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Eula Biss's Time And Distance Overcoming

388 Words2 Pages

"And I believed that the telephone itself was a miracle." (P. 11, l. 141.) How could one of thegreatest inventions of all time not be a miracle? The invention of the telephone did not only helppeople communicate easier, it also had a huge impact on the deaths of many colored people after itscreation. The essay "Time and Distance Overcome" revolves around the racial tragedies thathappened in the early 1900's due to the invention of the telephone. The essay was written in 2008by the white American non-fiction writer, Eula Biss. This paper will provide an overall analysis ofthe essay, including the composition, the writer's intention and a comment on the content itself.The essay is divided into three different parts; two heavy ones and a short …show more content…

By changing the mood and including such disturbingevents, the author has managed to make an overall entertaining and exciting story, and it is not untilthe very end, that the reader fully understands the concept of the story. Also, one has to read theentire story and then re-read it again before the hidden symbolism of the story is discovered.The essay takes its starting point in 1876 when Alexander Graham Bell presents the very firsttelephone to the world. Here, it introduces the way people were, and how much trouble AlexanderBell had to go through to publish his invention. People were against the idea, and the so called "Waron Telephone Poles" - where people tried to stop telephone poles from being raised - began.Moving on, the essay provides example after example for incidents involving the telephone poles.Nevertheless, during the entire first part, a positive tone towards the telephone is kept, which isclearly stated in one particularly quote: "Despite the War on Telephone Poles, it would take onlyfour years after Bell's first public demonstration of the telephone for every town of over 10,000people to be wired..." (P. 8, l.

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Time and Distance Overcome Every time a new life-altering invention is introduced to the world, the device may be used for ill intentions, no matter the good intentions, the well-meant possibilities and the true purposes of said invention. The telephone is no exception. “Time and Distance Overcome” by Eula Biss from 2008 points out the twisted and revolting ways the telephone poles were being used, or rather misused, during the first few years of its existence. The text contains two obvious themes; the invention of the telephone by Alexander Bell and its history alongside the telephone pole’s use as a weapon in the race riots against the African Americans in this period.

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