Heart
of Darkness
Heart of
Darkness at any one of these sites:http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/ConDark.html http://www.online-literature.com/conrad/heart_of_darkness/ http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Joseph_Conrad/Heart_of_Darkness/ Go
to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_of_Darkness Click
on link for "Thames Estuary" and read. Though the novel story
originally
takes place in the Congo, it is being recounted by the narrator on a
boat in this estuary in England …why is this significant? What
was Africa known as in the Victorian era? What
did
the Victorians assume was the heart of civilization? What
are two possible inspirations for Kurtz's character? (include the
connection of the one possible inspiration to Dr. Livingston) One
theme in the book is the European naiveté about….. Read
Chinua Achebe's essay "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of
Darkness" at this site: http://social.chass.ncsu.edu/wyrick/debclass/achcon.htm Compare/contrast
Achebe's view of the native woman and Kurtz's fiancée in the novel. What
evidence is there to support or contradict Chinua Achebe's assertions
about the book's racism? Read
David Livingston's
account of ivory acquisition in the Victorian era: http://www.ctnow.com/extras/slavepdf/68%20NE%20SLAVERY%200929.pdf Write
a short summary of the account. Go
to: http://www.namibian.com.na/2002/November/national/029861ECE6.html List
the 19th century uses for ivory. How
did Belgian
King Leopold figure into the ivory trade? Go
to:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3837247.stm Where
was the leading market for ivory in the 19th century? Go
to: http://www.online-literature.com/conrad/ Where
was Conrad born? How
was Conrad exposed to
literature early on? Why
were he and his parents
exiled? What
spawned health troubles for Conrad and
his parents? How
did Conrad come to be shot in the
chest? http://www.allfreebackgrounds.com/backgrounds.html http://www.gifanimations.com/action/ImageDisplay/1/54/24/next http://www.gifanimations.com/action/ImageDisplay/1/17/17/next http://www.animation-station.com/skulls/index.php?page=2 
