Heart of Darkness Essay examples -- essays research papers

Characters 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The protagonist of Heart of Darkness is a person named Charlie Marlow. Oddly, his name only appears once in the novel. Marlow is philosophical, independent-minded, and generally skeptical of those around him. He is also a master storyteller, eloquent and able to draw his listeners into his tale. Although Marlow shares many of his fellow Europeans’ prejudices, he has seen enough of the world and enough debased white men to make him skeptical of imperialism. An example of Marlow being independent-minded and philosophical is when he takes a trip up a river, as a break from working on ships. Marlow describes the trip as a journey back in time, to a â€Å"prehistoric earth.† This remark on how he regards colonized people as primitive, which is his philosophical viewpoint. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Of all the characters in the book, the only one with somewhat of a negative connotation is the character of the general manager (of the Company (the boating company)). He is the chief agent of the Company in its African territory, who runs the Central Station. He owes his success to a robust constitution that allows him to outlive all of his competitors. He is average in appearance and unremarkable in abilities, but he possesses a strange capacity to produce uneasiness in those around him, keeping everyone sufficiently alert (against their will) for him to exert his control over them. An example of the manager producing uneasiness in others is when he learns of Kurtz’s sick condition, he actually gets happy, because now he can have more control of the group as an individual. Kurtz was the unofficial leader, and soon, the manager could â€Å"move in.† 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kurtz, who is not the protagonist or antagonist is a very significant character in the book as Marlow and Kurtz essentially form a team as the novel progresses. He is the chief of the Inner Station and Marlow basically follows him. Kurtz is a man of many talents (he is a talented musician and painter). His abilities are nothing without his charisma and his ability to lead. Kurtz is a man who understands the power of words, and his writings present a complexity that obscures their horrifying message (his writings are often hard to understand, as they are complex in structure, often hiding the morbid message behind them). Although he remains a â€Å"puzzle,† e... ...get over Kurtz and get on with her own life. Etcetera 21.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I would recommend this book for people to read because of how it explores the human condition (Conrad was big on this theme) and how each character is unique and recognizable within the context. Conrad pays much attention to detail and it is evident in Heart of Darkness. Conrad’s skills as an author are also evident in the intricate wording in the novel. 22.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This novel really is not controversial. It tells merely of Conrad’s experiences during his travels and as a mechanic/sailor for ships in France. There is violence in it, but that does not make it controversial. There is also a part where there is a group of native cannibals, which can be looked at as controversial, but would not be extreme enough to create a cause for banning. 23.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I think it is fair for a book to be banned as long as it is a committee or a board that makes the decision. One person cannot decide that some book needs to be banned, because that is biased. If a book was banned, people could still read it, because all they need to do is go to a public library and read it.

Consider the View That Only Form Matters When Properly Appreciating Art Essay

Art appreciation is the understanding of the timeless qualities that characterise all great art, and personally i feel is a subjective matter; what I find aesthetically pleasing may not apply to everyone else. There are many reasons why we value art; because it informs us, because of its expressive quality, and because of its artistic quality. In this case, the latter is being discussed, that good art is good because of aesthetic enjoyment of form, the balance and structure and proportion. Its argued that content is not important, just the formal qualities make it good art, for example Jackson Pollock, his work is based on lines and colours and is valued very highly, therefore content is irellevant. However the view that art should be valued for its expressive qualities or catharsis as Aristotle called it; the emotional purging and cleansing. He believed people watched tragedies to make themselves emotional and upset but in a way happy, as they then have purged any negative emotion they had. If art was merely something that caused emotion it would be trivial, but the fact that art can convey something that is transcendent lies its value. However the argument that forms matters shows us that anything can trigger emotions such as pity or fear, without having to be art, but formal qualities are unique. Many people value art becuase it can inform us, we value it if it is true to nature or to life. Platos imitation theory applies here, that all artists are merely copying the form so it can not be good art, but all perceptual experience involves interpretation, so there is nothing to copy. Great historical paintings can give us visual knowledge of certain points in time, but limitations with this is that anything can inform us without being art, a book can inform us but isn’t art. This ability to inform us is not what make sus appreciate it but the artistic qualities it holds; the forms, is what makes us appreciate it. But then there is the argument that form is not enough, by itself, to keep the auidence captured as beauty alone is not enough. That there has to be content to appreciate it such as a meaning, a story behind it, form lacks this ability. I personally believe that when appreciating art, form does matter. It makes a piece of art unique but i also belive that it solely matters, i appreciate its informative qualities and its expressive ones, so a good piece of artwork for me, should contain all three qualities.

