Imperialism and Racism in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness

Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness attracts a particularly harsh brand of criticism for its allegedly racist depictions of African blacks in the Congo at the turn of the 20th century.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Imperialism and Racism in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Certain critics, including Lennard J. Davis, consider removing the novel from the literary teaching canon, because of the â€Å"sadness and weariness† it evokes in students of color, who wonder â€Å"why this book [is] assigned so often†¦when it so clearly depicted Africans as nameless, faceless, miserable people without any individual identities† (Davis B9). The students of color are of course, quite correct. Heart of Darkness remains a wholly racist account of a wholly racist endeavor – the wholesale pillaging of Africa’s natural resources, under the aus pices of civilization. For the purposes of this paper, the racist nugget at the core of Heart of Darkness will be neither argued nor defended. Instead, let us look at the broader picture to which Heart of Darkness alludes: the reality that racism and imperialism are one in the same. In fact, imperialism cannot succeed without racism. Racism represents the psychological and emotional state necessary for imperialism, specifically imperialist commerce, to function effectively. Let us begin with the novel. Conrad’s protagonist Marlow represents the point of view of his time and of his trade. He views most Africans with contempt, as shown here: â€Å"An athletic black belonging to some coast tribe†¦was the helmsman. He sported a pair of brass earrings, wore a blue cloth wrapper from the waist to the ankles, and thought all the world of himself. He was the most unstable kind of fool I had ever seen† (Conrad 59). Marlow’s derisive language, particularly the use of the words â€Å"some† and â€Å"fool,† successfully denigrates the helmsman to a lower status.Advertising Looking for research paper on british literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Similarly, Conrad continually dehumanizes the Africans in Heart of Darkness. The novel bursts with numerous descriptions likening Marlow’s crew, and those tribe members he meets along the river, to animals and insects, as evidenced herein: â€Å"That fool helmsman†¦was lifting his knees high, stamping his feet, champing his mouth, like a reined-in horse† (Conrad 60). When happening upon a village of Africans on the river, Marlow describes the settlement thus: â€Å"A lot of people, mostly black and naked, moved about like ants† (Conrad 18). Marlow’s racist attitude also appears in his continued speculation as to who the Africans are, and how their culture evolved, while simultaneously displaying complete dismissiveness and contempt for their culture as a whole. An example of this occurs when Marlow meets the cannibals, and observes that â€Å"I don’t think a single one of them had any clear idea of time, as we at the end of countless ages have. They still belonged to the beginnings of time – had no inherited experience to teach them as it were† (Conrad 54). Marlow is curious about the Africans; if he were truly indifferent to them, he would not bother to describe them at all. However, he is too afraid to approach them as human beings, so instead he makes unfounded assumptions about their psychology and cultural experience, with the requisite bite of disdain integral to all racist psychology. Critics appear divided on the subject of racism in Heart of Darkness. The sticking point seems to be the question, is a racist work of art still valuable as art, or does its racism render its artistic value null and void?Advertising We will write a custom rese arch paper sample on Imperialism and Racism in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Those who argue for the aesthetic import of the novel do so passionately. Firchow believes Heart of Darkness â€Å"is a work of art and not a sociological treatise, for it is only in relation to its aesthetic significance that we can establish what its real social and intellectual-historical meaning is†¦ It is, after all, not primarily because of its concern with racism and imperialism but because of its great aesthetic power that it remains†¦one of the chief focal points of critical controversy and debate in the fields of literary theory and literary criticism† (Firchow x). Others, such as Mongia, assert that the racist accusation â€Å"reduces the complexity of Conrad’s novel by [a] mean-minded appraisal of its construction of race† (Mongia 155). Acheraiou reminds us that the charact er of Marlow is just that: a character; human, fallible, and responsible for his own prejudices. In Acheraiou’s mind, â€Å"the ambiguity mentioned in†¦Heart of Darkness†¦does not†¦encourage or discourage the readers from identifying with the protagonist, but leaves them to their own devices, free