"The Meaning of Time" Lesson
Supporting resources
Background Information
About the Story
In "The Meaning of Time," Ross describes her adjustment to some of the cultural differences she experienced in Guinea. In particular, she provides insight into one of the fundamental ways that cultures differ—their concepts of time.
About the Setting
Despite mineral wealth, Guinea is one of the poorest countries in the world. The tropical country's economy depends mostly on agriculture. Leading crops are coffee, bananas, palm kernels, and pineapples. There are rich deposits of iron ore, gold, and diamonds, but Guinea's underdeveloped infrastructure has not supported industrialization.
Guinea has four geographical regions: a coastal region, where the capital lies on a peninsula; a highland region of hills in the northwest; dry lowlands in the north; and hilly, forested areas in the east. Rainfall in the capital reaches 13 feet a year, but much of the rest of the country receives significantly less than that.
French domination from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century yielded to independence for Guinea in 1958. Although French is widely spoken, Malinke, Fula, and Susu are also commonly spoken.
Since the arrival of the initial group of Peace Corps Volunteers in 1963, about a thousand Volunteers have served in Guinea. The program today consists of about a hundred Volunteers working in four kinds of projects: secondary education, public health, natural resource management, and small enterprise development. In addition, a small number of third-year Volunteers work with international or local nongovernmental organizations.
Objectives
To identify and understand the significant cultural traits described by the author
Vocabulary
- Indigenous: Native to
- Habitually: Usually; normally; routinely
- Tolerant: Open-minded; able to see both sides of an issue objectively
Procedures
- Read Ross's letter aloud to the class or have the class read it themselves.
- In the space of just two and a half pages, the author spotlights at least five important cultural traits that are true of life in Guinea. Ask students to analyze the text to identify these traits, writing them down in their journals. Students should identify the following traits from the text:
- Greetings cannot be hurried; social obligations are paramount.
- Punctuality is unimportant.
- What happens in everyday life is beyond the control of an individual person. (Inshallah, meaning "God willing" in Arabic, defers responsibility for things to Allah. Allah is the Muslim name for God.)
- Climate, in the form of extreme heat or heavy rain, often affects people's routines.
- People have to be highly resourceful in practical, everyday matters.
3. In class discussion, address each trait, using the following paragraphs as discussion guides.
4. Ross, in confronting these different cultural traits, concluded that she needed two specific traits of her own to adapt to life in Guinea. Ask students to identify these two traits from the text. [Patience and tolerance.] Explain to the class that these two traits are probably the two traits most widely exercised by Peace Corps Volunteers in adjusting to life in their host cultures. Discuss with the class whether they think patience and tolerance are useful in other kinds of adjustments in their own lives and in their own communities. Ask them to be specific.
Frameworks & Standards
Enduring Understandings
- The concept of time differs among cultures.
- In some cultures, social obligations and relationships may be more important than work-related responsibilities.
Essential Questions
- How do our cultural values affect the way we choose to spend time?
- What can we learn from the way people in other cultures treat time?
Standards
English Standard: 2
Social Studies Standards: I, IV, IX
National Geography Standards: 6, 10
For more information on the standards in Uncommon Journeys, see the Uncommon Journeys Appendix (see link above).