This paper must use research, but it should also be based on your own argument about the novel. You will be using the research articles in order to get insights, but you will then choose the ideas from the articles that will support your claims about the work. Proportionally, only about twenty percent of the final paper should be direct quotes, summaries, or paraphrases from the research. The rest should be your own. This paper should be about five pages long, not counting the Works Cited page, but it may be longer. The paper must be formatted and documented according to MLA guidelines, using both internal and end citations. Please see the Information Central module for guidance on finding sources and documenting them. Submit the paper in .doc, .docx, or .pdf format. Choose one of the following topics. 1) Research Conrad’s biography to trace the connections to Heart of Darkness. How might Conrad be using Marlow to express his own ideas? Or is Conrad distant from Marlow, not identifying with him? 2) Heart of Darkness uses terminology that we now recognize as racist. Is this a racist book? Use Chinua Achebe’s article ″An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad′s Heart of Darkness″ as one of the sources. (This article is available in the Gale Literary Sources online database. Follow the directions given in the lecture on using online databases.) 3) Trace the political history of the Congo from the time just before Conrad arrived there to modern times. How did the European presence influence the country? 4) Compare Heart of Darkness and Coppola′s movie Apocalypse Now Redux. Consider aspects such as the characterization, tone, and theme.