to interpret the texts in keeping with their own aesthetic, political, and ideological demands† (Acheraiou 287). Davis, though sensitive to the pain that Heart of Darkness causes students of color, defends its educational value precisely because of its racist and sexist attitudes. He lauds â€Å"the book’s anti-imperialist theme†¦a stinging indictment of the callous and genocidal treatment of the Africans, and other nationals, at the hands of the British and the European imperial powers,† and also details the feminist reading pertinent to the novel, wherein â€Å"the work turned into an indictment of a male world that kept women in the dark about the nefarious practices performed to â€Å"improve† their lives† (Davis B10).Advertising Looking for research paper on british literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More By far the most vehement and now infamous critical denunciation of Heart of Darkness transpired in 1977. Nigerian critic Chinua Achebe articulated that Joseph Conrad was â€Å"a thoroughgoing racist,† and roundly accused the critical community at the time of harboring racist attitudes also. â€Å"That this simple truth is glossed over in criticisms of his work is due to the fact that white racism against Africa is such a normal way of thinking that its manifestations go completely unremarked† (Achebe 5). Conrad’s imperialist critique neither impressed nor convinced Achebe. In his mind, â€Å"Heart of Darkness projects the image of Africa as â€Å"the other world,† the antithesis of Europe and therefore of civilization, a place where man’s vaunted intelligence and refinement are finally mocked by triumphant beastiality† (Achebe 2). To the critics who maintain that Conrad’s character Marlow is a construction, and not an extension of the author, Achebe offers a concise and wry rebuttal. â€Å"Certainly Conrad appears to go to considerable pains to set up layers of insulation between himself and the moral universe of his history. He has, for example, a narrator behind a narrator. The primary narrator is Marlow but his account is given to us through the filter of a second, shadowy person. But if Conrad’s intention is to draw a cordon sanitaire between himself and the moral and psychological malaise of his narrator†¦he neglects to hint however subtly or tentatively at an alternative frame of reference by which we may judge the actions and opinions of his characters. It would not have been beyond Conrad’s power to make that provision if he had thought it necessary. Marlow seems to me to enjoy Conrad’s complete confidence† (Achebe 4). Achebe’s polemic understands Heart of Darkness as proof of the fear inherent to all Europeans – the shared genetic human history between them selves and Africans. â€Å"Conrad, careful as ever with his words, is concerned not so much about distant kinship as about someone laying a claim on it. The black man lays a claim on the white man which is well-nigh intolerable. It is the laying of this claim which frightens and at the same time fascinates Conrad, â€Å"†¦ the thought of their humanity — like yours†¦. Ugly.† (Achebe 5). Achebe’s essay has built a solid critical foundation over the years, and now stands as the most firm and unassailable dismissal of Heart of Darkness as an unsalvageable document of unmitigated racism. Conrad’s intention with Heart of Darkness, according to Raskin, was â€Å"a criticism of colonialists in Africa† (Raskin 113). Conrad wrote the novel to indict the imperialist practices he witnessed in his own time. â€Å"Conrad’s own conception of his tale should not be overlooked. The idea of the novella, he told his publisher in 1899, was the â₠¬Ëœcriminality of inefficiency and pure selfishness when tackling the civilizing work in Africa’† (Raskin 113). Certainly, passages in the novel support Raskin’s assertion. Marlow, although dismissive of the Africans, is equally dismissive of their colonizers: â€Å"as long as there was a piece of paper written over in accordance with some farcical law or other made down the river, it didn’t enter anybody’s head to trouble how they would live† (Conrad 54). Hawkins further delineates the stance taken by Conrad as being somewhat impenetrable to modern audiences because the meaning of the word imperialism has changed since Conrad’s time. â€Å"Because we use the single word â€Å"imperial-ism,† we tend to think that the phenomenon was essentially the same in all areas, varying only according to such subjective factors as the culture and the benevolence of the mother country†¦ Important discriminations should be made in terms of imperial aims, systems of administration, degrees of exploitation, and even types of exploitation†¦influenced by particular material circumstances in both the colonies and the mother countries† (Hawkins 288). Conrad’s criticism, which he leveled at the British government at the time, via the novel, contained â€Å"two explicit criteria† according to Hawkins, â€Å"efficiency and the