William Faulkner Essays (1600 words) - Modernist Literature

William Faulkner William Faulkner is viewed by many as America's greatest writer of prose fiction. He was born in New Albany, Mississippi where he lived a life filled with good times and bad times. However, despite bad times he would become known as a poet, a short story writer, and finally one of the greatest contemporary novelist of his time. William Faulkner's accomplishments resulted not only from his love and devotion of writing, but also from family, friends, and certain uncontrollable events. William Faulkner's life is an astonishing accomplishment; however, it is crucial to explore his life prior to his fixated writing career. In 1905, Faulkner entered the first grade at a tender age of eight, and immediately showed signs of talent. He not only drew an explicitly detailed drawing of a locomotive, but he soon became an honour-roll student: "His report card would show no grades below Perfect or Excellent" (Blotner 21). Throughout his early education he would work conscientiously at reading, spelling, writing, and arithmetic; however, he especially enjoyed drawing. His deportment at school was very high, but it was not as high as it was at home. When Faulkner got promoted to third grade, skipping the second grade, he was asked by his teacher what he wanted to be when he grew up, and he replied, "I want to be a writer just like my great granddaddy" (Blotner 23). At last, (in 1914) Faulkner took interest in poetry, but no one in Oxford could tell him what to do with his poems. Meanwhile, Faulkner, who is very talkative, would always entertain Katrina Carter and Estelle Oldham by telling them vividly imagined stories. Eventually, Faulkner grew very fond of Estelle in fact, if he heard her voice he would deliberately attempt to be spotted by Katrina in hopes that she asks him to join her. Estelle soon became the sole inspirer and recipient of Faulkner's earlier poems. Coincidentally, a gentleman named Phil Stone would fall in love with Estelle's friend, Katrina. As a result, Katrina had told Stone about Faulkner and his poetry. So one afternoon, Stone walked to Faulkner's home to get acquainted, and during his visit he received several written verses from Faulkner' poetry collections: "Anybody could have seen that he (Faulkner) had talent?it was perfectly obvious" (Blotner 44). Stone not only became Faulkner's close friend, but also a mentor to the young writer at the beginning of his career. Stone immediately gave the potential poet encouragement, advice, and models for his study of literature. For example, Stone would give practice drills in punctuation, as well as lecture Faulkner on goals and grammars. Meanwhile, Faulkner's main interest in school became athletics such as football and baseball, thus his grades started to deteriorate: "Bill showed absolutely no interest in the education being offered?He gazed out the windows, and answered the simplest questions with ?I don't know'" (Blotner 39). Eventually, he would quit both athletics and school altogether. In 1919, his first literary work was acknowledged and published in The New Republic. The poem is a forty-line verse with a French title that acknowledges the influence of the French Symbolist, "L'Apres-Midi d'un Faune." In September, Faulkner would enroll in the University of Mississippi, and during his academic years it did not deter him from writing more poems. The Mississippian, the student paper, published "Landing in Luck" by Faulkner- the story is a nine-page short story created from his direct experience in the Royal Air Force flight training in 1916. He has also written several other poems such as "Cathay", which is published in the Oxford Eagle and "Sapphic", which is published in The Mississippian. During the summer, Faulkner became a house painter in Oxford, and in the beginning of autumn he enrolled in the University of Mississippi; however, his early pattern of school started to take toll. Faulkner began to cut classes and finally just stopped going. Although, this time he participated in a drama club called "The Marionettes", and began to publish book reviews in The Mississippian. In the summer of 1921, Faulkner decided to take a trip to New York to receive some professional instructions from editors and critics, since Stone was busy with his academic studies. Faulkner stayed with a man named Stark Young, where they shared an incredibly small apartment. Later, Young introduced Faulkner to Elizabeth Prall of the Doubleday bookstore to see if she wanted some help prior to the Christmas rush. Reluctantly, Prall accepted and never regretted her choice since. "Faulkner made a good clerk-polite, interested, and one of the best salesman in the store?

