together. And like Ramatoulaye, Aissatou had gone through the same hardships when his husband took a second wife. Being educated and liberal, Aissatou left Senegal after she requested for a divorce and served in the Senegal Embassy in the U.S. She lived independently and provided for her son then after.If Ramatoulaye is a showcase of a woman both of the past and of the present, Aissatou is a picture of the modern liberated female. She doesn’t want to conform to the beliefs that the society unresistingly accepts, more particularly about polygamous marriage. Instead, she came out and openly asserted herself and her right. She lived liberally after which.Modou FallModou Fall is the husband of Ramatoulaye. He was the object of love and obsession of Ramatoulaye for a whole twenty-five years. And she was equally adored by Modou Fall up until he decided to marry a much younger woman. Modou and Ramatoulaye had twelve children and all of them had suffered from the day their father was absent in favor of his new wife. Modou Fall died of heart attack years after he had remarried.Modou Fall is but society’s regular male. He does according to his whims and tries to justify it with the law. He had not the courage to even face Ramatoulaye when he abruptly decided to marry another woman. He is basically weak and had merely used religion as a weapon. He is a coward who can’t even face his wife under his supposedly muscular build.Mawdo BaMawdo Ba is Aissatou’s husband. He is a doctor by profession and a man who is well regarded by a society where herbs and potions are next best thing when it comes to finding a cure for common sicknesses. However, Mawdo Ba’s elitist mother is not in favor of his marriage to Aissatou, even if it is very clear that Mawdo loved her so much. Mawdo Ba is Modou Fall’s friend. He is also the one who had introduced the two to each other.Mawdo Ba is the type of a man whose resolve is not absolute. He succeeded in going against her mother’s wishes when he chose to marry Aissatou. But he merely threw that resolution away the very moment he blindly fell into her own mothers trap by leading her to take another woman as a second wife. This fact could even go to show that men might just be polygamous in nature.BinetouAlthough Binetou’s actions in the story are not much told about, her role is very important for it is her who caused a turn in Ramatoulaye’s life. Binetou is the second wife Modou Fall had took indiscriminately. She is a much younger woman and actually the friend of Modou’s oldest daughter, Daba. Binetou was not rich and doesn’t have a father to look out for her. And so when Modou proposed marriag e, it was mother who was very much in favor of it. Binetou accepted Modous proposal for a marriage because of the security blanket that it would be able to provide her and her family. Binetou was merely 19 when Modou Fall died.TamsirTamsir is Modou Fall’s elder brother. He, along with Mawdo and the local Imam, is the person who broke the news to Ramatoulaye about Modou having a second wife. And on the fortieth day of Modou’s death, Tamsir indicated that he would like to marry Ramatoulaye in regards to the Islam tradition that the younger brother is supposed to inherit another brother’s wife the moment he died. Tamsir intended to use the tradition eventhough he is Modou’s elder brother and not a younger brother just like the custom implied.Daba FallDaba is Ramatouleye’s oldest daughter. She is also the person who took Binetou to their house because she was her friend and schoolmate. It was during those times that Binetou was their guest that their f ather had developed some affection to the young girl. Modou always volunteers himself to bring her home. Consequently, Binetou has Daba as confidante when it comes to the things that were happening in her life.   But when she talks about her story, she omits Modou’s name and merely referred to him as a sugar daddy. Daba even asked for an advice from her mother to help out Binetou, not knowing that they are actually talking about Binetou and her father all the while.Daouda DiengDaouda Dieng is Ramatoulaye’s former suitor. He is also the same person that her mother wants her to marry. Daouda Dieng is also a doctor and he had reappeared in Ramatoulayes life from Modou’s funeral thereafter. And much of it is because he still cares for her. Like Tamsir, Daouda Dieng also expressed his desire to marry Ramatoulaye. But Ramatoulaye openly refused. Daouda Dieng already has a wife and although their law permits taking another wife, Ramatoulaye chooses not to go between him and his family. She doesn’t want to do what Binetou had done to her.VI. Summary of the Storyâ€Å"So Long a Letter† started off with Ramatoulaye reminiscing the events that happened to her the past few days. She created the letter with the main intention of telling Aissatou about the death of his husband, Modou. And along that path, Ramatoulaye had begun a journey back in time, starting from when she and Modou met.Modou died from heart attack while dictating something to his secretary in his office. He was a lawyer. He studied in France and went back to Senegal to practice. But he wasn’t like any regular lawyer who merely works for money. Primarily, he does his job for the community. This is what makes Modou a person of great dignity and social position. Ramatoulaye had described him as the perfect man during their courtship stages. And despite her mother’s disapproval of Modou, she chose him to be her husband because she felt that he was the man that was meant for her.Ramatoulaye and Aissatou were best friends and even treat each other as sisters. They both went to the Western same school and are one of the few women who were given the elusive opportunity to finish a degree. Ramatoulaye became a schoolteacher. And in the long twenty-five years that she is married to Modou, she had balanced her time between her work and her family with great success.Everything was perfect in Ramatoulaye’s household up until her oldest daughter, Daba, brought a classmate with her in the house. And just