An Outpost of Progress Infobox

Notes for the Teachers One Language – Many Voices Joseph Conrad: An Outpost of Progress INfO-BOx Cultural and historical background The colonization of Central Africa did not set in until the very end of the 19th century, when ‘the scramble for Africa’ – the race of European powers to divide the continent among themselves – got under way: In 1870 European countries owned only 10% of Africa, by 1900 it was 90%. For a long time access to the huge territories in the Congo River basin was considered impossible due to the impenetrable forests and the impassable rapids of the river itself, which served as a barrier to European exploitation.The adventurer and journalist Henry Morton Stanley gained the interest and support of the Belgian King Leopold II for his expeditions into the Congo basin ‘to prove that the Congo natives were susceptible of civilization and that the Congo basin was rich enough to repay exploitation’. In the name of Leopold II he appropriated land and labour for the king’s newly founded ‘Association Internationale du Congo’. Leopold’s claim to the Congo was recognized at the International Africa Conference in Berlin in 1884–1885, presided over by Bismarck. The Congo Free State, as it was ironically called, was confirmed as the private property of King Leopold II in return for guarantees of neutrality, free trade and opposition to slavery. The Congo Free State, 1900 next to nothing, apart from small amounts of cloth, beads or brass rods. The rubber boom started in the mid-1890s due to the increasing industrial demand from Europe. While the rubber trade made a fortune for Leopold II, it led to the extreme brutalization of the local population. Under Leopold’s ownership approximately 10 million Congolese died as a consequence of exploitation and disease.To enforce the rubber quotas, the Force Publique (FP) was called in. The FP was an army, but its aim was not to defend the country, but to terrorize the population, which it did by cutting off the limbs of the natives; this practice was disturbingly widespread. When news of these atrocities reached Europe, there was a public outcry; the British parliament asked Roger Casement to make an inquiry into the situation in the country. The result of his enquiry was the famous Congo Report (1904). Casement had been a British diplomat in the Congo, where he met Conrad and whose Heart of Darkness (1899) had deeply influenced him.In 1903 Conrad wrote to Casement saying, ‘there exists in Africa a Congo State, created by the act of European powers, where ruthless, systematic cruelty towards the blacks is the basis of the administration’. Conrad’s novel also contributed to a widespread knowledge of the colonial abuses and crimes taking place in Africa. In 1908 Leopold II was forced to sell the Congo Free State to the Belgian government, which annexed it as a Belgian colony until its independence in 1960, when it was named Zaire. Its history since then has not been much happier. Following the secessionist Katanga CivilWar, the country was brutalized under the dictatorship of President Mobutu. In 1997, when Mobutu was overthrown by the rebel leader Laurent Kabila, the country was renamed The Democratic Republic of the Congo. Torn between ethnic strife and civil wars, involving refugees from Rwanda and Burundi and displacements from Sudan, the country is still unstable. Biographical aspects Ivory and rubber were the main sources of income for King Leopold’s company and its agents: they and their African auxiliaries seized all the ivory that could be found, buying tusks from villages for a pittance, or simply confiscating them.They were working on a lucrative commission structure imposed by the King in 1890, of which the African elephant hunters received 26 As captain of a steamship, Joseph Conrad travelled up the Congo River to Central Africa and the heart of the Congo in 1890, and then went on an overland track to Leopoldville (now Kinshasa). As we kn ow from his diaries and letters, which he wrote in English, he was deeply concerned with the greed of Belgian (and other European) merchants, the abuses of colonial powers and atrocities committed by white managers and their black auxiliaries, always in the name of a missionary and rogressive spirit to ‘enlighten the dark continent’. But he also met with what he thought to be cannibalism, and was confused Notes for the Teachers by the natives’ drums and ‘wild savagery’. His decision to resign from his post as captain was as much caused by his ill health as by his desire to become a writer. It has been said that ‘Africa killed Conrad the sailor and strengthened Conrad the writer’1 In his extensive writings (over 40 works of fiction of various length) the themes of travel and the pursuit of material and idealistic goals as well as isolation, ambition and failure can be said to be drawn from his own experiences.Conrad: An Outpost of Progress His deep-rooted scepticism of imperialism can be linked to his Polish background: born into a nation which had vanished from the map after being annexed by Russia, Prussia and Austria in 1795, and into a family which had opposed Russian oppression and been exiled to Ukraine, Conrad had good reason to question the right of stronger powers to impose their wills on smaller nations. 1 Jean-Aubry, Georges. Joseph Conrad in the Congo. New York: Haskell, 1973. Interpretation Summary Kayerts and Carlier are p ut in charge of a remote and unpromising trading station on a river.

Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 6

Personal Statement Example way of life is found to be intriguing and offers vast opportunities for a career path with potentials for personal and professional growth on a more holistic and multidisciplinary perspective. Natural science is more than a good choice. It is a dynamic and contemporarily relevant discipline that pervades various facets of human life. It is a broad based science education and will provide me with the theoretical foundation to be an instrumental contributor as a competent and qualified worker for future employers. I look forward to being a proactive citizen of the human race that is committed to protect, preserve and ensure sustainability of the natural resources of the environment. As one of my research findings revealed, natural science provides an integrated, quantitative, and interdisciplinary approach to the study of environmental systems. As I have been made aware, there are diverse disciplines within the Natural Science course that interested students can specialize in. I am actually interested in all disciplines as they are all interconnected and could provide the more holistic and comprehensive development of knowledge and abilities, if taken in its entirety. As a potential candidate for the position in future organizations that have core competencies and requirements for graduates from the Natural Science course, I have envisioned to begin as an environmental technician - gaining hands on field experience, leading to field supervisor or site foreman. I plan to utilize my quantitative and analytical abilities gained as an auditor; my communication and management skills gained as an accountant; and interpersonal skills gained as a floor coverer. Majoring in Bachelor of Science in Natural Science by August, 2011 would enable me to obtain a solid foundation and reinforced understanding of the diverse principles and potential relevant applications of environmental science in our contemporary times and in addressing environmental problems in the future. The

Necrotizing Ulcerative Gingivitis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Necrotizing Ulcerative Gingivitis - Essay Example When affected these tissues are covered with a dirty yellow to gray smear. The gingiva is extremely red, swollen, inflamed, and excruciatingly painful. On examination, the patients may present the hallmark of the disease, necrosis and crater-like ulceration of the affected interdental papillae. These irritated tissues will induce salivation, and the offensive exudates can be seen and perceived by halitosis. In some cases, spontaneous hemorrhage is also encountered. This discrete clinical picture makes the feasibility of easy diagnosis by clinical examination alone. However, this simplicity is not always the case, where the disease may be generalized within the oral mucosa, rather than being generalized, and sometimes, acute oral pain is also associated with systemic symptoms of fever and malaise. Quite frequently, involvement of the regional lymph nodes is also seen in the form of painful lymphadenopathy. Generalized disease due to contiguity may involve the other areas of buccal muc osa. When involved, most commonly the oral mucosa opposite the third molar is involved. Although rare, sometimes this encompasses tongue, lips, palate. It has been shown that there is an association between plasma ascorbate deficiency and disease risk. When this clinical presentation happens as a part of necrotizing ulcerative stomatitis, it is better to err on the side of HIV infection and rule it out. In this article, the relevance of the condition to dental practice will be explained and explored based on evidence from current literature (Melnick, S. L., Alvarez, J. O., Navia, J. M., Cogen, R. B., and Roseman, J. M., 1988). Melnick and coworkers investigates the susceptibility of necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis and in doing so they build up their study on the knowledge that impaired immune defense mechanisms and genetic factors play a role in susceptibility of this disease. In the concise literature review, the authors summarize the current literature on this disease. Although oral anaerobic bacteria have been implicated in this disease, the exact role played by them has not been elucidated. The question whether this disease is etiologically related to a genetic basis, is still unanswered, although the authors mention a familial constellation of cases. Many factors such as poverty, stress, and malnutrition have been suggested, but these have not yet been established conclusively. Numerous other associated conditions have been described in the literature, and they are important from the clinical point of view as far as the practice of dentistry is concerned, since they may alert the clinician to take a dequate preventive measures when such patients are encountered. Many such conditions pathologically are related to impaired immune defense, and they are chronic cyclic granulocytopenia, agranulocytosis, cyclic neutropenia, and Down's syndrome. In all these conditions, there is either defective polymorphonuclear leukocyte functioning or secondary neutrophils deficiency. It has been suggested that these deficiencies result from presence of abnormal complement components. These complement defects are genetically controlled, and therefore, it can be inferred that these defects in complement synthesis, C3 and C4 may play some role in pathogenesis of necrotizing ul