American Films and Life Essays

American Films and Life Essays American Films and Life Essay American Films and Life Essay One quote that I found only recently, yet is now of my favorite quotes to live by is, The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny. Albert Ellis. To me this quote means that you are happiest once you realize that you are in control of your own future. If you have a problem, you have to deal with it yourself; you cant blame it on anyone else but yourself. If you keep putting other people at fault for your own issues, youll never find a true resolution to the problem. I support this quote because many experiences Vive gone through in my own life can relate to it. My first experience that I chose to support the quote deals with my favorite sport, Irish dance. After dancing for close to 10 years, I have experienced this situation many times. Irish dancing is a very competitive sport, that really takes a toll on you both physically and emotionally. I know myself and many other dancers have gotten to points where we question why we still even do the sport. We get frustrated and cant even remember why we love dancing so much. I remember towards the end of last year I had one of these attitudes. Regional was in November and I hadnt done as well as I had wanted to. I really hadnt put in enough effort and practice leading up to regional. Even though I knew deep down it was really my own fault, I made excuses for myself and blamed my failure on everything but myself. I blamed my teacher for not preparing me enough. I blamed the Judges for not Judging correctly and I blamed about everything else I could except for me. Eventually, I had come to terms that it was my own fault, nobody elses. Once I recognized this, I lost my bad attitude and started fresh. I now was going to put in the necessary effort to rank where I wanted to be. I realized that I was the only one who was able to make a difference in my life. If I wanted change I had to work for it, and I did. I placed higher in competitions because I was now determined to do better and I was much happier with where I was ending up. My second life experience goes a lot deeper than Just a sport. This experience had taken up my entire life. When my parents were getting divorced, everything to me seemed like the end of the world. I was unhappy for a long time and I really felt as if I was stuck in a rut that I Just couldnt get out of. I felt helpless to what was happening and I became really angry towards life. I felt as if I was being shorted the life that everyone else had. Nobody understood what I was going through and I wondered why it had to happen to me and not somebody else. I honestly began to not care about things I should have. My grades slipped and I was in a bad mood most of the time. If people tried to talk to me it would Just make me angrier so I alienated myself from everyone. I had so much anger that I Just blamed on other people. I blamed my parents, my family, God, I blamed my friends for not understanding me. Yet I thought if I had all these people to blame for my unhappiness Id feel better, but the problem was still there. One day my grandma told me, Nobody can fix you but yourself. No one else is responsible for whats inside of you, only you can make a difference in your life. You control your own happiness rolled my eyes and told her she was wrong, but then I really thought about it and realized she was right. If I stayed in the same attitude Just moping around then nothing would change for me. I had to realize that I really did control my own destiny and it took me awhile to really understand that. I was the only one standing in the way of what I wanted. I had to face my own issues and not put anyone else at fault. To be happier I had to change my attitude and outlook on life and understand that Im in control of my my own destiny. No one else can control it for me. Still to this day If I ever get stuck in a situation that makes me feel down I remember this quote. I have to face my problems as they are, and not put anyone else at fault for them. I control my future and it all starts with my attitude. Once I realized that my future and my happiness was in my unhands I was happier with myself, and hopefully according to Albert Ellis, if I keep this outlook these will be the best years of my life.

Asian values and Human Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Asian values and Human Rights - Essay Example However, he pointed out that sometimes externalities result from these struggles. For example, upholding property rights has often resulted to the suppression of the masses by the relatively few wealthy individuals who actually owned these property rights. Problems encountered in the advocacy of "human rights" stem from its own structure. The idea of what is right and wrong is very subjective and often times depends on the cultural and value context of the point of view. The "Asian values" point of view further complicates the on going debate on the meaning of human rights. Asian values, mainly Confucian values, question the increasing use of "bureaucratic-technical vocabulary emphasizing law, abstract logic, and the formation of policy statements" (Dallmayr 180) regarding human rights. Mote, as a student of China's civilization history, clearly admired the Chinese civilizations and their contribution to the modern society. However, he did criticize how the past is being regarded. He emphasised that the point of civilization, if ever there is one, is "to [realise] the maximum from this present moment, not to blindly repeat some past nor to forgo the present in preparation for some anticipated future" (Mote 6). It is apparent that this belief was one of the underlying factors why Frederick Mote was fascinated by the Chinese civilizations. According to him all Chinese intellectual traditions shared this fundamental belief about the purpose of civilization and even that of the existence of man. This fundamental concept and belief helped the development of Buddhism in China which he said "frustrated Christianity" (Mote 6). Perhaps so, but the point is it appears that the Chinese