like any mother, Ramatoulaye merely shrugs the fact that her husband is especially fond with Daba’s classmate, whose name is Binetou. But she was able to see the young woman’s transition from wearing plain and basic clothes to something that comes from an expensive clothes store. The once shy and timid girl is no longer one either. And she had made it very apparent every time she was in their house.But despite that, Ramatoulaye never had once doubted Modou’s love for her. That was up until her brother-in-law Tamsir, Mawdo, and the local Imam had paid her an unannounced visit one day. They have all come to inform her that Modou had, just a few seconds ago, married another woman, giving himself a second wife. And that woman was indeed, Binetou.During those years that Modou left them abandoned, Ramatoulaye had tried to live in the exact same way as she does. But even so, she started to question the whole idea surrounding polygamous marriages. She even would like to shout out the fact that even if a man is allowed a second wife, each wife should be treated as equal. It is as if his husband had forgotten that he still has a lot of responsibility to her and her children. But even so, Ramatoulaye and her twelve children had managed on their own. And despite their hardships, she still want her children to think well of their father. It is just that they all fail to understand what was happening to them and why it did. The biggest pain of all was with their oldest daughter, Daba.But as Ramatoulaye recounts her story, she can’t stop writing about Aissatou’s ordeal along with it. Like her, Aissatou was a victim of a polygamous marriage. Mawdo Ba, who eventually became Aissatou’s husband, was a doctor. It was Modou who introduced Mawdo to their circle of friends and that had included Aissatou. When the two of them decided to get married, Mawdo’s mother was very much against it. Mawdo’s mother used to be a Princess of the Sine and she could not dwell on the fact that her only son is marrying an ordinary woman without wealth, title, and social prominence. Despite being educated, Mawdo’s mother regarded Aissatou merely as a goldsmith’s daughter. But Mawdo was resolute. He married Aissatou against her mother’s wishes.But her mother was not soon to be defeated. She actually devised a ploy to make Mawdo marry Nabou. Nabou is the daughter of Diouf and Diouf is her younger brother. Mawdo gave in and in essence, he took his cousin as his second wife. When that happened, Aissatou didnt sit back and merely watch thing befall her. She asserted herself, asked for a divorce, and fled to a different land to start a new life. Since then, she had worked in the Senegal Embassy in the U.S. After the divorce, she had lived independently supporting herself and her son.Ramatoulaye’s reaction to her husband’s second marriage was different though. She chose to stick with the situation in the hope that Modou will assume his forgotten responsibility to her and her family in due time. But all her thoughts were disrupted with the death of her husband. And it is only during that time that she started to break free from the idea that women are merely created to serve, act, and think, behind the shadow of men.During the days of seclusion and mourning, Ramatoulaye was able to realize a lot of things. And on the fortieth day fol lowing Modou’s death, Modou’s elder brother Tamsir asked for her hand in marriage. Ramatoulaye knew that he was doing this merely for economic reasons. So she outwardly turned down the offer telling him that he cannot simply ask that of her because she is a woman with her own mind, body, and dignity. And that marriage and companionship means a lot to her so she wouldn’t marry anybody she doesn’t have affection for.Ramatoulaye has another suitor, Daouda Dieng. Daouda Dieng is the man who had cared for her tracing back from the day she had first met Modou. In fact, her mother voted for Daouda Dieng instead of Modou. And after Modou’s death, he became visible again. He even shared Ramatoulaye’s the ideas about feminism and believed that there should be more laws that protect women in the same way as men. In their resurrected friendship, Ramatoulaye had rekindled her fondness for Daouda Dieng. And much of it is because they share parallel views on a lot of things. Daouda Dieng never lost his love for her either. And one day, he asked for Ramatoulaye’s hand in marriage. But being the woman who learned so much from her own experiences, Ramatoulaye had refused his offer for the reason that Daouda Dieng already has a family. And even if Islam allows men to have up to four wives, she did not choose to come between him and his family.VII. Analysis of the WorkThe novel â€Å"So Long a Letter† is an accurate overview of Senegal circa 1970. It can even be used as a historical basis of what was happening prior to the development of New Africa. But digging deeper in the social and political context of the literary work, it is depicts as a mesh of African culture with a Muslim religion in a semi-European context.The overall tone of the letter is remorse and pain. And the feminist ideas integrated in it cannot be left ignored. This is because a woman wrote the novel – a woman who has long been regarded as merely a face without a name and a shadow instead of a person. But more importantly, that woman is black. History has it that African natives have long been suffering the pains of inferiority over the white race. Therefore, it can be said that the narrative is spoken with the voice of a black woman who has been victim in many ways. And being so, you can never underestimate the magnitude of her cry.What the whole story would like to impart were the choices that are presented to a woman. With the society, tradition, and culture all seemingly working in favor of the men, women are left with nothing but their own strength to drive their selves upon. In a society where polygamous marriages are allowed, it has become easy for the man to put the woman in her position – and it is a position that was way below where he is. In 1960 