Timed Write Prompt for class on 12/1

In some works of literature, a character who appears briefly, or who does not
appear at all, is a significant presence. Choose a novel or play of literary merit and write an essay in which you show how such a character affects action, theme, or the
development of other characters. Avoid plot summary.

Obviously you'll be using Heart of Darkness in this essay and you have multiple options for characters to use based on your copious notes detailing class discussions ;)

Best,

RMH

Blog Prompt for post due 11/23

Y'all have the necessary information to post the thematic connections from Friday's classwork. Make sure you identify which group you're from.

Have a great weekend,

RMH

Blog Prompt for post due 11/19

Consider Part I ¶ 62, 63, and 64, starting with:

I would not have gone so far as to fight for Kurtz, but I went for him near enough to a lie. You know I hate, detest, and can’t bear a lie, not because I am straighter than the rest of us, but simply because it appalls me. There is a taint of death, a flavour of mortality in lies—which is exactly what I hate and detest in the world—what I want to forget. It makes me miserable and sick, like biting something rotten would do.

Consider the following three questions and answer one of them:

What lie does Marlow tell for Kurtz, and why does he tell it? How does Marlow become entangled in a lie when he signs on as a steamboat captain in the Congo?

What is the nature of his attachment toward—loyalty for—Kurtz? Just a preference for hot-running devils?

Can you find any clue to the effects—physical & spiritual—of Marlow's experience in the Congo in Narrator One’s description of him?

Blog Prompt due 11/16

Part 1, par.9:

The yarns of seamen have a direct simplicity, the whole meaning of which lies within the shell of a cracked nut. But Marlow was not typical (if his propensity to spin yarns be excepted), and to him the meaning of an episode was not inside like a kernel but outside, enveloping the tale which brought it out only as a glow brings out a haze, in the likeness of one of these misty halos that sometimes are made visible by the spectral illumination of moonshine.

par. 14:

We looked on, waiting patiently--there was nothing else to do till the end of the flood; but it was only after a long silence, when he said, in a hesitating voice, "I suppose you fellows remember I did once turn fresh-water sailor for a bit," that we knew we were fated, before the ebb began to run, to hear about one of Marlow's inconclusive experiences.

Conrad may be warning his readers about the tale that is about to unfold. What do his warnings tell us to expect? What do they tell us of Marlow's character. READ THESE EXCERPTS CLOSELY! Be arguable in your analysis.

Have a fab weekend,

RMH

BOOK MUST BE READ...

...by the end of the week (haha). Not the next class. But you should've read a significant amount by now.

Best,

RMH

Precursor Joseph Conrad Bio Video and Blog Prompt

Cool haircut, eh?

Blog Prompt: Read the following: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/bryan.htm Consider Bryan's argument and America's other dalliances (or worse) with imperialism. Does our most recent war in Iraq qualify? We reap certain benefits, but at what price?

I'll say it again, though y'all do well with this, be respectful of opinions that conflict with your own.