Literary Analysis – Essay Planning
Step 1 – essay plan
Thesis |
Europeans tend to consider Africans a sort of under-beings, however the book reveals, that they bear strong resemblence to their picture of black people.
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Claim #1 | Claim #2 | Claim #3 |
The way Europeans used to see Africans.
| Marlow’s change of view. | What Europeans turned out to be. |
Evidence #1 | Evidence #2 | Evidence #1 | Evidence #2 | Evidence #1 | Evidence #2 |
“The opening paragraph, however, in the light of later information, strikes me now as ominous. He began with the argument that we whites, from the point of development we had arrived at, ‘must necessarily appear to them [savages] in the nature of supernatural beings—we approach them with the might of a deity,’ and so on, and so on. ‘By the simple exercise of our will we can exert a power for good practically unbounded,’ etc., etc.”
Collins’ Classics p. 63 | “And between whiles I had to look after the savage who was fireman. He was an improved specimen; he could fire up a vertical boiler. He was there below me, and, upon my word, to look at him was as edifying as seeing a dog in a parody of breeches and a feather hat, walking on his hind–legs.(...) He ought to have been clapping his hands and stamping his feet on the bank, instead of which he was hard at work, a thrall to strange witchcraft, full of improving knowledge. He was useful because he had been instructed”
Collins’ Classics p. 45 | “It would come slowly to one. They howled and leaped, and spun, and made horrid faces; but what thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity—like yours—the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar. Ugly. Yes, it was ugly enough; but if you were man enough you would admit to yourself that there was in you just the faintest trace of a response to the terrible frankness of that noise, a dim suspicion of there being a meaning in it which you—you so remote from the night of first ages—could comprehend.”
Collins Classics’ p. 44 | “It was very curious to see the contrast of expressions of the white men and of the black fellows of our crew, who were as much strangers to that part of the river as we, though their homes were only eight hundred miles away. The whites, of course greatly discomposed, had besides a curious look of being painfully shocked by such an outrageous row. The others had an alert, naturally interested expression; but their faces were essentially quiet, even those of the one or two who grinned as they hauled at the chain.”
Collins’ Classics p. 50 | “I have no opinion on that point, but I want you clearly to understand that there was nothing exactly profitable in these heads being there. They only showed that Mr. Kurtz lacked restraint in the gratification of his various lusts, that there was something wanting in him—some small matter which, when the pressing need arose, could not be found under his magnificent eloquence.”
Collins’ Classics p. 74 | “If it had come to crawling before Mr. Kurtz, he crawled as much as the veriest savage of them all.”
Collins’ Classics p. 75 |
Step 2 – rough draft
Introduction:
√ Grab reader’s attention
Soren Aabye Kierkegaard said, that accusations one makes towards others, most often reflect one's own flaws.
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√ Provide some literary background to your topic
Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”.
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√ Thesis One sentence, last sentence in introduction
In Heart of Darkness, Europeans tend to consider Africans a sort of under-beings, however the book reveals, that they bear strong resemblence to their picture of black people.
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Body Paragraph #1:
√ Topic sentence for claim #1 in support of thesis
Europeans saw themselves highly superior to Africans, who they considered merely the brutes.
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√ Support #1(This is a quote or paraphrase)…Quotes can’t stand alone, and they MUST have page numbers!!
An outtake from Kurtz’s journal, reflecting his former views on native Africans and his will to tame them
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√ Explain how support #1 relates to claim #1
It is shockingly representative statement, of how the Europeans approached blacks.
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√ Support #2(This is a quote or paraphrase)…Quotes can’t stand alone, and they MUST have page numbers!!
“He was there below me, and, upon my word, to look at him was as edifying as seeing a dog in a parody of breeches and a feather hat, walking on his hind–legs (...)He was useful because he had been instructed” p. 45 (Collins’ Classics); Marlow’s description of a fireman;
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√ Explain how support #2 relates to claim#1
It shows Europeans’ disdain and lack of respect for Africans. They treated them as a sort of under-beings.
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√ If you haven’t already, explain how claim #1 relates to thesis, and transition to next claim #2
Even though this viewpoint is fairly advantegous for Europeans, the truth is being exposed instantly
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Body Paragraph #2
√ Topic sentence for claim #2 in support of thesis
During the trip, Marlow’s view on natives undergoes a complete makeover.
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√ Support #1(This is a quote or paraphrase)…Quotes can’t stand alone, and they MUST have page numbers!!
“It would come slowly to one. They howled and leaped, and spun, and made horrid faces; but what thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity—like yours—the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar” p. 44 (Collins’ Classics)
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√ Explain how support #1 relates to claim #2
Marlow realises that same nature – human nature enshadows all the cultural differences between Europeans and Africans. He finds out, that he resembles blacks way more than he used to think. |
√ Support #2(This is a quote or paraphrase)…Quotes can’t stand alone, and they MUST have page numbers!!
After the fog incident, natives managed to mantain calm, while the helplessness of Pilgrims was clearly visible. |
√ Explain how support #2 relates to claim#2
It is the first time when europeans are clearly weaker compared to natives.
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√ If you haven’t already, explain how claim #2 relates to thesis, and transition to next claim #3
Realisation of the fact, that Africans weren’t as savage as formerly desribed, makes us start to compare them to colonialists. |
Body Paragraph #3
√ Topic sentence for claim #3 in support of thesis
Europeans turned out to be the exact reflection of how they described Africans.
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√ Support #1(This is a quote or paraphrase)…Quotes can’t stand alone, and they MUST have page numbers!!
Kurtz’s changing moods and lack of self-restraint. Most shockingly exposed by the description of his skull fence and how he treated “his people”.
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√ Explain how support #1 relates to claim #3
It shows that the europeans are the ones, who bear the primal instincts.
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√ Support #2(This is a quote or paraphrase)…Quotes can’t stand alone, and they MUST have page numbers!!
“If it had come to crawling before Mr. Kurtz, he crawled as much as the veriest savage of them all.” p. 75 (Collins’ Classics); Marlow about Harlequine; |
√ Explain how support #2 relates to claim#3
It’s the white guy, who turned out to be the most blindly obedient to Kurtz. Parallel to support 2 of claim 1.
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√ If you haven’t already, explain how claim #3 relates to thesis, and transition to conclusion
The hipocrisy of Europeans only strenghtens the negative image we got from the book. |
Conclusion
√ Restate thesis & claims using NEW words
Eventually Europeans turned out to be the brutes they despised of.
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√ Final thoughts for reader (relation to real world or what readers should learn from the work, etc.)
Hypocrisy is one of the greatest dangers of intelectual development. We should be very cautious, while stating our opinion about the others. It is highly surprising, that we are the ones able to best estimate our own disadvantages. Unfortunately it is very rare for us to attribute them to the right person. "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” Matthew 7:3
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