Senegal, that position is somewhere down the deepest remorse of her own soul.Through her novel, Mariama Ba had shown those choices to the many women who had gone thr ough the same circumstances similar to her and her two main characters. When a womans husband takes another wife, she is presented two options – you can either stick by him and do what was expected of you; or leave him and reclaim your own independence. And those are exactly what Ramatoulaye and Aissatou had done. Ramatoulaye had chosen to sit back and wait for everything else to be how it used to be while her husband is in the company of another wife. Aissatou, on the other hand, is different. Instead of choosing to do what everybody had anticipated, she body did otherwise, went against the current, and liberated her own self from the claws of the society.The novel had also clearly depicted the mentality of African Muslim women. The characters in the story have represented the varied frame of thinking women have – while all of them being influenced by all the events transpiring around them. Ramatoulaye is the ever trusting and faithful wife. Aissatou is the liberal wo man ready to face the world, with or without the company of men. Binetou is the woman ready to give anything and do anything in exchange for financial security and social standing. Modou’s mother is much the same. All she wanted to do was to clothe herself in what her son had attained and make it the subject of envy to all her friends– even if she was never material in any of it. All she could do was to associate her own success to anything that her son possesses. On the other hand, Mawdo Ba’s mother is the woman who clutches firmly to what was used to be hers – and that would be her fame and glory of long ago.These are the type of women that Mariama Ba would like to identify her own women audience with. Indirectly, the author is infusing change in the way society thinks by showing them the errors in their mentalities.VIII. Thematic Structure and Development of ThemeThe major theme of the story is the depiction of the clash between African-Muslim traditio ns and French-European ways. African-Muslim traditions say men are allowed to have multiple wives while the French-European culture indicates that the answer to infidelity is divorce. And much of that is because a woman is free to do what she wants. The idea behind that new-found freedom has a lot to do with the fact that a woman should decide whether she would like to delegate herself as one of the wives or not.And this theme leads us to yet another, which is the feminist tone of the novel. A lot of ideologies that are added in the story are subconsciously evoking to empower the rest of the women readers black, Muslim, or neither, to break free from the clutches of tradition and be their own person. The novel is also a call for all women to unite – because with their varied ideologies and mentalities, it is near impossible to achieve the change that all women wanted to attain. The novel attempts to make a woman realize her important role in the society, including all the co mmon situations she is involved in. The novel presents the woman her options. And the story’s theme greatly implies that she has the ability to do whatever she wanted to do. Her very existence gives her that right.IX. Language, Structure, and StyleSo Long a Letter is a type of an epistolary novel. Epistolary novels are literary works that use long narratives, mostly in the form of a correspondence, a diary, or news clippings. In this particular work, the main character, Ramatoulaye, relates the most recent and past events of her life to her friend, Aissatou in a very long missive. The author even referred to it as a diary in the first few pages of the narrative. As the story progresses, Ramatoulaye conveys both the events and her feelings about it. She broadcasts her thoughts to the letters recipient, as well as quotes important conversations that had transpired between her and others.The authors choice of using this format must be the fact that she would like to make her wor k appear as real as possible. The subject is certainly close to her heart, because she has been through the same pains and aches as the main story of the character had. It is also very apparent that both of them almost share the same ideas and principles when it comes to the role of the female in the society. And this is why the main character of the story is directly compared to her. Though it, readers can see and feel through the realism, or at least the appearance of it, that echoes out of from the pages of the literary work.X. Literary Techniques and DevicesThe choice of the authors literary techniques and devices are all very effective in this novel. Being an epistolary novel, which is a literary technique on its own, the work had clearly relayed all the events that happened before and after the main characters husband has died. The main purpose of writing the letter was to inform Aissatou that Modou had died – but as she did so, Ramatoulaye was not able to resist the te mptation of recounting the events that happened since the time she and her husband met, up until he decided to leave her in favor of a younger second wife. She also cannot stop herself from point out the fact that she and Aissatou had experienced the same fate in the hands of their husbands. Ramatoulaye had related not only her own story as she goes along, but the life story of Aissatou, the letters recipient, as well.Ramatoulayes and Aissatous characters are a juxtaposition, which is another literary technique. The author had placed two people with the same experiences in one story. But their ways of solving the conflicts that were presented to them were different. When Aissatou learned about her husbands second marriage, she revolted and moved away. Ramatoulaye, on the other hand, went along the situation and continued her life as is. It is the purpose of the author to make readers compare the two women in the hope that they can identify themselves with them.In this story, it is a lso clear that Mariama