Factors Affecting Health Communication Campaigns

Factors Affecting Health Communication Campaigns A comparison of HIV Aids and Polio Campaigns in Aligargh, Uttar Pradesh Introduction: Last two decades of the century has seen a renewed interest in the field of health communication, disease prevention and health promotion. This was because it was realized that continued investments in clinical health research brings diminishing returns if it is not accompanied with strategic information, education and communication(IEC) efforts. (Pencheon, Guest, Melzer, Gray, 2004) Public and government health departments are rich with tacit knowledge regarding health communication practices and the problems encountered with the population in their geographical area. However this information is rarely collected and written down due to lack of resources. Effective communication can spread knowledge, value and social norms. This can be instrumental in affecting behaviour and improving the over-all health status of the population. India faces a dual challenge in tackling the problem of HIV Aids and Polio. First is the overall high population and poor living conditions of people living in small towns and villages, and second is the complex socio- cultural factors which lead to poor awareness and stigma attached to these diseases. It is important to understand these factors which affect the impact of health communication campaigns in a particular geo-graphical sub system if a comprehensive micro understanding of this field has to be generated. Moreover there always exists a gap between the people who design health communication campaigns and the campaign implementers. An assessment and feed-back from the grass root level implementers needs to be taken if this gap has to be effectively filled. This research hopes to uncover these insights which will be useful not only to the academics but also to the practitioners. Literature review Health Communication: Health communication involves the use of communication strategies by experts in public health domain to influence the health behaviour of people. It is a link between health care practices and communication which has a significant impact on influencing individual and community behaviour towards health and thereby a huge potential to significantly improve their life. (Neil Mckee, 2004) HIV AIDS: The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that infects cells of the immune system, destroying or impairing their function. As the infection progresses, the immune system becomes weaker, and the person becomes more susceptible to infections. The most advanced stage of HIV infection is acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It can take 10-15 years for an HIV-infected person to develop AIDS; antiretroviral drugs can slow down the process even further. HIV is transmitted through unprotected sexual intercourse (anal or vaginal), transfusion of contaminated blood, sharing of contaminated needles, and between a mother and her infant during pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding. Global Case load: HIV Aids In countries most heavily affected, HIV has reduced life expectancy by more than 20 years, slowed economic growth, and deepened household poverty. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, the epidemic has orphaned nearly 12 million children aged less than 18 years. The natural age distribution in many national populations in sub-Saharan Africa has been dramatically skewed by HIV, with potentially perilous consequences for the transfer of knowledge and values from one generation to the next. In Asia, where infection rates are much lower than in Africa, HIV causes a greater loss of productivity than any other disease, and is likely to push an additional 6 million households into poverty by 2015 unless national responses are strengthened (Commission on AIDS in Asia, 2008). According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), HIV has inflicted the single greatest reversal in human development in modern history (UNDP, 2005). Fig 1.1 A global view of HIV Infection (UNAIDS, 2008) The current statistics on HIV/AIDS as published by UNAIDS (2008) are: Estimate People living with HIV/AIDS 33.0 million Adults living with HIV/AIDS 30.8 million Women living with HIV/AIDS 15.5 million Children living with HIV/AIDS 2.0 million People newly infected with HIV in 2007 2.7 million Children newly infected with HIV in 2007 0.37 million AIDS deaths in 2007 2.0 million Child AIDS deaths in 2007 0.27 million Fig. 1.2 -Current Statistics on HIV Aids Global Health Communication initiatives for HIV Aids: Education Entertainment Approach: The Soul City, South Africa (Goldstein, Japhet, E.Scheepers, 2004) South Africa even though a developed country had a wretched health care system, mainly due to long years of apartheid practices. In late 1990s Dr Garth Japhet, a young doctor observed this at Alex clinic. He observed that the health communication efforts in South Africa where very slogan based and not sustainable. Bursts of activity like National Aids day were not enough. There was no formative research before planning these campaigns. More over the campaigns followed a Top Down approach, and lacked synergies between medical community, government and media. Soul City was an extensive multi media campaign started in South Africa, due to the efforts of Dr Garth Japhet. The whole campaign was a collection of mass media campaigns which were connected and implemented year on year. There was a 13 part prime time- television series called Soul city, which was accompanied by a 60 episode radio show. Even though content of both these shows was not similar yet they both highlighted same health issues. Later on printed IEC material was also developed and distributed based on the characters of Soul City. These booklets were also reviewed by 11 top newspapers of the country. Through 1994 to 1999 five series of Soul city were broadcasted. These were consisted rated as top three most watched drama series in South Africa. The Radio program also got very high listenership ratings. Formative research and high creative input went into designing the IEC material which was targeted uniquely to adults and young population. The key to success of Soul City multimedia program was use of media conversion, from print to radio to television. This