English In the United States - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 1016 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2019/06/14 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: Mother Tongue Essay Did you like this example? Mother tongue takes a firm hold on oners mind from the very beginning. In true sense it is intermingle with our lives and consciousness. In Mother Tongue Amy Tan, A chinese American novelist calls her motherrs English her mother tongue. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "English In the United States" essay for you Create order Throughout the story Amy highlights the consequences she and her mother faced because of speaking a non-native variation of English which she referred to as broken and limited English. There are many people in our society like Amyrs mother who do not speak English as perfectly clear as people want. It is difficult to live abroad with the inability to speak English fluently and clearly. Mostly, people with different family and cultural background feel the necessity of speaking standard English perfectly at every step. The reason is because people have assumptions regarding other languages and it plays an unconscious role in limiting our ability to perceive the world. However, it is not necessary to strive to speak language as correctly as possible in order to communicate clearly and to show our intelligence because with non-standard English a person can still be successful in life. Generally language is the medium of communicating our ideas, thoughts and feelings to others, yet the language we grow up hearing can effect on our life path. In Mother Tongue, Tan highlighted an internal conflict she had with English in education because peoplers perception of her is based on her language use. This is shown when she said, the answers on English tests were always a judgment call, a matter of opinion and personal experience(Tan, 1990, P.164). She emphasize that her achievement tests are being affected by the non-standard English language she grow up hearing because the test measure her ability in English rather than giving value to her creativity or imagination. Tanrs mother simple English helped her to understand the world in a different way which does not mean she is bad at English and she is unaware of what happening around her. But English tests judge our ability of understanding things that we imagine differently than they want us to do. This is important because every person have a different perspective of thinking and language does not effect on their knowledge of the world. Like Amy, I also think my language has affected my academic achievements because in SAT I also got higher score in math than English. I still remember one of the common dialogue I heard from my classmate, Damm! You got high score in math because you Asian. This highlights a stereotype that Amy and I faced because our way of understanding English affect on peoplers perception of us. These stereotype are not always true because definitely the reason of getting higher score in math is not the lack of standard language. It is because math is more of problem solving than critical thinking where we need more time to analyze the way we think, and standardized tests are not the best way of measuring our intelligence. This kind of racial stereotype or misconception made by others become obstacle in many students life. It constrict our aspirations and shape future goals. Peoples perception push us towards a field where we are already good at and where we do not have to worry about using perfe ct English. Although, Amy broke this assumption and stereotype by not choosing math related fields but by choosing creative field to represent her mothers broken tongue. The issue of stereotype greatly effects Amy Tanrs mother but it also influenced her as a writer. She grew up seeing external conflicts between her mom and other native English speakers, who mistreated her mother with attitudes because of her poor English. Her mother is being neglected in the society because people judge her as unintelligent and unimportant. Thus actually impersonated Amyrs stories which focus on the audience whose English is limited like her mother tongue. Amy highlights that she accomplish her goal of being a writer when her mother read her book and said, So easy to read(Tan, 1990, P.166). This is important because Amy shows empathy towards her mother by not using standard English that people expected. This is also a way of showing respect to her mothers broken English which is not only sufficient for family life but also sufficient for daily communication. Beyond peoplers perception, Amyrs mother tongue become a source of creativity that she find useful for her ow n writing. Her empathy and respect toward her mother prove that a non-standard English speaker can succeed in literature. In her literature she did not only show empathy and respect to her mother but also show it to other immigrants like my mom. My mom and Amyrs mom are related because they both want their daughter to pretend they are the one who is talking on phone. The reason they dont feel comfortable speaking in non-standard English is because they dont feel respected by others. Unlike Amy, I was always embarrassed of my English. I use to hesitate a lot while having a conversation with people on phone because I was still getting confused about proper grammar and sentence structure. That effected on my self-esteem because their English pronunciation and sentence structure is way better than mine. At a moment I realize that I felt more comfortable talking in English without worrying about what other people think. The reason I came to this realization is because I knew people actually understand my English. Itrs not perfect but it is sufficient for communication and understanding complicated stuff. Usually, English is a very tough language to become highly skilled but speaking English like a native is not essential to show our intelligence. Throughout the story, Tan illustrated how much she loves her mothers unique broken English which led her to success. In the United States, it is common that many immigrants family face false assumptions because of their linguistic capabilities. But it is important for everyone to avoid criticizing people who cannot speak a language correctly and fluently because they have their own unique way of expressing themself which is enough to be successful in life.