Ba had successfully used another literary technique, the author surrogate technique. Clearly, one of the two characters of the story is an idealized version of the author. Mariama Ba, known to be divorced and a feminist herself, had wanted to show her audience the things that she had been through and how she should have handled it. It is also possible that Mariama Ba is a little bit of the two main characters combined, and she is merely conveying the choices women like her has, given the same situation.XI. Critical Evaluation/General AssessmentSo Long a Letter had effectively captured the sentiments of all women, not merely the Africans or the Muslims. Reading the novel had allowed a lot of people to realize the emotions of a woman and how hard it must have been for them to be given limited choice and be virtually powerless over the men. Through her work, Mariama Bas had indeed found a creative way of voicing out her feminist views. As a result, this work was written along the refreshing views of a woman writer. There have been quite too few of them before. This, added to the fact that the author is a true African in her own right, made the whole story a lot more realistic that it ought to be.The words and lines used are all rich and clear. The thoughts conveyed are straightforward. And the events in the story are related in a highly logical and comprehensible manner. Mariama Bas style of writing is simplistic. And it allows readers to easily understand the things, ideas, and concepts that she is trying to point out. There was never any event and information that can be considered irrelevant to the main story. Simply stated, the novel was concise and true to its form.Overall, the novel is written with the voice of a victim – but it is the type of a victim who would like to see changes. The story is not about a victim who merely sits and laments. The story is about the victim who tries to struggle out from where her place is suppos ed to be. This is a story of empowerment. And even if it is a storyline that is expected of black authors, the power of it has never diminished. The victim-perpetrator type of a story can still captivate and move, especially if it is done in the same heart-felt way as this story was.From my own critique of the story, So Long a Letter can be considered as a masterpiece. It will never cease to touch the emotions of both the women and even men for that matter, who had seen, much more gone though, the same instances that the characters of the story had. And because the story deals on the three popular sectors of the society, namely the women, the Blacks and the Muslims, it definitely had a universal appeal as expected.Outlineâ€Å"So Long a Letter† started off with Ramatoulaye reminiscing the events that happened to her the past few days. It is a novel that is presented in a form of a letter.   The main character, Ramatoulaye, created the letter with the main intention of telli ng Aissatou about the death of his husband, Modou. And along that path, Ramatoulaye had begun a journey back in time, starting from when she and Modou met.Modou died from heart attack while dictating something to his secretary in his office. He was a lawyer. But he mostly does his job for the community. As such he is a person of great dignity and social position.Ramatoulaye and Aissatou were best friends and even treat each other as sisters. They both went to the Western same school and are one of the few women who were given the elusive opportunity to finish a degree. Ramatoulaye became a schoolteacher. She was married for long twenty-five years to Modou.Then Modou abruptly made the decision to have a second wife. And worse, it was in the person of his daughters friend. He didnt even have the courage to face her that he did remarry. Instead, he just sent his bother, his friend, and the Imam to tell her wife about it.Even so, the story had shown that Ramatoulaye was a strong woman a nd was able to live through the pain and struggles associated with the Islamic traditions and the transformations in the society. Despite the infidelity directed to her by her husband, she was still the same woman who performs most inside a family setting. And as such, she stood by her children throughout the ordeal. Ramatoulaye is the perfect blend of the old and new woman of the society. She is devoted to her children and yet she is able to hold on a career that enriches her being. And more importantly, she never believes that women were merely meant for the home and has lesser rights than men.On the other hand, Modou Fall is a portrait of society’s ordinary male. He does according to his whims and tries to justify it with the law. He had not the courage to even face Ramatoulaye when he abruptly decided to marry another woman. He is basically weak and had merely used religion as a weapon. He is a coward who can’t even face his wife under his supposedly muscular build .In her letter, Ramatoulaye also wrote Aissatou’s ordeal that was very much like her. Aissatou was also a victim of a polygamous marriage. Mawdo Ba was Aissatou’s husband. When the two of them decided to get married, Mawdo’s mother was very much against it. Mawdo’s mother used to be a Princess of the Sine and she could not dwell on the fact that her only son is marrying an ordinary woman without wealth, title, and social prominence. Despite being educated, Mawdo’s mother regarded Aissatou merely as a goldsmith’s daughter. But Mawdo was resolute. He married Aissatou against her mother’s wishes.But her mother was not soon to be defeated. She actually devised a ploy to make Mawdo marry Nabou. Nabou is the daughter of Diouf and Diouf is her younger brother. Mawdo gave in and in essence, he took his cousin as his second wife. When that happened, Aissatou didnt sit back and merely watch thing befall her. She asserted herself, asked for a di vorce, and fled to a different land to start a new life. Since then, she had worked in the Senegal Embassy in the U.S. After the divorce, she had lived independently supporting herself and her son.If Ramatoulaye is a