encouraged inter-personal discussions about health issues. Learning: Locally developed content which has quality entertainment works well For a multimedia educational model to succeed it should return value to all the stake holders Media advocacy leads to policy and social change A continual and integrated multimedia strategy is necessary if the effect of communication has to be sustained. Against Stigma: ACT UP, United States of America (Documents archive/Act Up explained) Stigma is a problem which plagues every country and becomes a very important factor in HIV + people seeking help and coming out in public .The Aids Coalition to unleash power , is one such organisation which attempts to remove this stigma through bold and creative action. They boldly use their slogan Silence = Death which urges people to speak up about HIV and Aids. They seek to normalize talks about condoms and Aids by radical action like sticking posters on telephone booths which say this telephone has been touched by a person with Aids Public demonstrations at churches, baseball fields, Wall Street etc are held to imply that Aids is everybodys business. Once during a Sunday sermon session in New York the ACT UP activists did staged a mass die in outside to highlight the bishops silence on Aids. ACT UP activists use linguistic symbols to make strong statements like -No, Glove No Love and Aids is no ball game. These were used as places like Shea baseball stadium. Learning: ACT UP founder Larry Kramer studied the fight against stigma by Mahatma Gandhi and Dr Martin Luther King and suitably adapted it for modern day audience Use of creative and clutter breaking ideas helps discussion and normalization of sensitive issues like stigma Use of public demonstration, Sit ins and Die ins helps create buzz and social change. Health communication efforts for HIV Aids in India: The National Aids Control Program (UNAIDS, 2008): Every State in India has an Aids prevention and Control Society which under supervision from NACO carries out local initiatives. The second Stage of National Aids control program (NACP) ended on March 2006.This focussed on various platforms to promote youth education about safe sex, safe blood donation and HIV testing. Various platforms like Street plays, concerts, national aids day, TV and radio spots, and celebrity endorsements were utilised. Use of teachers and peer group influencers was done to disseminate knowledge about HIV aids The third stage of NACP will have a strong focus on condom promotion. The installation of over 11,000 condom vending machines in colleges, road-side restaurants, stations, gas stations and hospitals has been done. With support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the government has also initiated a campaign called Condom Bindas Bol!, which involves advertising, public events and celebrity endorsements. It aims to break the taboo that currently surrounds condom use in India, and to persuade people that they should not be embarrassed to buy them. (Shhhhnot anymore!) Various multi-media campaigns have been implemented in India to create awareness about HIV. These include special communication programs to target special audience like sex workers, truck drivers, and street children. Radio programs are broadcasted on a regular basis to disseminate information. Field publicity units, Drama and song division has been set up to target rural India. Aids hotlines with around 1097 toll free numbers have been set up in major cities of India. A very successful program has been the University Talk Aids (UTA program), which covered 4,044 institutions in India and reached out to 3.5 million students. The program was implemented by National Service Scheme with assistance from WHO and NACO.Independent evaluation suggested that the program was highly successful in creating a healthy attitude about sex among young children  ­Communication regarding Condom promotion: Social marketing of Condoms combined with free distribution has been used to promote usage among general public as well as high risk groups. Department of Family welfare has been instrumental in distribution and supply of condoms. Family Health Awareness Campaign This campaign was focussed on creating awareness about RTI and STI among the general public as well as the field level functionaries. This campaign is organised annually in rural as well as urban slum areas. (Shaukat Mohammed, 2003) Reaching Special Audiences: Reaching Men who have Sex with men (MSM): Case Study Naz foundation Trust of India: (Rakesh, 2002) Background: India with a very high population runs the risks of very high PLHA even if a low prevalence rate of HIV is present. Even though most sources of infection are through hetero-sexual sex yet in certain areas like north -eastern India, IDU becomes a dominant factor for HIV transmission. Strategy: The Naz foundation was set up in 1994 to address sexual health issues of MSM, women, truck drivers and PLHA. The key communication objectives were: Communication about modes of transmission Prevention and risk reducing strategies Means of accessing treatment The intervention strategies utilised were: Community outreach: Nine outreach sites which were staffed with officers who provided information on safe sexual health practices, condom usage and provided referrals STI referrals: A non judgemental approach to STI risk patients was followed. STI clinics were set up with a MSM friendly physicians Social and Group meetings: support groups were formed to help MSM and create a freer environment for information interchange Counseling:Telephone hot lines and personal counselling was set up to address MSM concerns Results: The implementation of Naz foundation strategies was evaluated and it showed a number of positive results. An increase from 11 % to 43% for all time condom usage ,the STI clinic visits increased from 24% to 56%, and condom usage by male sex workers increased from 20% to 43 % Learning: Naz foundation realized that in order to reach out to special audiences tailored solutions are necessary. Some risk groups like female partners of MSMs are very difficult to reach and hence intensive efforts are needed in this area. Reaching out to Injecting Drug Users (IDU): Case Study IDUs in New Delhi India (Dorabjee, 1998) Background: In some cities of India like New Delhi the HIV prevalence rate among IDU users is as high as 85%.The Indian NGO Sharan has been working for IDU since 1979,and has done some breakthrough work in this area.