civilizations were "unitary" in that they applied the same standards of value to all human activities, and hence the arts were expected to conform to the moral fabric as dictated by society. This was the singular reason why the arts of these civilizations never developed the art-for-art's-sake which was a common element in Western fine arts within the same period. Nevertheless, these arts should be judged by the standards within the national norms of the past rather than through different norms. Economic Perspectives Max Weber, A selection of texts, edited by S. Andreski. London: George Allen and Unwinn 1983, pp. 111-125. First, Andreski's selection of texts fro Max Weber's writings surprisingly present a very coherent Weber which is in contrast to his usual obscure and difficult to understand writings. Clearly, Weber was very interested on the reasons why capitalism failed to developed in the Ancient World. Specifically, the text was concerned on why has modern capitalism emerged in the western world and not in the Ancient World, say China or India, at the same time For Max Weber, the Puritans believed only activity signifies and increases the glory of God, hence an

Research method Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Research method - Essay Example INTRODUCTION TO PROBLEM OUTLINE Sportswear retailing is a diverse and fairly fragmented market. Even though at a slower rate, sports retailing chains are showing a steady growth over the years. Retailers are looking for introducing new formats in business along with increasing the number of stores. Independent sports retailers like Sports Direct have established their place in the market and managed to gain major share in the markets. The research focuses on analysis of customer satisfaction in sports retailing concentrating on Sportsdirect.com in Liverpool One. Companies are in a situation where it is no longer enough to satisfy the customers, they need to delight customers. The simple way to measure customer satisfaction is by taking surveys. A successful survey begins with a good questionnaire, and a good questionnaire is built from the customer’s point of view (Horovitz, 1990). 2. AIM & OBJECTIVES The aim and objectives of this research are to: Measure the customer satisfa ction in sports retailing, focusing on Sportsdirect.com in Liverpool One. To find out about satisfied and dissatisfied customers and based on this, put forward suggestions for the improvement and to better serve customers and retain them. To make generalisations about the customer satisfaction in sports retailing sector. ... sports goods retailing industries as customer satisfaction is at the root of customer retention and in effectively raising the bar on the firm’s future profitability. 3. ORGANISATIONAL BACKGROUND Sports Direct International Plc was established in 1982. It is now UK’s number one sports retailer with annual turnover exceeding well over ?1 billion. (Sports Direct Annual Report, 2008). They acquired a lot of companies during their race to success and have around 375 stores in UK and around 60 global stores. They focus on growing UK retail business by continue to drive efficiencies and delivering outstanding value to customers (Sports Direct Website, 2011). Moreover, a significant percentage of Sportdirect.com customers are online clients and manage to get the cushion of market leadership by differentiating themselves from rival firms who manufacture and sell sports goods using the discount-based competition market strategy. 4. LITERATURE REVIEW In the current business world , customer care has a major influence on a company’s long term profitability. Cook (2000) categorises clients as the premise of business and as the element that keeps business alive. The knowledge, attitudes, educational background, and cultural and social environment of an individual have got a major role in moulding his perspectives (Antonides & Raaij, 1998). A well-educated and well-informed customer of the present era has had a clear understanding of standards he expects and this makes it more complicated. As a result, there is considerable attention being taken into account of maintaining relationship between the service providers and customers (Barnes, 1997; Reinartz & Kumar, 2002; Coulter & Coulter, 2002). The bygone twenty years has seen the growing up of relationship marketing as the

Series Of Hong Kong Mainland Conflict Media Essay

Series Of Hong Kong Mainland Conflict Media Essay In 2012 to 2013, there are a series of Hong Kong-Mainland conflict. Hatred towards Chinese is ignited as quarrels between Hong Kong people and Chinese are seen easily in daily life. Some Hong Kong people claim Mainland Chinese as locust since they think Chinese sap the resources and welfare in Hong Kong. The uncivil behavior of Chinese such as shouting in public area can be easily seen and it deepens the Hong Kong-Mainland conflict. The discord even rises into the political level. Thousands of protesters waving British colonial flags showed the view that Hong Kong has their unique history is endemic among Hong Kong people. The upholders think that Hong Kong should not be governed by Mainland government and the One Country Two System should be preserved. While some of the Chinese think that Hong Kong is a part of China so China has the right to interfere the Hong Kong government. In facts, it is time for Hong Kong people think about the question about personal identity of themselves a nd the future of Hong Kong. Marxism and the National Question written by J.V. Stalin discuss about the definition of a nation and the minorities autonomy or self-determination which have reference value in today situation. Background information of this passage The passage was written in 1913. At that time, the spread of newspaper and of literature generally, a certain freedom of the press and cultural institution, and increase in the number of national theatres and so forth, all unquestionably helped to strengthen national sentiments  [1]  . Since there were lots of national movements the Russian Social-Democracy need to express their view towards this phenomenon. Is Hong Kong a