showcase of a woman both of the past and of the present, Aissatou is a picture of the modern liberated female. She doesn’t want to conform to the beliefs that the society unresistingly accepts, more particularly about polygamous marriage. Instead, she came out and openly asserted herself and her right. She lived liberally after the ordeal.The overall tone of the letter is remorse and pain. And the feminist ideas integrated in it cannot be left ignored. This is because a woman wrote the novel – a woman who has long been regarded as merely a face without a name and a shadow instead of a person. But more importantly, that woman is black. History has it that African natives have long been suffering the pains of inferiority over the white race. Therefore, it ca n be said that the narrative is spoken with the voice of a black woman who has been victim in many ways. And being so, you can never underestimate the magnitude of her cry.The storys author, Mariama Ba had successfully used the author surrogate technique in her work. Clearly, one of the two characters of the story is an idealized version of the author. Mariama Ba, known to be divorced and a feminist herself, had wanted to show her audience the things that she had been through and how she should have handled it. It is also possible that Mariama Ba is a little bit of the two main characters combined, and she is merely conveying the choices women like her has, given the same situation.;;;

Free Essays on Bill Fords Long Hard Road

Bill Ford’s Long, Hard Road In the article Bill Ford’s Long, Hard Road Home, Kathleen Kerwin discusses the problems that have been plaguing the Ford Motor Company over the past view years. She particularly focuses on William Clay Ford Jr. and the changes that have been intact since he took the ob of CEO of the auto giant. His plan is to return the Ford Motor brand back into one of the premier auto companies in the world. So far as CEO the company’s profits are up and there have been no recalls. There has also been an increase in the quality and productivity of the vehicles produced in Europe. As far as stakeholders in the company, the employees love Bill Ford. When Bill Ford took the job as CEO some of the employees gave him a standing ovation. Although William Clay Ford’s tenure looks promising right now, there are still some bumps in the road. For one, the company has a bad history with its suppliers. This relationship may be healed in time due to Bill Ford’s commitment t o improve the corporation. Another problem stems from environmentalists claims that the company isn’t doing enough for the environment. As we speak, the Ford Motor Company is testing a new Japanese technology that improves fuel economy in cars. With the odds stacked against him William Clay Ford Jr. is sure to have some failures. Hopefully, he has the vision and planning that his great grandfather had in order to turn the declining Ford brand back to dominance.... Free Essays on Bill Ford's Long Hard Road Free Essays on Bill Ford's Long Hard Road Bill Ford’s Long, Hard Road In the article Bill Ford’s Long, Hard Road Home, Kathleen Kerwin discusses the problems that have been plaguing the Ford Motor Company over the past view years. She particularly focuses on William Clay Ford Jr. and the changes that have been intact since he took the ob of CEO of the auto giant. His plan is to return the Ford Motor brand back into one of the premier auto companies in the world. So far as CEO the company’s profits are up and there have been no recalls. There has also been an increase in the quality and productivity of the vehicles produced in Europe. As far as stakeholders in the company, the employees love Bill Ford. When Bill Ford took the job as CEO some of the employees gave him a standing ovation. Although William Clay Ford’s tenure looks promising right now, there are still some bumps in the road. For one, the company has a bad history with its suppliers. This relationship may be healed in time due to Bill Ford’s commitment t o improve the corporation. Another problem stems from environmentalists claims that the company isn’t doing enough for the environment. As we speak, the Ford Motor Company is testing a new Japanese technology that improves fuel economy in cars. With the odds stacked against him William Clay Ford Jr. is sure to have some failures. Hopefully, he has the vision and planning that his great grandfather had in order to turn the declining Ford brand back to dominance....

Discrimination In Schools - And How It Affects Students Way of Life Essay

Discrimination In Schools - And How It Affects Students Way of Life - Essay Example This essay stresses that the affects of discrimination for the gay student during teenage years is nothing short of harrowing. These students confront harassment and abuse from their peers that is specifically directed at them because of their perceived or genuine sexual orientation. In many instances, issues regarding gay discrimination are not properly addressed by school administrators. In fact, there have been documented cases in which educators themselves have been involved in hostile discriminatory actions towards gay students. As a result, gay students are at a â€Å"considerable and disproportionate risk for mental health problems, self-endangerment and self-injury as well as for poor school performance, absenteeism, and dropping out of school†. This paper makes a conclusion that discriminatory behavior generates an adverse as well as humiliating impact on students, affecting their lives in and out of the classroom. This impact is strong and lasts a lifetime. The facts this paper discusses are, in themselves, a revolting admission of how far we have not come 40 years after tolerance was made a federal law. But what makes the situation even more distasteful is that the very system entrusted with educating and protecting students have abandoned the ideals that decry discrimination and thus the vast majority of children who fit into one or more of these categories, which equals the vast majority of children overall.