â€Å"idea†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦to judge imperialism† (Hawkins 288). Conrad chose these criteria â€Å"because they were widely held in England at the time and were well suited to condemning the type of imperialism practiced in the Congo. Conrad was not necessarily trying to ingratiate himself with the British†¦Rather, in the political aspect of the story, he was making an appeal to the values of his audience so that they might censure the atrocities in the Congo† (Hawkins 288). At this point in the essay, let us consider again, the bigger picture. Critical respons e to Heart of Darkness misses one crucial point: racism and imperialism are actually two sides of the same coin. Imperialism cannot work without racism. Why is this? Racism represents the psychological and emotional state that allows imperialism, specifically imperialist commerce, to function effectively. Consider the core activity of an imperialist culture: thievery. The Belgians of Conrad’s time were products of a long history of larceny, originating with the colonizing of the Americas by the Spanish and Portuguese governments in the 15th century. The theory behind colonization, namely, expansion of territory, acquisition of wealth, and the procurement of natural resources often scarce or prohibitively expensive in the mother land, enters a very dark manifestation when put into practice. Typically, the colonies in question, rich with natural resources such as Africa, already have inhabitants, and said inhabitants often feel no inclination to give up, or even share, their re sources. Bloodshed ensues, and the resources are taken by force. However, force costs. It is far more economically sound to convince the inhabitants to part with their resources voluntarily. At this point, racism enters the picture. Racism represents the optimal psychological space wherein imperialist larceny can grow and thrive unchecked. Why? There are two reasons: first, the racist colonizers, those of Marlow’s ilk, do not regard the objects of their racism as human beings. Similar to Marlow’s observations in Heart of Darkness, racism creates a distance between the colonizer and the colonized: the colonizer views the colonized as animalistic, savage, sub-human, and backward. This attitude appears many times in Heart of Darkness, for example, here: â€Å"glancing down, I saw a face near my hand. The black bones reclined at full length with one shoulder against the tree, and slowly the eyelids rose and the sunken eyes looked up at me, enormous and vacant, a kind of b lind, white flicker in the depths of the orbs, which died out slowly. The man seemed young – almost a boy – but you know with them it’s hard to tell† (Conrad 21). Marlow names the â€Å"black bones† as a man, or a boy, but maintains the dehumanizing language as he remarks â€Å"with them it’s hard to tell† (Conrad 21). The dehumanizing language indicative of racism ensures that all of the emotions that could feasibly interfere with imperialist pursuits, including conscience, empathy, and regret, are rendered inactive, because the colonizer does not ever recognize the colonized as his human brother. The second reason why racism must be in place in order for imperialism to function is much more subtle, but infinitely powerful. Racism, over the long term, has a psychological effect on the objects of racism. Simply put, the colonized begin to believe the colonizers. The colonized begin to view themselves as somehow less than the colonizers , often for the simple reason that they can’t seem to beat them, or make them go away. Racism eats away at the self-worth of the colonized peoples, and as often happens with colonized peoples, the core elements of their culture – the rituals, language, and symbols they associate with their self image and self worth – vanish, or become co-opted by the colonizers. The result is a loss of the grounding influences of culture and language, and further vulnerability to the self-esteem eroding judgment of the colonizers. As we see in Heart of Darkness, racism and imperialism pave the way for each other. Imperialism exists as long as racism continues. Marlow’s racism shows itself as a distance that persists between himself and the Africans, even the Africans he ends up caring about, such as his dead helmsman. Even as he describes his grief, Marlow’s racism limits the full expression of his emotion. â€Å"I missed my late helmsman awfully – I missed him even while his body was still lying in the pilot house. Perhaps you will think it passing strange this regret for a savage who was no more account than a grain of sand in a black Sahara. Well, you don’t see†¦for months I had him at my back – a help – an instrument†¦I had to look after him†¦and thus a subtle bond had been created, of which I only became aware when it was suddenly broken† (Conrad 68). Despite the emotion clearly tugging at Marlow in this passage, the dehumanizing impact of racism pulls stronger, and remains in control. Marlow is simply unable to relate to the helmsman as a human man. He must content himself with grieving the loss of his â€Å"instrument† (Conrad 68). Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness provides insight into the dark and pervasive legacy of racism and imperialism. For imperialism to maintain its hold on cultures, peoples, governments, and the economy, racism provides the necessary psychological and emotional condition that perpetuates a disordered view of colonized peoples as evolutionarily subordinate, savage, and sub-human. The dehumanizing effect of racism supports the growth and domination of imperialism. Works Cited Achebe, Chinua. â€Å"An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Hopes and Impediments.† In Selected Essays, 1765-1987. Oxford: Heinemann, 1988.1-13. Acheraiou, Amar. â€Å"Nicholas Harrison. Postcolonial Criticism: History, Theory and the Work of Fiction.† Conradiana 38.3 (2006): 283-289. Web.. Conrad, Joseph. The Heart of Darkness. Charleston, SC: Forgotten Books, 1925. Print. Davis, Lennard J. â€Å"The value of teaching from a racist classic.(Heart of Darkness).† The Chronicle of Higher Education 52.37 (2006): B9-B10. Web.. Firchow, Peter Edgerly. Envisioning Africa: Racism and Imperialism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Lexington: Kentucky UP, 1999. Print. Hawkins, Hunt. â€Å"Conrad’s Critique of Imperialism in Heart of Darkness.† PMLA, 94. 2 (1979): 286-299. Web.. Mongia, Padmini. â€Å"The Rescue: Conrad, Achebe, and the Critics.† Conradiana 33.2 (2001): 153-163. Web.. Raskin, Jonah. â€Å"Imperialism: Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.† The Journal of Contemporary History 2.2 (1967): 113-31. Web. This research paper on Imperialism and Racism in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness was written and submitted by user Reese Puckett to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

“Ballad of Birmingham Essays

â€Å"Ballad of Birmingham Essays â€Å"Ballad of Birmingham Paper â€Å"Ballad of Birmingham Paper â€Å"Ballad of Birmingham† No, baby, no you may not go. We’ve all probably heard this once in our life times. Our moms always think they know best and they always say the decisions they make are for our own good. In some cases that’s true but in others it isn’t. In the â€Å"Ballad of Birmingham† by Dudley Randal it’s what the mother tried to protect her daughter but it wasn’t what she was expecting. It actually turned out to be a whole different story. This poem has a strong tone to it; it also has a very strong theme and a good variety of figurative language. The poem has a very happy tone to it at the beginning. The child says â€Å"Mother Dear, may I go downtown instead of out to play, and march the streets of Birmingham in a freedom march today? †(Lines 1-4) Obviously her daughter wants to do something her mother doesn’t approve of her doing. So her mother say â€Å"No, baby, no you may not go† (Line 5) She thinks that it’s a bad idea for a little child going downtown. So that’s when a little argument start not big but her mom say no and rather she goes to church. After she dresses her up the poem turns into a tragedy because when her mother left she had a smile and it was the last smile she would have in her face. Sadly there was a terrible explosion. The theme of this poem is you can’t always boast about things that are going to happen because you never know what can change in a heartbeat. It’s also about things that can change your life for ever. The mother thinks that downtown is not a place for her child. She says â€Å"No, baby, no you may not go. For I fear those guns will fire. But you may go to church instead and sing in the children’s choir† (Lines 13-16) Thinking its safe for her child she sends her to church and leaves with a smile but returns with a frown and tears coming down her face. She than sees her child’s white shoe she had worn but never say her child. The figurative language in this poem is strange but logical. For example â€Å"For the dogs are fierce and wild, and clubs and hoses, guns and jails aren’t good for a little child† (Lines 6-8) she means that there is thief’s and it’s really dangerous for kids to be walking around freely. It also gives the thought that there might be wild dogs loose and they are fierce towards people. Also when she mentions jails and guns there might be a conflict with people and a lot of crime for the jails. So it’s pretty understandable why she insist her child goes to church. Also (Line 10-12) â€Å"Other children will go with me, and march the streets of Birmingham to make our country free. † It sound like there is a conflict between migrations and being free. That is motivating kids to support it. Those are my main analyzing points of this poem. The change of the tone, the theme and the figurative language. This is why when we do things its best to think it over twice and look at from different points of views. Every action has its consequences. So that’s why you think things truly.