nation? According to the passage, Hong Kong has the condition of becoming a nation. Stalin thinks that nation is not racial or tribal which means different race and tribe can combine with a same nation finally. A nation can only be defined as a nation when four conditions are present. The conditions are: formed on the basis of a common language, territory, economic life, and psychological make-up manifested in a common culture. The idea discussed is influential in China as it directed China government to recognized different nation. In fact, I agree the argument stated by Stalin about the definition of a nation. As Born and bred in Hong Kong, I can see a lot of differences between Chinese and Hong Kong people especially when more interactions happened. I think the differences explained why there are lots of conflicts in nowadays. This argument provides evidence to me to support Hong Kong as a nation. The first condition, common language, refers to the spoken language among the citizen rather than the official language. The spoken language in Hong Kong called Hong Kong Cantonese is a unified and special language which mixes up with words and phrases from English and Japanese and dialect from Min Nan etc. or develop some proverb according to the historical factor. Even through there are similarities between Hong Kong Cantonese and Putonghua, the main point is that there is no other spoken language can replace the position of Hong Kong Cantonese. Although both American and British speak English, they are different nation. The reason behind is the second condition, common territory. Only when people live together can become a nation. A part of Hong Kong people migrated from other place such as China and Southeast Asia. They settled down in Hong Kong generation after generation and in the new territory, they build up a new Hong Kong nation. The third factor is economic cohesion. Hong Kong experienced its own economic life which is different from Mainland China. In the early colonial period, Hong Kong is an entrepot trade center in Asia. Until Korea War, the , the entrepot trade in Hong Kong is affected as the United Nation implemented the embargo towards China. The economic transition started. Hong Kong proceeded industrialization and there are lots of light industry such as textile factories, electronic component factories and etc. The economic transition started again when China instituted the Open Door Policy. Hong Kong has become the international financial center until now even though there are barrier such as Asian financial crisis in 1997 and the SARS outbreak in 2003. Besides, the ideology in Hong Kong is different from the Mainland China. Hong Kong government believed in the free market policy in capitalism. Hong Kong was once described by Milton Friedman as the worlds greatest experiment in laissez-faire capit alism while China believed in their socialist market economy. Even though the Hong Kong government is driving economic integration between Hong Kong and China, there are still a lot of differences between two places such as business law, business culture and corporate social responsibility etc. The forth factor, a psychological makeup or national character which is intangible for the observer but cannot be ignored. National character is a not a fixed thing, it vary from different condition of life. The special national character of Hong Kong began to develop in the colonial period. The British culture was diffused and invading the position of traditional Chinese culture or combine with the traditional Chinese culture. Lion rock spirit descried as never give up, hard-working and endurance became a symbol of Hong Kong local and significant culture. After 1997, Hong Kong developed their local core value included democracy, rule of law. In recent year, there are a series of social movements aim at protecting these values, for example, some scholars are planning Occupying Central to strive for true universal suffrage, as Hong Kong government ignore Hong Kongs people feeling and driving integration between two places (some Hong Kong people claim that Hong Kong is turning red). What is Hong Kong future? The right of self-determination means only the nation may arrange its life in the way it wishes. It has the right to arrange its life on the basis of autonomy It has the right to enter into federal relations with other nations. It has the right to complete secession. Nations are sovereign, and all nations have equal rights. Stalin think that a nation has the right to secede especially there is policy of oppression such as restriction of freedom of movement, disfranchisement and repression of language etc. However, it doesnt mean all nations should secession and self-determination is beneficial to all nations. Stalin though that the solution of nation depends on the historical condition in the nation itself. Besides, Stalin connect the fate of national movement with bourgeois movement while he also state that a democratic country giving the opportunity to the nation to have free development can reduce the national struggle to minimum. Rather than secession, I believed the way to solve the national problems by a democratic government and it was a more suitable way for Hong Kong people in the past. As I thought a mature democratic government will not allow oppression policy towards the other nation or tyranny of the majority. Through democratic government, the minority can take advantage and get respect form other nation. Using the Switzerland which has stated by Stalin as an example, the direct democracy system and high level of autonomy in the twenty six states allow different nation enjoy an equal position. However, my view changed after the Catalan independence in last year. Even though there is democracy and autonomy in Catalan, once there are some policy which erode the advantage of the nation, national struggle will be ignited due to the oppressing policy in the past. It reminds me if the Beijing government keeps ignoring Hong Kong peoples demands, for example, the universal suffrage, or even instituting oppr essing policy, self-determination will be the only way for Hong Kong.