Introduction to Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Introduction to Business - Essay Example Whistle-blowers now commonly refers to those who firmly believe that the unchecked conduct of their organization will do more harm than good, and so exert efforts to speak up. The act of whistle blowing is necessary to rectifying problems in society, yet whistle blowers are often punished severely for their moves (Matthews, 2003). Obviously, whistle-blowing can be a tangled and legally dangerous event. Lawyer Taylor (2006) who had found herself whistle-blowing along with two other colleagues said one had to be ready for any form of retaliation, to expect them and to combat them. In Diana Heil's (2004) reports, a whistle-blower can experience continuing retaliation even when one backs down. Whistle-blowing is said to justifiable only where certain minimal conditions have been met (What is, 1997). Accordingly, a justifiable disclosure must meet four conditions: 1) The disclosure does more good than harm; 2) It serves some purpose in correcting or preventing the wrongdoing concerned; 3) It is made in a responsible manner; and 4) It follows upon the exhaustion of internal channels of complaint and redress. Whistle-blowing is the smoke signal according to Parthasarathi (2003), that there is corruption happening; therefore, government should act. During the Nixon era, it is said that $800 toilet seats were discovered at the Pentagon, and people began to realize the service that whistle-blowers provided at the risk to themselves (Taylor, 2006). There are now laws that protect these employees of courage and a group dedicated to their interests (Current Program, GAP, 2006). Sirshar Quereshi (2006) who specializes in fraud investigations wrote that whistle-blowing can be an effective early warning system. He said employees "in the front line" know better than anyone what is happening in their area of activity so that it is beneficial to listen to them, otherwise a local difficulty may grow into a crisis. Taylor (2006) who works closely with whistle-blowers said the primary goal that whistle-blowers usually seek is accountability for mis-behaviour and correction of the problems they see in the work place. Most whistleblowers realize that their actions will cost them money, wear away privilege and generate negative publicity, Taylor said. Yet, they persist, desiring honesty in government and wanting an end to infringements of law. In the beginning, a whistle-blower is said to be often faced with a plethora of ethical dilemmas, the most fundamental of which is whether to do the "right thing" or not. According to Reese (2002), multiple organizational variables inhibit one from doing the right thing within an organization, one of which is threat to one's career. Tom Carpenter of The Government Accountability Project (GAP) who has represented numerous whistle-blowers said he tells people who are contemplating blowing the whistle not to do it if they cared for their career. But then "Most people decide to go forward anyway" (Heil, 2004). Despite all the anguish, a whistle-blower said he had no regrets about the stand he took. "Is it worth it'" he was asked. "Yes, absolutely; I would do it again. I truly believe that some people have lives and others have destinies," he said. Whistle-blowing is not only

Arabs And Islam In The Mass Media Media Essay

Arabs And Islam In The Mass Media Media Essay The perception of Arabs and Islam throughout history has been influenced by the political elite, the mass media and the Hollywood film industry. .Arabs and Muslims have always been represented as one in popular discourse when in fact the majority of Muslims are not of Arab background. This paper will demonstrate the stereotypes and generalisation by examining Hollywood films in the 20th century. Juan Cole a professor of modern Middle East and South Asian history says I think Anti-Arab racism profiling has become respectable. Islam has always been a contentious issue brought up by the media often linked with terrorism, extremism and the widespread notion that conflict between the Arab Muslims and the West is inevitable. These stereotypes and generalisations have been around for the many centuries in particular throughout the 20th century in the Western world through one of the main drivers which is visual media. According to a poll completed by the Washington Post in 2006, forty-six percent of Americans have a negative view of Islam; these statistics are higher than the polls that were held in 2001 after the events of September 11. In the same article the Washington Post mentions that conservative and liberal experts believe that the attitudes created towards Islam are fuelled in part by political statements and media reports that focus almost solely on the actions of Muslim extremists. In the West, mainstream media does not provide an accurate representation of Muslims that represents their ethnic, racial, cultural and national diversity. It means that a majority of the Western world do not understand the multi cultural and diversity of the Muslims due to what they see in the films and the mass media. Michael France the Vice President of government relations for the Conservative Heritage Foundation states that Political leaders do not help the problem by sometimes using language that links all Muslims with extremists. In his quote he acknowledges the fact there is a problem, this problem is a result of what people see in the media of Arabs and Islam. There is a tendency in the media to focus on one aspect of Islam. Consequently, when the only representation of Muslims in the mass media is as terrorists or extremists, and there is minimal focus on the lives of the ordinary mainstream Muslims, consumers of the media begin to shape their opinions of Islam and Muslims through extremism and terrorism. Similarly the Middle East, Islam and Arabs are all characterised as one and not distinguished. It is very problematic to view and understand a vast and complex region such as the Middle East through such a selected and distorted guise. It takes away the humanity and diversity of millions of ordinary people living decent and humane lives. These unrealistic representations also have the ability to put fear in people, causing all Muslims and all Arabs, irrespective of their reli gion, to be perceived as threats. There has been a consistent pattern of Arab stereotypes throughout the 20th century. These stereotypes are mainly conveyed through cinema. Hollywood has a tendency of projecting those