(AIDS Analysis Asia ,1996). Strategy: IDU were motivated to join either drug substitution therapy which involved substituting drug injections to oral drug usage or needle exchange program where the registered IDU users vouched to stop exchanging needles during drug usage. The reason behind the success of this program was that it managed to develop a strong trust among IDU users because it employed recovering drug users as outreach workers. Constant feedback was sought from them and the program was modified accordingly. The IEC approaches used were counselling, peer education, information on sexual transmission of HIV aids, condom distribution and drug use prevention programs. Results: 33 % of registered IDU started taking oral drugs instead of Injections 21% stopped sharing needles Use of advocacy resulted in government accepting the use of harm reduction strategies for IDU users Learning: Political support is necessary for the success of any IEC project on sensitive issues. This can be influenced through strong advocacy Incorporating feedbacks by outreach workers and IDU can significantly increase the impact of the campaign A range of clinical, social and communication services are required to meet the purpose of HIV prevention among IDU users Addressing the mobile population: Case Study the Trucker Population of India (Bhoruka, 2001) There are about 50 million trucker population in India, who spend around ten months away from home. Around 70% of these engage in unprotected extra marital sex (UNAIDS, 2006).HIV infection is high in this segment along with a high STI danger. A major obstacle is that these truck drivers do not use condoms for road side sex as it regarded as a re-creational activity. Strategy: The Bhoruka public welfare trust (BPWT), attempted to reach these truck drivers through free tea parlours set up at 5 main route stops in India. These tea parlours offered a meeting ground for the truck drivers and offered tea, newspaper, TV and other forms of entertainment. However no prostitution or drugs were encouraged. Condoms, clinical counselling and STI medical referrals were offered at a subsidised rate. The most important aspect was focus on peer education and counselling. As these truck drivers discussed about their life, peer educators gave them counselling and information. Parking lots were used as another reaching stop where peer educator gave out condoms and IEC material. This program became so successful that various truck drivers themselves became informal peer educators. The tea-shops were also managed by truck drivers or sex workers. Informal truck driver peer educators were later trained and given certificates to become formal peer educators and work in these tea shops. Small motivational incentives like bags and pens were also offered to these truck drivers as well as informal peer educators. Results: Every tea centre reaches out to close to 48,000 people annually, provides subsidised treatment to 2,200 patients .Fifty percent of these patients are treated for STIs Around 200 truck drivers had been trained as peer educators by the year 2000 The condom social marketing component of this program was very successful, with steady increase in condom sales. Till 2000 there were 104,832 sold and 162 active condom distribution set up. Learning: A high level of motivation should be maintained amongst the peer learning groups. Its important to have support of all the stakeholders for the success of any ICE program. Poliomyelitis (polio) Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious viral disease, which mainly affects young children. The virus is transmitted through contaminated food and water, and multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system. Many infected people have no symptoms, but do excrete the virus in their faeces, hence transmitting infection to others. Initial symptoms of polio include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs. In a small proportion of cases, the disease causes paralysis, which is often permanent. Polio can only be prevented by immunization (World Health Organisation) Global Case load: Polio Polio cases have decreased by over 99% since 1988, from an estimated 350 000 cases in more than 125 endemic countries then, to 1997 reported cases in 2006. In 2008, only parts of four countries in the world remain endemic for the disease the smallest geographic area in history. In 1994, the World Health Organization (WHO) Region of the Americas (36 countries) was certified polio-free, followed by Western Pacific Region (37 countries and areas including China) in 2000 and the WHO European Region (51 countries) in June 2002. In 2007, more than 400 million children were immunized in 27 countries during 164 supplementary immunization activities (SIAs). Globally, polio surveillance is at historical highs, as represented by the timely detection of cases of acute flaccid paralysis. Persistent pockets of polio transmission in northern India, northern Nigeria and the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan are key epidemiological challenges. As long as a single child remains infected with polio, children in all countries are at risk of contracting the disease. The poliovirus can easily be imported into a polio-free country and can spread rapidly among unimmunised populations. Between 2003 and 2005, 25 previously polio-free countries were re-infected due to importations. The four polio-endemic countries are Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan. Global Health Communication efforts for Pulse Polio: Strategic communication efforts in Afghanistan (Rafiqi, 2004) The Pulse polio eradication program of Afghanistan faced stiff challenges due to illiteracy, resistance, inaccessibility and worsening security conditions. Strategic approach for Polio health communication in Afghanistan focussed on advocacy, social mobilization, communication to support the program and training. Advocacy was achieved by involving top leaders at every program launch, and getting them involved at all levels by sharing epidemiological data. Social mobilization through involvement of religious leaders, mosque and prayer announcements, and inter-personal communication. Television