Asnwer the qutions for articel reading Assignment - 2

Asnwer the qutions for articel reading - Assignment Example They used indicators such as the rate of child death and the competition that children have in schools in assessing the extent to which the countries are achieving particular economic and social rights (Fukuda-Parr, Randolph and Lawson-Remer 4-48). They found out that increasing the amount of public spending, use of public policies and programs that are effective towards improving social and economic rights should be encouraged. They found out that in low-income countries, the donors should increase the amount of the financial aids they give, therefore, enabling those countries in financing those policies and programs that influence their realization. The problem with their estimation approach is that they only focused on the fulfillment of human rights and neglected the levels to which the rights are violated. They failed to capture and integrate some aspects of human rights that are being violated, such as high levels of discrimination, lack of transparency and freedom of participation. Some of the indices they used in their estimation failed to look at the right to health hence giving poor performances towards measuring the economic and social rights. Constitutional rules have always been acting as the devices towards ensuring that that there are greater provisions and commitments in the various aspects of the human life. However, some constitutions are interpreted and enforced differently to others while others undergo writings and publications and constructions have the image of an enforceable law. They used empirical studies in finding out the effects of constitutionalizing the rights. Here they tend to find the magnitude of the effects on following the constitution on both the economic and political basis. They compare the amount of spending in those governments that follow the constitution to the letter

Personal Statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 9

Personal Statement - Essay Example I have already proven the practical nature of my endeavors by transforming my graduation project into my own business empire. I particularly need this scholarship opportunity to reflect my intelligence and ability as a future scientist because my Math grades in the school have not been favorable. Despite being inherently good at Math, my grades were jeopardized by an inexperienced and unqualified Math teacher. I want something as weighty and reliable as this scholarship opportunity to counter the effect of my Math grades and advocate my intelligence and capability before my employers on my behalf. Our industry’s emphasis on Mathematically competent workforce is increasing as the work processes are becoming increasingly technological and innovative. Therefore, I intend to specialize in Mathematics after graduation and having secured a scholarship in the past will optimize my tendency to secure more scholarships in the future. This scholarship will give me the thrust to reach my dream destination in the long

Developing a teaching plan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Developing a teaching plan - Research Paper Example The nurse practitioner model creates enhanced patient-nurse relationships, which provide both self-care education and cancelling within the context of disease state management. The nurse teacher for a diabetic person needs to assess the patient’s needs, predict the expected outcomes from the teaching, and develop intervention plans based on a suitable nursing theory. Patient Assessment Albert Boyle is a 69-year-old man with five-year history of type 2 diabetes (Spollett, 2003). The doctors diagnosed Joseph’s condition in the year 1997. Two years prior to diabetes type 2 diagnoses, Albert Boyle had symptoms indicating hyperglycemia. Albert’s fasting blood glucose ranged between 118-127 mg/dl (Spollett, 2003). The doctors advised Albert to lose at least 10 lb of his weight, but he did not take any action. The family physician referred Albert Boyle the diabetes specialty clinic where he reported recent weight gain, foot pain, and suboptimal diabetes control. Albertà ¢â‚¬â„¢s attempts to lose weight through increased exercises were not successful. Albert takes 10 mg of atorvastatin daily for hypercholesterolemia (Spollett, 2003). He took gymnema sylvestre, pancrease elixir and chromium picolinate with an attempt to improve his diabetic condition; however, he stopped these supplements because he did not see any improvements (Spollett, 2003). Albert Boyle does not test the levels of his blood glucose at home because he does not belief that this condition would help him improve his diabetes control. Albert questions the benefits of knowing the numbers since after all the doctor is already aware that the sugar level is high. Albert Boyle does not have knowledge of diabetes self-care management, and expresses that he is worried about what causes his diabetic condition since he does not eat sugar. Albert has been physically active by playing golf once in a week and gardening; however, he has reduced more than 3 lb of weight (Spollett, 2003). Albert ha s neither consulted a dietician nor been instructed in self-monitoring of blood glucose. Defining Characteristics Albert Boyle has a misconception about the