of Middle Eastern appearance as villains and associate them with certain stereotypes. These stereotypes include the oil rich Arabs who are too dumb to know the value of money and are trying to buy chunks of America, exotic woman wearing see through dresses belly dancing, the magic flying carpet and one of the most common stereotypes which is the Arab terrorist that hates America. Yet, despite these perceptions that are revealed within the films they are also far extended to cartoons that are created for the younger viewers. A great example of this is Aladdin (1992), directed by John Musker  and  Ron Clements. The film was seen by millions of viewers world wide. In this film they have recycled every stereotype that goes back to the start of film that was originally inspired by the arts of the Orient. The opening seen of Aladdin, being with a song which contain the lyrics Oh, I come from a land, a faraway place, Where the caravan camels roam, were they cut of your ears, if they dont like your face, its barbaric, but hey its home. For a film that is specifically aimed towards the younger generations, this dialogue is not only inappropriate but discriminates against all Arabs in general. In comparison if such vile words was to be directed towards another kind it would be deemed unacceptable by society. Carl Ernst, Chair of religion studies at the University of North Carolina quoted In the movies Arabs are the equivalent of Hollywood Indians. Out of every film ever made in the 20th century, nearly 25% of them have demeaned and generalised Arabs as being all the same and as just one thing. This reflects on the preconceived notion of the Western worlds perception of Arabs that is widely held. Furthermore, political views have also been expressed in many films such as the 1996 film Cast a Giant Shadow (1996) directed by Melville Shavelson where one of the main characters refers to the state of Israel and quotes Now here is a country surrounded by 5 Arab nations ready to shove them in the Mediterranean, no guns, no tanks, no nothing, people fighting with their bare hands for little piece of desert. Another famous movie Death before dishonour (1982) directed by Terry Leonard, Palestinian terrorists, invade a house and in cold blood slaughters an Israeli family. His film has scenes of American soldiers being kidnapped and horrifically tortured by Palestinian terrorists, and mobs of Arab protestors with beards and head turbans outside the American embassy burning the American flag. The film company Cannon, created by two Israeli producers Gholam and Globus in their 20 years at least 30 of their films vilifies all things Arab, in particular Palestinians. Many political policies and propaganda are reflected through cinema. Jack Valenti who was the president of the Motion Picture Association of America for 38 years said that Washington and Hollywood sprung from the same DNA. To solidify the connections between politics and Hollywood all that is needed is to look at many of the Hollywood films which state produced in cooperation with the department of defence. We see all these things that demonise and stereotypes Arabs and Muslims as being this one thing and the generalisation of one quarter of the worlds population. Bruce Lawrence a professor of Religion at Duke University says the media is still representing Muslim images as that of forty years ago when the majority of Muslims were Arabs. When people think of the Middle East many people are inclined to have a pre-conceived notion of what kind of people live their, their beliefs and culture without having been there or studied them or even know someone from there. The Western world seems to look at the Middle East through a camera that distorts the actual reality of those places and those people. They have an unrealistic representation formed by the media and popular culture that tends to form stereotypical views and prevent cross-cultural understanding. Perceptions of any race or ethnicity can affect decisions regarding them. This is evident due to the impact of peoples opinions. The way people think and form their opinions can be significantly influenced by what they see in the mass media. The opinions that people have had on certain events and affairs in the past and present have greatly impacted the outcomes. During the Vietnam War, America was in Vietnam as an authority but the general public opinion of the Americans was incomplete disagreement with the government. This eventually resulted in Americas withdrawal from Vietnam. Public opinion has proven itself to have been the cause of many significant and vital decisions made throughout the worlds history till present. The main reason that these perceptions are so effective especially in the case of Arabs and Muslims is a result of the twenty two Arab nations that have allowed themselves to be orientalised and to have continued with the way they are depicted by the West of them all being alike. This is due to the fact that they are in need of Americas support so they are not going to be criticising the West or engage themselves in proper dialogue anytime soon. In that respect the Arabs keep themselves in a way that collectively fulfils the kinds of representations that most westerners have in their minds about them which strengthens all these generalisations and stereotypes within Western societies and seem to people to be the truth about Arabs and Islam. Causes of these perspectives that we receive from the mass media also come down to the difficulties in receiving different perspectives from different news sources when they are owned by a small minority of individually owned giant corporations. T he major corporations in America own eighty percent of the television sector of the media. Viacom owns CBS, NBC owns Electric; Walt Disney owns ABC and News Corporation owns the Fox Broadcasting Company. These small amounts of major corporations have turned the media in to a monopolistic industry and as a result the majority of Americans are receiving limited views and perceptions. The stereotypes and generalisation of any race and ethnicity is very problematic especially in the case of Arab countries where a major proportion of the international key issues throughout the 20th century have revolved around them and their influences. Its the consistency of these stereotypes and perceptions of Arabs and Islam throughout history that has made these stereotypes so harmful. People are capable of subconsciously believing in them which manipulates the way that they perceive Arabs and Islam.