Essay on Morality in Dante’s Inferno, Hamlet, The Trial, and Joyce’s Th

Changing Morality in Dante’s Inferno, Hamlet, The Trial, and Joyce’s The Dead  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   Everyone remembers the nasty villains that terrorize the happy people in fairy tales. Indeed, many of these fairy tales are defined by their clearly defined good and bad archetypes, using clichà ©d physical stereotypes. What is noteworthy is that these fairy tales are predominately either old themselves or based on stories of antiquity. Modern stories and epics do not offer these clear definitions; they force the reader to continually redefine the definitions of morality to the hero that is not fully good and the villain that is not so despicable. From Dante’s Inferno, through the winding mental visions in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, spiraling through the labyrinth in Kafka’s The Trial, and culminating in Joyce’s abstract realization of morality in â€Å"The Dead,† authors grapple with this development. In the literary progression to the modern world, the increasing abstraction of evil from its classic archetype to a foreign, supernatural en tity without bounds or cure is strongly suggestive of the pugnacious assault on individualism in the face of literature’s dualistic, thematically oligopolistic heritage. In analyzing this gradient of morality, it is useful first to examine a work from early literature whose strong purity of morality is unwavering; for the purposes of this discussion, Dante’s Inferno provides this model. It is fairly straightforward to discover Dante’s dualistic construction of morality in his winding caverns of Hell; each stern, finite circle of Hell is associated with a clear sin that is both definable and directly punishable. As Dante moves downwards in this moral machination, he notes that Like lies with like in every h... ...akespearean Criticism. Ed. Laurie Lanzen Harris. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1984. 234-7. Fort, Keith. â€Å"The Function of Style in Franz Kafka’s ‘The Trial’.† Sewanee Review 72 (1964): 643-51. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Dennis Poupard and Paula Kepos. Vol. 29. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1988. 198-200. Joyce, James. Dubliners. Ed. Robert Scholes. New York, Penguin/Viking, 1996.    Kafka, Franz. The Trial. Trans. Willa and Edwin Muir. New York: Schocken Books, 1992.    Ruskin, John. â€Å"Grotesque Renaissance.† The Stones of Venice: The Fall. 1853. New York: Garland Publishing, 1979. 112-65. Rpt. in Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1989. 21-2. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. T. J. B. Spencer. New York: Penguin, 1996.         

Globalization of the Media: A Bicultural Woman’s View Essay

Does globalization mean we’re being conditioned into thinking only of CNN or Al Jazeera when disaster strikes and we need detailed news of an event? Yes, very likely, because many media in the Arab world fall short of the task of providing good, accurate, news that’s to the point. Can we face globalization? Should we be part of it? What tools can we manipulate to our advantage? What role can women play in globalization of the media? Do they face obstacles? Doesn’t it hurt us when foreign journalists report wrong information about us? Shouldn’t we help them by making it easy to get the right information and not fall into the same trap of doing to them what they do to us? 1. NEED FOR UNDERSTANDING & BALANCED INFORMATION ON BOTH SIDES: We need more media that can understand our cultural backgrounds and societal needs on both sides of the cultural divide – i.e. those that strike a balance between accurate information and understanding of the story’s background. All too often reporters are parachuted into a country to cover a hot story without having solid grounding in the subject. This applies to Arabs as well as Americans and Europeans. I’ve seen it happen in many countries and we need to rectify that. U.S. and European correspondents often arrive on Arab shores with no notion of what’s happening in the country or the region, little or no knowledge of Arabic (or French) and expecting everyone to understand them in English, for example. Some don’t do their homework and don’t read about the background that led to recent conflicts, as if they exist in a vacuum. It’s a major failure on their part. An American reporter I know was too scared to enter Tripoli (Lebanon) during one of the major firefights of the Lebanese civil war, took a taxi to the edge of the city, saw some exchanges from a distance, ran back to Beirut, filed the story with a Tripoli dateline and proceeded to detail the raging battle which he never really saw. There are many such stories from all over the world. That’s a great disservice to the readers, viewers, listeners and browsers. 