Orientalism A Brief Analysis essays

Orientalism A Brief Analysis essays ...the generic term that I have been employing to describe the Western approach to the Orient; Orientalism is the discipline by which the Orient was (and is) approached systematically, as a topic of learning, discovery and practice. By this, Said is saying because we treated the East like a school subject, we have learned to treat the East as an inferior. Which has developed into something called Orientalism. The poets, authors and statesmen of the nineteenth-century have made Orientalism every thing that it is. They started out with the intent of learning about a civilization of people that was extremely different from ours. Their intentions were academic and nothing more really. Unfortunately, their almost unconscious prejudices and fears of the unknown, led to the slow cultural and then political domination of the place referred to as the Orient. I agree with Said on the matter of knowledge leading to slow domination, but I think he needs to be much clearer on the fact that it was arrived at with good intentions. Our predecessors wanted to understand, unfortunately there were much too eager, and presumptuous. In 1798, Napoleon invaded down through Syria. Although this was one of the first attempts to invade the Orient, two people were ahead of him. Both were scholars from Europe, Antiquetil-Duperron and Abraham-Hyacinthe. These men gave the first images of language, text and civilization to Europe. The started the fascination with the Orient, and Napoleons urge to dominate it. Out of his failed plan to take over Egypt, came more people who wrote about the Orient without experiencing it. Said called these authors textual children. Said also goes on to describe the textual attitude; this mindset believes everything you read. In this case reading about places, and the generalizations made, and believing these simplifications of a rather complex area, to be the concrete truth. This ...

Being True To Yourself When Selling Your Wares

Being True To Yourself When Selling Your Wares I do not normally sell books at events like Christmas sales at the recreation center or autumn craft festivals. I learned a long time ago that unless you simply enjoy socializing with other vendors, you rarely justify the time invested. But last week I accepted one . . . and realized why I quit doing them. Im a member of several chambers of commerce, which are great networking, advertising, and sales opportunities, Hmmm, I thought. Its twelve miles from me, costs nothing to appear and sell, and the captured audience was educators. Shouldnt they read more than the average person? So, I signed up and hauled eight boxes of books. And I sold three books in four hours. As I packed up, kicking myself for not following my own rule about being selective about appearances, I talked to a few vendors. None of us sold much (there were 25 vendors), which surprised us all (few of us will be back next year). A jewelry vendor spoke about coming to work everyday. Even working for herself out of her home, she toils for eight hours. She complained that newer sales people in her line of work wanted to work part-time to make a full-time wage. She never failed to fall back on her old skills of making eye-contact with potential buyers and working a room. She made a full-time living at her craft. A soap vendor and I spoke about natural products, organic food, and farming. She rued appearing at the event but had pretty much made her decision like I had it was too local to pass up. Shed ignored her own advice like I had. She likewise strategically selected venues, and she defined the sizes, compositions, and types of events where shed appear, because like me, she could make more sales online at her computer than at a table in an auditorium. You dont sell anywhere and everywhere. Your time is precious. You could be selling online, blogging, working social media, or writing your next story. When selecting where to set up shop, analyze the market, the time, the commute, and the work progress you give up. The cost of meals, and the time expended