approaches to improve his health status. He does not believe that knowing his health status can help him manage his diabetes control. Albert argues that there is no need of him of knowing his blood-sugar level; he claims that the doctors already know that the level of sugar in his body is high. Another characteristic of Albert Boyle is that he does not demonstrate self-care skills concerning his diabetic controls. Albert is not aware of the critical skills that are required to control his blood sugar. Albert does not believe that he is diabetic. This is evidenced by the fact that he questions the source of the condition, and he does not eat sugar. Albert is ignorant that direct intake of sugar does not cause diabetes. Diabetes results from two factors: when the pancreas fails to produce insulin, and when the cells fail to respon d to the insulin that is produced (Boswell, 2007). This leads to accumulation of blood sugar in the body. Related Factors Patients with diabetic conditions have extremely comprehensive learning needs. The diabetic patients’ needs focus on informing them proper measures of managing their sugar levels and preventing their diabetic condition

Types of Demonstrative Evidence

Types of Demonstrative Evidence Demonstrative evidence illustrates the witnesss testimony. Illustrations include: maps, diagrams of the initial crime scene, charts and/or graphs the injuries to the plaintiff. Injuries could be defined as physical or financial. These are used at trial by both the plaintiff and the opposing council. (Real and Demonstrative Evidence) There are different types of evidence and in this writing I will discuss eight specific types of demonstrative evidence. Photos are considered to be demonstrative evidence that is shown during trial. I know you might have heard the saying A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words, well that is fairly true. Photos can prove that a person was at the scene of the crime, and it could also show the offender acting out the crime they are being charged for. In todays society everyone has their phone at the ready; just waiting for something to happen. This goes into my next demonstrative evidence; video. (Leesfield Scolaro, P.A.) I did mention everyone having their smart phone ready, well majority of the time people starting recording incidents either when the confrontation begins or when physical harm to another person has begun. In my own opinion sometimes video footage just isnt enough to bring charges against a person. Ive seen several police officers that have gotten away with their behavior towards persons in a community. They may have gotten a written remark in their records or even administrative paid leave, but some have not been brought on guilty charges. Sound recordings are another example of demonstrative evidence, and Ive seen this being used a lot in the earlier days. What I have seen is that a lot of undercover personnel use hidden wires to get the other person to admit to a crime that was committed. This can be used as evidence to get someone put into prison. Drawings are another form of demonstrative evidence. I would prefer to use sketches as way to describe the kind of drawing being used. A lot of victims are able to describe the offender to law enforcement to get a visual on the person that committed the crime against them. Usually they can use the sketch with the facial recognition software and try to get a match in their facial database. Diagrams or maps are known as demonstrative evidence. These are used in some cases to show the jury or witnesses to simply the explanation of where scene of the crime happened. Maps should be clear and focused to ensure that the information you are trying to display to the targeted audience is understandable. (Publishing, 2014.) Simulations as demonstrative evidence can be known to not be as clear compared to an actual witnesss testimony. Along with the other demonstrative evidence, it is hard to replicate what actually happened in that moment. We have come a long way with technology and we have a lot of experts that are able to replicate some of the things so that when it is presented to the court as a visual, then the court can get an understanding of what happened. My eight demonstrative evidence would be that the jury is presented with forensic animation. Which is an audio-visual reconstruction of the incident that is being brought to trial. This form of evidence is being used more often in our courtrooms because it provides detailed information for the court so they can get a very clear understanding on what happened. Authentication of evidence is done before evidence is admitted to the court. It means that the party that wants to present the evidence during trial must state what the document is what it claims to be. This does not mean that the document will be sufficient enough to prove the offender being innocent or guilty. Authentication will also prevent the party from fraudulently creating the document. Authentication of the evidence and the relevance of the evidence are related because once the authentication of the document is complete and it is admitted to the court, then the opposing party needs to see that what is in the authenticated evidence is either true or false. Is this proof relevant to the case or not? (2012) There