and Radio was also utilized. Communication to support the program was achieved through district and community based forums which encouraged discussions, dedicated community specific social mobilization workers were employed and training was given to Imams and other religious leaders. Print media was used effectively for brochures, banners and leaflets. Learning: Its a challenge to shift the focus of health communication from campaign type to sustainable communication Advocacy at highest level is instrumental to success of the campaign Use of local facilities like mosques, bazaars, mobile loudspeakers etc lead to effective social mobilization Appropriate mix of print and radio can effectively reach mobile population Establish strong relationship with religious leaders Promote health education through health facilities as well as private practitioners Ensure all factions of community are involved including women Polio immunization efforts through public health education efforts in West Africa. (African Science Academy Development Initiative (ASADI), 2005) Nigeria faced a major challenge when polio vaccination was stalled in northern areas due to huge negative controversy in local as well international media regarding the safety of these oral medicines. Moreover allot of trusted religious leaders also spoke out against the vaccine. To fight this drastic loss of acceptance of Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV), a strong communication plan was developed with the objective that each child should get OPV drops.This was achieved through heightened advocacy through large scale public flag offs of campaigns, direct involvement of the president, working with the private companies including telecom companies, and engagement of religious as well as community networks. To focus on community education community mobilizers were assigned to high risk area, traditional media like street theatre, town criers, mobile cinema and folk songs were utilized. Mass media like TV spots and radio jingles were also integrated Effective use of Media for behaviour change was used. This included broadcasting in national languages, special programs for minority groups, projection of human interest stories to create positive dialogue, folk media, community theatre and mobile cinema followed by dialogue. Success of this campaign can be determined by the fact that the demand for immunization and OPV drops substantially increased. The OPV controversy was effectively resolved, along with support from key stake holders. Learning: Behaviour Change through public education and integrated mass and traditional campaigns can effectively result in more demand and acceptance of polio immunization. Health communication efforts for Polio: India Reducing resistance and increasing community dialogue: Meerut, Uttar Pradesh (United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) India, 2007) Meerut is one of the regions of Uttar -Pradesh which is seen as high risk for the polio endemic. A highly innovative social mobilization campaign was implemented in Meerut, which involved: Use of distinct influencers; Three teams of 35 Urdu teachers,24 kirana store owners and Hajis (people who have completed Haj pilgrimage )were involved in these teams. Close to 25,000 primary schools were approached on republic day, to educate the children, inform them of the dates of immunisation so that better participation is achieved. Mosques were approached to educate the community. Their participation increase from 61% in January 2007 to 74% in February 2007. Meetings on a regular basis were conducted with mothers and daughter in laws, to discuss polio and child health issues. Booklets were published which contained poems written by local influential poets. These boosted the morale of health workers and also worked as strong advocacy measure. Due to these innovative techniques Meerut recorded the lowest no. of resistant households in Uttar Pradesh in 2007. Learning: Polio needs to be incorporated as a part of overall child health program . Consistent, open and on-going dialogue with all factions of community is necessary. Use of innovative techniques to create interest: Polio Joker (Kher, 2007) Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), hired Manchanda Jha to dress up as a joker and attract kids to polio booths .He sings songs about polio, does tricks, engages children and gives information about the importance of polio drops alongside.When dances and sings Chal chale polio boothpe hum sathiyoon, chalke do boondh jeevan ke le sathiyon the children are not only humoured but also an important message has been delivered. He became so successful that he came to be called Polio Joker popularly. He has been instrumental in reaching out to care-givers and kids in slum areas. This program was implemented for three years and has very high recall value. Learning: New entertaining techniques need to be implemented if communication has to reach children Communication methods should be tailored to meet the needs of high risk areas. Rationale of the research Health status of a country is influenced by a number of factors like food, water, income, sanitation, education and accessibility to health care services. Health communication campaigns and health services dont exist in a vacuum but are influenced by external socio-economic, cultural and factors. These factors play an important part on how health information education and communication campaigns are designed, implemented and finally received by the target audience. These factors also influence policies, resource allocation, technology, training of medical staff and communication strategies used. These in turn shape the health services system of a particular region. Studies which have documented the health communication efforts have restricted themselves to an analysis at national level. It will be not surprising to find that in a complex nation like India various sub-systems exist, and every sub-system might influence the message in its own way. HIV AIDS and Polio are two major health concerns faced by Indian population. On-going and consistent efforts are made to educate people regarding these. However again within a geographic sub-system people might react and respond both these campaigns in a differential manner owing to a variety of factors like sensitivity of the