Compare the ways in which Poe creates suspense Essay

Poe creates effective suspense in his stories, and two examples of which Poe creates suspense are â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† and â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado†. Poe creates suspense in his stories in various different ways, some are similar in each story, but some are different. Poe’s stories are filled with drama terror and fear, due to the suspense he creates. A lot of his stories are gothic and contain some sort of death or suffering. In the Tell-Tale Heart in the narrator persistently insists that he is not mad although throughout the story we learn more and more that he is in fact mad. He tries to prove his sanity by telling us how carefully he had planned the murder and all the precautions he had taken, but this just further proves his insanity. Also the narrator from the Tell-Tale Heart often talks the reader. Three examples of where the narrator directly speaks to the reader are, â€Å"but why will you say that I am mad?†, â€Å"You fancy me mad†, and, â€Å"if still you think me mad†. Another way that Poe creates suspense is by making the narrator obsessed with something, in the Tell-Tale Heart the narrator is obsessed with the old man’s eye, in the Cask of Amontillado the narrator is obsessed with revenge and in the Pit and the Pendulum the narrator is obsessed with survival, this means we cannot entirely trust the reader says, or what actions he may or may not have done, also the narrator in the Pit and the Pendulum is drugged and tired, although this is not his fault we can trust him the least. â€Å"It must have been drugged, for scarcely had I drunk before I became irresistibly drowsy. A deep sleep fell upon me — a sleep like that of death† Time is shown moving slowly when the sentences are longer and they include more commas, It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening†, â€Å"A watch’s minute hand moves more quickly than did mine†, and, â€Å"For a whole hour, I did not move a muscle† however, when the pace of the story increases and time appears to move faster, the sentences are much shorter, normally including two or three words. â€Å"I threw open the lantern and leaped into the room†, and, â€Å"They heard. They suspected. They knew†. Watches are referenced a few times during the Tell-Tale Heart, to give us a sense of how much time has passed, although it can also mean, as each tick of the watch symbolises a closer movement to the death of all humans, although in this case, the old man’s death. A quote to support this would be, â€Å"A watch’s minute hand moves more quickly than did mine. The narrator compares himself to a watch, suggesting it is he himself who is counting down until the old man’s death, as he is the one in control. Poe uses repetition many times in the story, and the technique is used as each use of repetition helps contribute to adding more atmosphere to the story, adding to the suspense and fear that we already feel. When they are used, the story slows down slightly, which makes our anticipation for finding out what happens next grow, and this pulls us further into the story, making us read on. In the Tell-Tale Heart, as the story is a 1st person account of the event, thinking solely about its use in the plot, it helps underline how detailed the narrator is in his details and how much he obsessed over the murder. â€Å"With what caution — With what foresight — With what dissimulation†, â€Å"How stealthily, stealthily†, and, â€Å"Louder! Louder! Louder! Louder!† In the Cask of Amontillado and the Tell-Tale Heart the protagonist likes to toy with the victim, which they are about to kill. For example in the Cask of Amontillado the protagonist, Montressor, gets out a trowel, which later on that would be the murder weapon, It is this,† I answered, producing a trowel from beneath the folds of my roquelaire. he also gives the victim multiple opportunities the escape and leave the cellar, he also told the victim that he would not die of a cough implying that he would die at the hands of Montressor. â€Å"Enough,† he said; â€Å"the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough.† And â€Å"True — true,† I replied; â€Å"and, indeed, I had no intention of alarming you unnecessarily — but you should use all proper caution. A draught of this Medoc will defend us from the damps.† Also in the Tell-Tale heart, the narrator is extra kind to the old man, and on the eighth night just before he killed the old man, he knew that the old man knew, that he was in the room, but he didn’t give up and carried on with the murder One of the many ways which Poe creates suspense is that the story is in the first person. This is present in all the stories I have studied, In the Tell-Tale Heart and the Cask of Amontillado the antagonist is the narrator, but in the Pit and the Pendulum the victim was the narrator. This is effective because we can only see what the narrator is seeing and what is going on his head. Sometimes knowing what goes on in the narrator’s head can make us feel sympathy for the victim. For example, we feel sympathy for the old man in the Tell-Tell Heart, as we learn that the old man, had done nothing wrong, and was kind to the narrator. Also this is effective because this makes us more involved with the story. The differences between the stories are that the narrator in â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† gets caught by the police, because of his guilty conscience that manifests itself through the beating heart. Montresor, on the other hand, does not get caught, and lives with no one knowing. Montresor is not burdened by accusations of madness like the other narrator is; in â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart,† it seems like the entire purpose for telling the tale is to prove that he isn’t insane. Montresor, on the other hand, just seems to want to tell the tale for the tale’s sake, not to prove that he is sane. In Montresor’s case there is hallucination of the beating heart to force him into confession; very little evidence of a guilty conscience is seen in Montresor. Poe created suspense in various effective ways, some are obvious to spot, and some are not. The Cask of Amontillado and the Tell-Tale Heart are two of his best stories in my opinion, they both create suspense in mostly different, although are very similar or the same. Poe’s stories are still popular today one reason for this could be because of the suspense that is present in his stories. I think one of the main reasons that Poe creates suspense is so that it drags the reader he so the reader would carry on reading.