are several steps to authenticate evidence. Decide, When, Mark, Show, Identify, Introduce and Argue. The party needs to decide if the document they want to admit as evidence is what they say it is. You need to mark the document stating what it is; i.e., Exhibit A is the orange shirt the offender was wearing. You need to show the evidence to the parties staying that this will be the evidence being presented to the court. Introduce the evidence to the jury and of course the opposing party will try and argue that the evidence being presented is not accurate. Certain items like pictures, computer printouts and maps can be authenticated. For computer printouts can have a lot of information; this can come from their personal computer or other electronic devices like the persons cell phone. The person who found the digital information will have to testify during trial. Stating what was found and to state what was showing is what the evidence claims to be. With photographic evidence, before it is admitted as evidence it needs to show the actual scene of the incident. Meaning that it must be relevant, clear and not distorted. Evidence being admitted that is of a map or diagram; the attorney needs to be very clear when presenting it to the jury. If they have the witness point to the map or diagram and they have to state the jury what they are pointing at, and then of course you would need to show the jury so they can get a better understanding. (Larocca, 1975) Chain of custody if very important when handing evidence. It is a written record of all of the individuals who have maintained unbroken control of the items that are considered evidence for the case. It shows that if it remains unbroken, that the evidence taken from the crime scene, will be the same evidence presented to the court. It is very important because this can ensure that the prosecutor put away the correct suspect that committed the crime. If the chain of custody was broken, the evidence will be dismissed from the court and that can also get the case dismissed. References Real and Demonstrative Evidence. (n.d.). Retrieved March 01, 2017, from http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-procedure/real-and-demonstrative-evidence.html Leesfield, I. (n.d.). Leesfield Scolaro, P.A. Retrieved March 01, 2017, from https://www.leesfield.com/effective-use-of-demonstrative-evidence.html Publishing, J. (2014, November 07). Using Charts, Diagrams, Graphs, and Maps in the Courtroom. Retrieved March 01, 2017, from http://jamespublishing.com/2014/using-charts-diagrams-graphs-maps-courtroom/ (2012, November 7). Retrieved March 01, 2017, from http://federalevidence.com/blog/2012/july/foundation-admitting-documents-authentication-and-relevance Larocca, N., Jr. (1975). Authentication, Identification, and the Best Evidence Rule,36(1), 1-30. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4140context=lalrev

Eagle Poem Essay -- Literary Analysis

â€Å"Explication† In the poem by Joy Harjo called â€Å"Eagle Poem,† Harjo talks about prayer and life and how they revolve around mother-nature. She suggests that while being one with nature, we feel we are in a place in which we haven’t imagined and the things in which we would love to do in that magnificent and calming place. After one reads the poem, he/she enjoys the lyrical type of it. This is because â€Å"Eagle Poem† sticks to one idea and extends it throughout the entire poem. For instance, it talks about prayer, nature, and animals from start to finish. In the first three lines of the poem, Harjo talks about opening oneself up to nature where you feel yourself. She does this by connecting the human body to the sky, earth, sun, and moon. The next six lines talk about the concepts and aspects during prayer and how you are in a whole other place. In these first nine lines, Harjo uses repetition with prayer and shows parallelism with the peacefulness nature and prayer can bring to oneself. Harjo also uses similes in lines ten and twenty two. She compares the circle of life to that of the eagle as well as the eagle to an angle. Joy Harjo did a tremendous job in explaining to the reader that one can relax oneself through prayer and nature. We can all relate to the idea of allowing ourselves into places not yet imagined and feeling at peace. She connects the idea of peacefulness with nature and prayer in a well thought language that allows her to still connect herself to her Native American ancestry. Harjos metaphors and images of nature and prayer are effective in getting her point across as well as making a deeper connection with her Muskogee Creek heritage. Before reading this poem, one might not be too intrigued by its title, but ... ...t really catch the readers’ attention. Although she wasn’t writing in the major eras, she did write in the era where the style of writing was changing. This allowed her to be able to write freely and truly express herself through her words and illusions. Works Cited "Characteristics of Modern Poetry - Poetry - Questions & Answers." ENotes - Literature Study Guides, Lesson Plans, and More. Web. 09 Jan. 2012. . "Eagle Poem." Poetry Out Loud. Web. 28 Nov. 2011. . "HARJO, JOY (1951- )." Oklahoma State University - Library - Home. Web. 04 Jan. 2012. . "Joy Harjo: The Poetry Foundation." Poetry Foundation. Web. 04 Jan. 2012. .