issue, complexity of the message and stigma. Through this study I wish to explore these factors which affect the impact of health communication campaigns of HIV Aids and Polio, in a geographic sub-system. Research Objectives: Through the analysis of the literature review and recommendation of my guide the following research objectives have been identified: To understand the health communication processes and initiatives undertaken for HIV Aids and Polio prevention/care at a sub-system, grass root level. To identify factors which lead to an differential impact of these health communication campaigns To suggest improvements ,if possible, to current health communication practices followed in the geographic sub-system Research Areas: Health communication campaigns which will be studied extensively are: Against HIV-Aids: These will include the communication efforts in the area of prevention (transmission through mother to child, sexual transmission and primary prevention) and against stigma. Against Pulse Polio: Campaigns for polio education and routine immunisation will be studied. This study aims to understand the use of traditional media, electronic and human channel employed at the grass root level. What are the problems faced in implementation, what are the intermediary factors which affect them, and what measures are taken to combat these problems. An evaluation of these campaigns will also be conducted based on how much has the target audience been receptive to them, and responded by either positive action or behaviour change. Ultimately both these campaigns will be compared and contrasted to arrive at the differentiating factors which impact the outcome of these. Research Methodology: Phase One An extensive secondary research will be done to establish a foundation for the primary research. The literature review provides certain learning about different methods of strategic health communication. This learning will be taken forward to secondary research where the focus will be kept on the grass root health communication initiatives undertaken in the chosen sub-system. In addition a case study method will be employed to shape up the key focus areas for the primary research. Phase two This phase will consist of primary research will be essentially qualitative and exploratory in nature. The purpose of this type of research methodology is to generate basic knowledge on relevant areas, discover associated factors, and identify information gaps. Data collection and Analysis: Secondary research will consist of data collection from online sources, medical and communication journals as well as reports. Various performance reports and internal documents which are generated at the primary sub-system level will also be looked into gather data. Expert In-depth interviews will be conducted to gain more understanding on the subject. It is important to note that the interviews will be open -ended and flexible to generate maximum insights. These interviews will involve extensive probing and will utilize the technique of laddering, An interview guideline will however be prepared for a comprehensive and systematic execution. Similar technique of in-depth interviews will also be employed to collect information from target audience regarding the appeal of the campaigns. The reason why in-depth-interviews will be used over other methods of data collection is: It is flexible It provides in-depth information about areas to be covered Since the area of study is very specialised it provides scope for clarification Some of the issues which needs to be discussed are personal in nature, a face to face and private discussion is necessary Like other techniques, this tool also suffers from certain limitations. It is prone to bias and largely depend on the skill of the interviewer. It is an expensive technique, can be time consuming and responses may be difficult to interpret. The structure of the interview is not clearly defined unlike a survey and so same questions may not be asked to all the respondents Area of Study: The chosen geographical sub-system for the primary research is Aligarh in UP. The reasons behind this are the following: Northern UP has a relatively high prevalence rate of HIV AIDS Its one of the few areas in India which is still Polio Endemic Familiarity with the local language Initial contacts are available Timeframe of the study: Phase one-: November till mid-December 2009 Phase two/primary research: Mid December to January 2010 Sampling: Sampling universe consists of all the experts in the area of the study, and the population to which the health communica

Curbing college drinking starts with a change in attitude Essay

The article by Sarah Fritz deals with a very acute issue of today’s reality: college drinking. She draws on horrifying statistics showing that 1,400 college students die each year because of alcohol and 600,000 are assaulted by another drunk student. We are used to assaults and rapes related to alcohol, but few would connect it with the deaths of such a large number of young people. Fritz makes one think that drinking can be more harmful and dangerous than we are used to think. At the same time, the author is sceptical about the prospects of fighting alcohol dependence with the methods, currently used on campus. I agree with her where she says that college officials may not be really interested in fighting the problem, because any mention of drinking incidents on some particular campus will hurt the reputation of this university. So if they are interested in hushing things up, then there is hardly a chance that drinking will go away any time soon. Besides, the bad example set by the previous generation mentioned by Fritz still works. Students know that their parents drank in their college youth and many of them turned out all right. As a result, students are convinced that adults are exaggerating the problem and trying to deny them what made the fun and joy of their own youth – happy partying with friends. Students may be afraid to try some new unknown drugs, but they know that humanity used alcohol since the time of Ancient Greeks and this did not bring the civilization to ruin. Perhaps a massive campaign against drinking can have effect, but only to a certain point, since the young always want to try out things even if they look dangerous. For this reason the