6
QuizMultiple Choice

Comparing the Presentation of Cultures in Literary Texts — Quiz

Question 6 • 26-27 ERWC A/B 9800E 9801E

Read the excerpt from "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness ” by Chinua Achebe. The Christian Science Monitor , a paper more enlightened than most, once carried an interesting article written by its Education Editor on the serious psychological and learning problems faced by little children who speak one language at home and then go to school where something else is spoken. It was a wide-ranging article taking in Spanish-speaking children in America, the children of migrant Italian workers in Germany, the quadrilingual phenomenon in Malaysia and so on. And all this while the article speaks unequivocally about language. But then out of the blue sky comes this: In London there is an enormous immigration of children who speak Indian or Nigerian dialects, or some other native language. I believe that the introduction of "dialects," which is technically erroneous in the context, is almost a reflex action caused by an instinctive desire of the writer to downgrade the discussion to the level of Africa and India. And this is quite comparable to Conrad's withholding of language from his rudimentary souls. Language is too grand for these chaps; let's give them dialects! Based on the details in the excerpt, what is the primary purpose of this passage?

Answer
A
to point out the failings of the Christian Science Monitor
B
to provide an example of persistent racism
C
to reveal problems in London’s schools
D
to describe the spread of multilingual speakers

Explanation

Achebe points to the article’s use of “dialects” for Indian and Nigerian languages, even though the article calls other languages “languages.” He argues that this wording reflects a desire to downgrade African and Indian people, comparing it to Conrad’s treatment of Africans. The passage’s main purpose is therefore to provide an example of persistent racism, not to focus on London’s schools or multilingualism itself.

AI-written and checked against the verified answer.

Previous
Next