English paper choose 1 topic

Each group member will then work on an individual essay of approximately 1000-1500 words. The essay must identify a clear topic, problem or issue in the text, and an argument developed through the use of textual evidence and analysis.

Topics:

Conrad's "Heart of Darkness"

1. Analyze the character of Marlow and construct an argument about how the narration and Marlow's language function. Begin with the basic question: How does Marlow's language make the text mean what it means?

2. Analyze the water/marine/nautical imagery and language in the text to develop an argument about its function and meaning in "Heart of Darkness." How is this related to the concept of "empire," and the British Empire specifically.

3. Analyze the use of racist and sexist language in "Heart of Darkness." What function does it have in the text? You may use the famous essays by Chinua Achebe ("An Image of Africa") and J. Hillis Miller ("Should We Read ‘Heart of Darkness'?") as source material.

4. What role does the figure of Kurtz play in the text? How is Kurtz described by Marlow and by the other characters? What does this characterization tell us about the Company? The job Kurtz is sent to do? Colonization itself?

Joyce's "Araby"

1. Analyze the romantic/Arthurian/quest imagery in the text to develop an argument about it value and its role in the construction of meaning in the text. Is it used ironically? If so, why? To what effect? How is this related to the concept of the British Empire, Ireland as a colony, etc?

2. Conduct a comparative analysis of the journeys or quests in "Heart of Darkness" and "Araby." Are the narrators heroic? How do we read these journeys? Can we characterize them as successful or not? What do the narrators do/learn/achieve?

3. Joyce was famously critical of the Church, the traditional family, and social conventions. He argued these institutions stifled created energy, making art impossible. Where do we see this in "Araby"? How is the narrator's story critical of any or all of these institutions? How do we know? Analyze the narrator's language to develop an argument about the text as social critique.

Gordimer's "The Moment Before the Gun Went Off"

1. Analyze the formal qualities and structure of the text. How do these differ from a more conventional short story? With what effect? How do form and structure contribute to the meaning of the text? Is the form part of the content?

2. The story is set in the politically and racially volatile South Africa of the early 90s. How is the narrator's language indicative of a particular identity or sympathy? Is the narrator critical of the social structure? Of whites? Of blacks? Of something else? How might this be seen as contributing to late 20th-century British literature?