effect will be limited. In addition, young people for the most part value having a good time above everything else, and for many people good time is closely connected with alcohol. They simply do not know any other way to spend their time in a more exciting way than binging with friends, and teaching them other ways is extremely difficult. Wanderman, Richard. One Person’s Path to Literacy. Wanderman’s story has many meanings. On the one hand, it gives an idea of how a person with disabilities adjusts to the world designed for normal people. On the other, it give insights into the process of learning, so deep and simple that virtually every person can use them to achieve success in some field. Wanderman does not ask for pity, nor does he write his story to express his bitterness about the world that was harsh on the disabled man. He opens his story with stating that he has a successful career, a nice house and a family. The author seems to have no hard feeling against nature or God that has made him this way. His journey from inability to improvement was his own making, and in this sense he is a self-made man indeed. Reading his story is highly useful for all of the healthy people who enjoy the benefits of good health they received at birth and forget that this blessing was not given to anybody. Basic things like reading a book or getting good grades in public school can be a challenge to these people, something worth remembering for all. The things Wanderman learned through his learning experience can be useful to all of us, since we all come across challenges in our lives. He very perceptively describes how he learned that a man can be stupid and incapable in one area and at the same time smart in another. His lesson that practice makes perfect is also very important to learners who despair at the first failure. He also learned that his father was right when he told him that â€Å"bumps would build character† (Wanderman 2000). Stating that he is happy to have a lot of character because of his trials, although he would not like to repeat his path, Wanderman gives comfort to those who are going through a black streak in their lives. Although they are going through difficulties, this is going to mould their characters in such a way that they are better able to meet the next set of difficulties to come. Logan, Paul. Rowing the Bus. Paul Logan’s story touches a cord with everyone who was once insulted or humiliated by a school mob or any other group of people enjoying scapegoating. It also touches a cord with anyone who has seen abuse of the vulnerable, but was too scared to defy the mob. The story tells about things many of us have encountered but were too ashamed to bring up in public discussion. Paul goes through an evolution in his attitude to bullies. In the first school, he believes them to be inevitable because of his poor clothes, fatherless family, lisp, crossed eyes and poor skill at sports. When one reads these stories, one often wonders why teachers never did anything to accommodate the child who was so different from the rest and clearly suffered from other children’s attitudes. Why didn’t they change something about the team selection process if they saw that it was humiliating to the one in the group who most needed protection? Anyway, Paul was obviously left on his own to combat the class, and this instilled in him very strong fear of being the one at the bottom. The fear was so strong that he rejects George who is even more vulnerable than he was in the new school. However, George’s hurt look triggers a revolution in Paul’s mind. He suffers from pangs of conscience so strong that finally he overcomes his fear in the incident with Donald, a high school bully. He is so successful that from now on all school bullies behave quieter when he is on the bus. They recognise that Paul has the strength to defend his views that developed under the influence of his own negative experience. Thus Paul succeeds in becoming sort of moral authority for the school. His influence on the others is positive, and for himself this action symbolizes threshold to maturity, a transition from boyhood to manhood. He is no longer the vulnerable one – on the contrary, he is able to protect the others. Still, he is left with the vision of George that he will hardly let go in the nearest future. Frost, Robert. Mending Wall. Mending a wall describe a slow, methodical process through which two neighbors are trying to isolate themselves from each other. They continue mending the barrier between their properties even when they feel that â€Å"something there is that doesn’t love a wall† (Frost 1915). The two neighbors have different views on neighbourhood and the necessity of the wall, yet they are working together to maintain the old and rundown thing. The neighbor who has a pine forest wants to maintain the wall since he learned from his father that â€Å"good fences make good neighbours† (Frost 1915). He does not question this saying, probably like he does not question any truths he learned from his Dad. The wall in his thinking is something that probably stood there for centuries and now is expected to stand at least for his lifetime. This neighbour is eager to devote time and effort to repairing the old wall, even though it is difficult to keep it in the same condition and stones and balls will not balance. The author seems to be more open to neighbors. He does not really want to keep a wall because he does not believe that it will improve his relationship with the neighbour. On the contrary, he does not think there is any threat from the neighbor’s house or pine forest that will not jump over to his land and eat his apples. Frost probably does not have a strong sense of property and is not so much afraid to share something that is his with others. He insists that fences make sense as a barrier to cows’ movement, but since there are no cows really, it makes no sense to keep them. The little poem makes one think about one’s attitudes to neighbours. It looks like there are two kinds of attitudes: either one maintains a fence around one’s property and does one’s best to keep the others out, or one does not care for fences. I do not think that there is a right or wrong choice here. It all depends on the way of communication one is comfortable with, although I would definitely prefer to do without fences.