2. THE GENDER PROBLEM: On the gender front, an Arab woman journalist may be lucky to cover the same news as a man, but she can’t expect the same pay. Why? â€Å"There’s a ceiling women can’t penetrate in media and government,† says May Kahale, a veteran journalist and media adviser to former Lebanese president Elias Hrawi. Mona Ziade, news editor at The Daily Star in Lebanon, notes that women’s coverage of politics and other â€Å"serious issues† is fairly recent and continues to raise male suspicions. Which is why women have to strive harder to prove themselves and abide by very professional standards to be taken seriously, and be respected. According to Dr. Mohammad Ibrahim Ayesh of Sharjah University, the chances of Arab women in the media are still limited compared to men and the lack of opportunities for professional growth is a major depressant they face in media organizations. He attributed this to traditional stereotyping of women in the media as consumers only concerned with beauty and fashion and lacking the ability to think and make decisions. Another obstacle is that media work requires flexible hours and mobility, which often conflicts with the responsibilities of married women, who have children and homes, he added. Why don’t we have stories of women who have succeeded in this field highlighted in our own media? Why don’t we make them available to foreign media in their own languages? It doesn’t take genius, just a bit of effort. I spent many years covering the Pentagon (in addition to the White House, State Department and Congress) and enjoyed writing on defense and security issues, focusing on weapons, rapid deployment forces, low intensity warfare, terrorism and nuclear proliferation. Mastery of languages is very important. It’s helped me in many situations. Reading Farsi (with my command of Arabic) helped me cover stories in Tehran; knowing Greek enabled me to decipher the Cyrillic alphabet while on assignment in Moscow and while living in Cyprus; and being fluent in French has served me in many locations, like North Africa and elsewhere. Thinking and speaking in English’s many variations is my strength. If women are to prove themselves in the field – and many have excelled over the years – they should do their homework, and more. They should keep pushing that executive glass ceiling by being experts in areas not considered â€Å"women’s issues.† 3. HOW ARAB MEDIA SHOULD COUNTERATTACK: On November 26, the Arab League opened a two-day conference to discuss how to deal with the world’s eagerness to equate Islam with terrorism and started a fund with an initial $1 million donation to finance research and publications to promote dialogue among civilizations. That’s great, but we need to ensure the availability of satellite broadcasts (mostly in English), good use of the Internet, and an army of articulate communicators who can convey the ideas of peace, common humanity and fairness to all in non-rhetorical language, short sound bites and cyber kilobits. Arab media need to counter-attack, but I would argue that to do so, they must act decisively, promptly and credibly. The Detroit Free Press, published in the city with the United States’ most concentrated Arab-American population, is trying to better understand and explain issues concerning Arab-Americans and Muslims. It has a list called â€Å"100 Questions & Answers About Arab-Americans: A Journalistà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s Guide† to help with more accurate journalistic portrayals of Arab-Americans, their backgrounds, culture, religions. The Florida-based Poynter Institute, which specializes in media matters, ran an online article called â€Å"Understanding Ramadan† with links to various sites journalists could use as resources. Equally good were two features in the Seattle Times Online called â€Å"Understanding Turbans† and â€Å"Interpreting Veils† with illustrations and descriptions of headdresses worn by men and covers for women. We should have such information handy to provide our media contacts. Speaking on Arab-American perspectives on the anti-terrorism war, the president of the Arab-American Institute in Washington, James Zogby, delivered the Secretary of State’s Open Forum address in December, noting that his community can play a bridging role in the Middle East. â€Å"We understand the reality of the region,† he said. â€Å"We also want to have input in the discussions about how we approach the Middle East.† So what do readers in America, for example, really want? Pam Johnson writes on the Poynter Institute site that international news needs relevance. â€Å"For many Americans, what happens in the Middle East, Western Europe, Great Britain, Afghanistan, the Indian sub-continent, and the rest of North America now is a subject of great interest,† she said. â€Å"Similarly, events in the United States that are related to the U.S.-led ‘War on Terrorism’ take on greater importance.† The Columbia Journalism Review of November/December 1997 ran a story entitled â€Å"Reporting Foreign News: Who Gives a Damn?† Author James F. Hoge, Jr. wrote that except for the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989-90, the coverage of international news in American media had steadily declined since the late seventies, when the cold war lost its sense of imminent danger. The reason: A world less threatening to America is less newsy, he reported. Or as one TV executive said, â€Å"sunshine is a weather report, a raging storm is news.† Journalists have also ignored historians, wrote Charles Bowen in Editor & Publisher. He pointed to a new history-rich website called History News Network (www.historynewsnetwork.org) as a potentially powerful resource, providing linked headlines to its latest analyses. Shouldn’t the Arab World have something similar to serve its purposes? George Krimsky, a veteran foreign correspondent and editor with the Associated Press, who now has a consulting firm, co-authored a very useful book called â€Å"Bringing the World Home: Showing Readers Their Global Connections.