INTRODUCTION from Edward Said's ' Orientalism' Essay

INTRODUCTION from Edward Said's ' Orientalism' - Essay Example The first one centers around the idea that the term ‘Orient’ refers not to the truth of the region, but rather to an idea that has been developed in the minds of Europeans. Although not based on actual truth, this concept is naturally present in the European culture in the form of academic and other social institutions, the established vocabulary, the imagery utilized and the colonial styles. Secondly, ‘the Orient’ has been established as the Other, allowing the Europeans to define themselves as a colonizing country against the inferior culture they had themselves defined. Finally, building off of the ideas proposed by Michel Foucault, these distinctions made between Orient and Occident as well as the vocabulary, imagery and other sanctioned discussion and instruction regarding it, has confined the Orient, making it impossible for Europeans to consider the Orient without finding it necessary to first actively combat these limitations on thought or action. His main argument in the introduction, however, is to prove that the means by which he goes about proving the above statements are valid and meaningful in this context. He first sets about to prove that there is no such thing as pure knowledge because â€Å"no one has ever devised a method for detaching the scholar from the circumstances of life, from the fact of his involvement (conscious or unconscious) with a class, a set of beliefs, a social position, or from the mere activity of being a member of a society.†2 Because the concept of Orientalism is such an ingrained concept in the minds of the Western world, Said argues that it is impossible for a Western writer, regardless of genre or intent, to approach the topic from the perspective of an individual without first coming upon the topic as a Westerner. One of the modern means of interpreting a text involves the process of Deconstruction, a

Population Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Population - Essay Example In spite of this transition the total population of the country in stage IV is found to be much higher. It will be interesting to understand each stages of growth i.e. stage I through stage IV for understanding how the population eventually stabilizes (World Population: Growth & Trends). This is the stage when birth rates and death rates are high and even then there is no population growth. High birth rate is due to high fertility rate or no use of contraceptives. Similarly, high death rate during the stage is attributable to the deaths occurring from the deadly diseases such as plague, cholera, typhoid as medical science was not developed enough to provide required protection. This is a preindustrial stage when living conditions are not favorable. Infant mortality goes down due to improved health conditions that in turn, bring down the death rate; however, the birth rates still remains high keeping the population growth rate at high levels. This is also known as the transitional stage and most of the developing world is found in this stage. The country develops economically and the people start using contraceptives that controls the birth rates significantly. Population growth rate in this stage falls down significantly. Most of the developed world and a few developing countries can be found here. From the equation above, it is amply clear that if the death rate equals birth rate, there will be no growth in population of the country. In other words, if the death rate declines, the birth rate must decline by the same rate for the population to achieve stabilization. With the advances in medical sciences; better nutrition, enhanced sanitation and clean water, the death rates have declined substantially in last several decades; however, the birth rates have not kept pace with the death rates resulting into positive population