Run Lola Run Speach

Distinctively visual Images and the ideas conveyed through them can both enhance or challenge our understanding of the world and humanity. Ideas associated with images can be powerfull enough to provoke further thinking and understanding of certain matters. This is greatly evident in the 1998 German thriller film â€Å"Run Lola Run† directed and written by Tom Tykwer together with the poem â€Å"Summer Rain† by John Foulcher. Through the use of strong images these two texts manage to express their main ideas such as chaos and its relationship with time. In â€Å"RLR† we witness the protagonists facing dilemma due to these two aspects of the world, seeking to overcome them with determination and love. Meanwhile â€Å"Summer Rain† shows the unpredictability of these ideas and their destructive power to harm or chip away. In â€Å"RLR† Tykwer made chaos and time two influences against which the protagonist â€Å"Lola† is working due to the conviction of her love for Manni. The composer combines the ideas of chaos and time through the fast paced, rapidly altered camera shots differentiating in angles and lengths. This is prominent during all three of Lola’s twenty minute runs. The camera is set on Lola yet changes its angles and lengths to synchronize with Lola turning corners, avoiding obstacles and the change in location. The Fast paced camera action allows us the audience see Lola’s perception of her progress to save her lover Manni within twenty mins. This constant rapid camera work during the running scenes emphasizes the chaotic atmosphere a common reaction when working against time. The chaotic atmosphere distorts the time and progress in the mind of the audience and Lola. The use of a split screen where Lola is on the left running towards the right, facing in the direction of Manni as well as well as an image of a clock ticking on the bottom avoids this distortion of time in the last crucial minutes. Showing her progress during the last minute enhances the intensity yet gives the audience a much more vivid understanding of the situation, much like when we check our watches when we arrive somewhere late or at the last minute of a given deadline. These distinctive visual features allow the audience to understand Lola’s state of mind in this complication, to which we can partially relate in the modern era. â€Å"The Summer Rain† provides further evidence of the relationship of chaos and time. John Foulcher is explaining about the rush hour traffic which is present at a certain time which will create disorder in someone’s schedule if adaptations are not made. â€Å"At 4 o'clock† cars/† The use of high modality giving us the context of images. The composer introduces us to the setting with the use of time conveying utmost in importance. The visual imagery creates a sense of a disordered environment, â€Å"clutter on the highway like abacus beads† the simile creating a perfect image of the disturbance to the responder. He then addresses the destructive nature of chaos â€Å"Somewhere ahead, there's been an accident/One by one, the engines/stop, the cars slump into dusk. † By using linear narrative, imagery of the turmoil along with rhythmic sentence and personification the poet allows the audience to synchronize with the series of events, which seem happen within seconds. With constant use of visual Imagery the author conveys the idea of and unifies it with time via use of simple rhythmic sentence. Both Composers use distinctively visual techniques as to enhance, convey their ideas and allow the wider audience to connect with the circumstances imposed in on characters in the texts, ‘Run Lola Run’ and â€Å"summer rain† use combination of Visual Techniques together with language devices to subject the to send the idea through to the audience. It is through the use of imagery that we more effectively understand certain ideas that are in relevant to the world and humanity.

Essay on Slavery - Slave Resistance - 1173 Words

It could be considered almost ludicrous that most African-Americans were content with their station in life. Although that was how they were portrayed to the white people, it was a complete myth. Most slaves were dissatisfied with their stations in life, and longed to have the right of freedom. Their owners were acutely conscious of this fact and went to great lengths to prevent slave uprisings from occurring. An example of a drastic measure would be the prohibition of slaves receiving letters. They were also not allowed to converge outside church after services, in hopes of stopping conspiracy. Yet the slaves still managed to fight back. In 1800, the first major slave rebellion was conceived. Gabriel Prosser was a 24 year old slave who†¦show more content†¦He was able to prevent the entire plot from being divulged by one slave, because only the leaders had complete knowledge of the extent of resistance. Therefore, if a slave betrayed the plot, they would only be informing o n their group. The scheme was that a fire would be started by a group of rebels. Outside the homes of whites, different groups of insurrectionists would be waiting for the men to come out the door and would then proceed to kill them. Many of the slaves in the plantations surrounding Charleston had joined the revolt, and the numbers kept growing. Although, they were betrayed almost from the beginning, the cell system stopped slave owners from discovering the magnitude of the resistance. Ironically, the night before the attack, officials were informed of the entire plot by a house servant. They then made preparations to thwart the attempt, and the entire operation was terminated. Denmark Vesey was tried and convicted along with 67 others. Thirty-five of his followers, including Denmark Vesey were then executed. His conspiracy frightened Southerners, because the thoroughness and cunning of it were a stunning blow to them. On October 2, 1800, a quot;prophetquot; was born. Nat Turner was the only rebel who’s fight against