† It’s an invaluable resource for Americans who don’t see a link between their own back yards and the universe at large. Arabs can help by finding links between what interests Americans and their own region. It just requires homework, research, and perseverance. Several organizations award journalists for the work they do and risks they take to inform us about what’s happening in the world, or even in our own neighborhoods. We should support these awards and create worthy prizes. I was heartened to learn that the conference of Arab news agencies’ federation which met in Doha in December recommended the establishment of the federation’s own internet site in English and Arabic and another site to counter the negative image portrayed in the perceived campaign against Arabs and Muslims. I would still like to see more references made to women’s participation in that effort and mention of how the image of women in the Arab world can be presented in a positive light, not via stereotypes. â€Å"Empowering Arab & Muslim women is the key to eradicating terrorism at its source† was the headline of an article by Lebanese journalist Saad Mehio in The Daily Star Dec. 12, 2001. 4. RECOMMENDATIONS: With all that in mind, here are my recommendations for positive change: Women journalists should have facts ready at their fingertips, ask intelligent questions, be persistent without being obnoxious, show inconsistencies in what’s being said and done, document everything, and be thorough. Arab women journalists need to learn American English fast and tune in to the nuances of official Washington before presuming to know how to cover the White House, State Department, Pentagon, Capitol Hill, etc. They also need to understand the intricacies of international finance and lending institutions if they’re to cover the World Bank and IMF. They should be well versed in the language of international relations, treaties, history, geography, etc., before tackling the U.N. and its agencies. There’s a lot of legwork involved. Have female economists available to speak on western business shows about their economic concerns and the common ground that exists between people from the Arab world and other parts of the world. It would strike a responsive chord. Have female engineers or physicists or doctors or lawyers available to appear on TV shows, radio programs, in print, etc., to explain how things work in Arab or Muslim countries. They would probably find more in common with their sisters in the west than differences. Above all, have articulate journalists and media experts available to answer questions about the media and other issues of concern across the cultural divide. Hollywood has enlisted former heavyweight boxing champ Mohammad Ali to help America’s campaign abroad to show that the war it’s launched isn’t against Islam or the Arabs, but against terrorism. Why can’t the Arabs enlist Omar Sharif and women stars who speak English well to do the same and address the western world to talk about the riches of the Arab world and Islam, and even Christianity in Arab countries? One thing we’ve failed to do well is addressing the hinterlands in America and Western Europe. It’s never too late to do that but definitely requires time, money and effort. How about mobilizing our women politicians to go out to De Moines, Iowa; Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Athens, Ohio; Columbia, Missouri? Set them up to talk to women’s clubs, get on women’s talk shows and programs, even religious programs and talk about how their beliefs are similar to those of the women in the small towns and cities. We need to have a handbook of Arab-American legislators, Arabs who’ve made it in business and science, the media, etc. Have biographies of them and summaries on how the political system in the US works at the city, state and federal levels. Some of these things are already available through Arab-American organizations, but need to be made available to us in simplified form. It’s not just a matter of buying our way into the media and politics. It’s more a matter of working our way through the system, by first understanding it. We can’t claim expertise in the field. There’s still much to learn. We should have media directories and handbooks of Arab experts available for correspondents who visit us or live in our countries. Make them clear, concise and user friendly. Update them regularly, make sure they’re properly edited and printed on good paper and are attractive online. It’s the details that count and lend to one’s credibility. No matter how powerful or rich a mass medium, it cannot succeed if it does not offer accurate and unbiased information. We may present glossy pictures but if the text is bad, the whole story goes out the window. How do we contact the media? How do we write a letter to the editor or an op-ed column? Here are a few suggestions from the Arab American Institute in Washington, which also provides links to media sources. We can follow the guidelines and create our own local/regional version: 1. Be timely. Respond while the issue is still fresh in the minds of journalists and their audiences. Send your letter no later than a week after the article appears in print or is broadcast. 2. Be direct. The opening paragraph should contain your main point. You want the reader to be able to quickly identify your message. 3. Be concise. Your letter’s length will affect its chances of being published. Most publications will not print more than three short paragraphs. 4. Use words that convey a firm and resolute stance. If you’re writing a letter critical of news coverage, use adjectives such as distorted, inaccurate, out-of-context, one-sided, skewed. If you are complementing an article or editorial, make sure you note its fairness, balance and/or thoroughness. 5. Stay cool. Hostile or overly emotional language in your letter will hurt your chances rather than help them. Stating your case in a convincing fashion is the most important criterion for getting published. 