slave owners was successful. He was brought up despising slavery. In fact, his mother attempted to kill him when he was a baby in order to save him from the life of a slave. Nat Turner was another greatly devoutShow MoreRelatedSlavery - Slave Resistance1196 Words   |  5 Pagescomplete myth. Most slaves were dissatisfied with their stations in life, and longed to have the right of freedom. Their owners were acutely conscious of this fact and went to great lengths to prevent slave uprisings from occurring. An example of a drastic measure would be the prohibition of slaves receiving letters. They were also not allowed to converge outside church after services, in hopes of stopping conspiracy. Yet the slaves still managed to fight back. In 1800, the first major slave rebellion wasRead MoreSlave Culture And Resistance Of Slavery Essay705 Words   |  3 PagesSlave Culture and Resistance to Slavery In chapter eleven, The Peculiar Institution: Slave Culture and Resistance to Slavery written by Eric Foner the author of Give me liberty! An American History published in 2012 briefly describes the slave culture and how it was. Included will be a piece on Incidents in the life of a slave girl, written by herself in 1861. Courtesy of University of Michigan Library, Making of America. In the Resistance to Slavery Foner will demonstrate how individuals bothRead MoreAfrican American History Essay1011 Words   |  5 Pages Slavery began in the late 16th century to early 18th century. Africans were brought to American colonies by white masters to come and work on their plantations in the South. They were treated harshly with no payments for all their hard work. In addition, they lived under harsh living conditions, and this led to their resistance against these harsh conditions. The racism towards the African Americans who were slaves was at its extreme as they did not have any rights; no civil nor political rightsRead MoreFrederick Douglass And The Abolition Of Slavery1713 Words   |  7 Pages or resistance, against the institution of slavery. They rebelled against their positions in a variety of ways--sometimes small, subtle acts; other times very obvious and direct implications. Frederick Douglass resisted slavery by understanding the fundamentals of it, standing up for himself, and formulating an escape. James Oakes argues the direct resistance displayed by slaves, like running away, was signific ant and necessary to the abolition of slavery as a whole. Oakes understood slave resistanceRead More`` Acts Of Resistance : Black Men And Women And The Hanging Of Angelique 1138 Words   |  5 PagesAll of Cooper’s works, whether it being a poem, dissertation or novel, are mainly based on slavery and abolition, as she specializes in these topics and holds a Ph.D. in African-Canadian history. Along with slavery and abolition, Cooper also has an abundance of knowledge towards the topics of women’s history and New France studies. In this case, her paper â€Å"Acts of Resistance: Black Men and Women Engage Slavery in Upper Canada, 1793-1803† is being analyzed. Cooper wrote this paper based on her ongoingRead MoreAntebellum Slavery And The American Revolution879 Words   |  4 PagesAmerican slavery was something that not only mentally challenging, but it was physically demanding as well. Many slaves did not have the luxury of a â€Å"kind† master, and many were mistreatment from birth. Slaves fought masters, and master fought slaves without regard to the human condition. Antebellum slavery was different than past form of American slavery, because slaves had gained a taste of the ideas that were spread from the American Revolution. These idea played a big role in slaves wanting freedomRead MoreAntebellum Slavery And The American Revolution885 Words   |  4 PagesAmerican slavery was something that was not only mentally challenging, but it was physically demanding as well. Many slaves did not have the luxury of a â€Å"kind† master, and many were mistreatment from birth. Slaves fought masters, and master fought slaves witho ut regard to the human condition. Antebellum slavery was different than past forms of American slavery, because slaves had gained a taste of the ideas that were spread from the American Revolution. These idea played a big role in slaves wantingRead MoreThe, My Eyes Have Seen By Alice Dunbar Nelson Essay1622 Words   |  7 PagesThe important theme of resistance towards the institutions of slavery in America is a major factor that contributed to the formation of the United States. Ever since slaves arrived in the Chesapeake in the early seventeenth century, slaves resisted their enslavement just as anyone else would, in order to claim some measure of freedom against an institution that defined people as property. African Americans resisted slavery in many different forms in order to secure customary rights that dictatedRead MoreLiberty Is The State Of Being Free Within Society954 Words   |  4 PagesLiberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions i mposed by authority on one s way of life, behavior, or political views. Slavery in the United States played an enormous role in building the country we all live in today. This dark part of our nation’s history affected the lives of thousands of African people who were taken from their homelands and families to be forced to work on farms and factories without pay and to be thought of as no more than farm equipment orRead MoreThe Importance Of Slave Trade In Africa751 Words   |  4 Pagestheir market. The African slaves were cheaper as compared to other continents and thus could be acquired in large numbers. In addition, African slaves were energetic and very resistance to infections and diseases. Besides this slave trade was being practiced in Africa and thus it was easy for the European nations to introduce the chattel slave. African slaves when shipped to the European Nations, they were taken to have a slave status, thus it was easy to maintain their slave status of blacks . There