6. Spread the word. Don’t just send your letter to the editor. You can maximize its impact if you send a copy to other people responsible for the article, such as the reporter, foreign editor or syndicated columnist, as well as those mentioned in the article, such as a congress member or public official. 7. Claim credit. Before publishing a letter, most papers will call to verify that you wrote it. Make sure you include your full name, title, address and daytime phone number in the letter. 8. Follow up. Inquire about the status of your letter with a phone call or letter. If you submit a letter in the future, the editor may remember you and give you more immediate consideration. In December, CNN and MTV – two cable networks launched in the 1980s with different ownerships and audiences – teamed up to offer viewers of both networks a series of reports on young people in Afghanistan. What an interesting experiment! Why can’t we have something similar with young women from a youth-oriented Arab station reporting on the plight of Palestinian women under siege, young people in Iraq, students in Sudan, or women farmers in southern Lebanon? In fact, I would propose creating an online news service for children, run by children – let’s say ages 8-18 – under the guidance of adults. Its young reporters can reach out to others around the world and share their concerns and fears about the planet they all share. Another place I’ve loved to visit in the past few years has been something called the Newseum (or news museum) outside Washington. It’s a magnet for anyone interested in news. We could easily have something like that in Lebanon, for example, dedicated to the news business, with exhibits in at least three languages and user-friendly, computer-generated, interactive displays. We must learn to network more effectively and develop media literacy programs for children and adults. A specialized media group defines media literacy as a four-step â€Å"inquiry† process of Awareness†¦Analysis†¦Reflection†¦Action. There’s a lot that can be done online to reach a far greater audience than traditional media. One woman in New York called Amira Quraishi with a group of friends launched a non-profit organization called Muslims Against Terrorism and started a website. According to Wired News Online, they began with a spare website that tracked hate crimes and cited key passages from the Koran that call for peace, justice and tolerance. Within three weeks, the site had slick Flash graphics, a press kit, links to other good resources, links to the group’s listserv and contact information for members. One of our shortcomings has been that we’re always reactive, not proactive. We need to change that. We should provide speakers, information, access, courtesy, and much more, in real time. We should learn to make friends with reporters and editors – not with the idea of buying them, but with being good sources of reliable information to them. It’s an easy task that should be taken seriously. We should learn to respect time and deadlines. We need to have long-term vision. Our editorials should be rational discourses, not irrational outbursts. If we’re going to set up more satellite stations to address western public opinion, let them not be carbon copies of what we already have. We need original content to face today’s challenges. We need in-depth coverage of issues that concern our people and that have common threads with others worldwide. Let’s be creative about it. We’re catching up in the use of technology, but shouldn’t bar access to its various manifestations. Blocking websites won’t do it. It’ll only make people want to try harder to reach the unreachable. We have too many armchair analysts. In Beirut, dozens of famous writers sit in cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s and expound on matters about Lebanon and the world. They don’t travel extensively, they don’t mix with all manner of people, and they don’t even read English well enough to decipher American or British media. And yet they get paid for that. It’s a disgrace. They should be dethroned. Analysis and good writing aren’t done by remote control. They require involvement, getting down to the grassroots, digging for facts, and constantly communicating with people from all walks of life. We in the Arab world should also learn to handle bad news. In the West they create crisis centers to handle the flow of information in an emergency. We tend to cover up things. Why? We’d be more credible if we shared what we knew in a sober and rational way to help all those concerned, including ourselves. People will continue to stereotype Arabs and Muslims so long as Arabs and Muslims don’t present their case in an effective way, away from stuffy official statements that most people don’t believe anyway. We need substance. It’s our job to change the negative image we have abroad. We have to bridge the cultural and media divide. Provocation won’t get us anywhere. Communication will. To improve our image we need to clean up our own act, reform our methods, abide by media ethics, follow guidelines of good journalistic practice, promote transparency in our work, capitalize on our human assets, promote more women in the media to fill higher positions and provide balanced leadership. We need to coordinate better and should learn to share information among each other in a cooperative spirit. â€Å"Keep it simple and don’t assume anything† are two basic rules I used to teach my journalism students. They’re universal. Finally, always keep children in mind when creating a message. They’re the most impressionable and valuable audience we have and they’ll grow up to become tomorrow’s leaders.