Psychoanalysis Heart of Darkness

I cut Arty’s meat slowly while my chest fills with a yearning that would like to spill out through my eyes and nose.  It is, I suppose, the common grief of children at having to protect their parents from reality.  It is bitter for the young to see what awful innocence adults grow into, that terrible vulnerability that must be sheltered from the rodent mire of childhood.

                Can we blame the child for resenting the fantasy of largeness?  Big, soft arms and deep voices in the dark saying, “Tell Papa, tell Mama, and we’ll make it right.”  The child, screaming for refuge senses how feeble a shelter the twig hut of grown-up awareness is.  They claim strength, these parents, and complete sanctuary.  The weeping earth itself knows how desperate is the child’s need for exactly that sanctuary.  How deep and sticky is the darkness of childhood, how rigid the blades of infant evil, which is unadulterated, unrestrained by the convenient cushions of age and its civilizing anesthesia.

                Grownups can deal with scraped knees, dropped ice-cream cones, and lost dollies, but if they suspected the real reasons we cry they would fling us out of their arms in horrified revulsion.  Yet we are small and as terrified as we are terrifying in our ferocious appetites.

                We need that warm adult stupidity.  Even knowing the illusion, we cry and hide in their laps, speaking only of defiled lollipops or lost bears, and getting a lollipop or toy bear’s worth of comfort.  We make do with it rather than face alone the cavernous reaches of our skulls for which there is no remedy, no safety, no comfort at all.  We survive until, by sheer stamina, we escape into the dim innocence of our own adulthood and its forgetfulness.

Using the concepts of the Id, the Ego and the Super Ego, write a one page response to this piece of writing.  What happens to us as we grow up according to this author (Katherine Dunn)?  Do you agree?  Is this a positive or negative thing?  Use specific examples of when children behave in evil ways adults would not.

PSYCHOANALYSIS

Freud divided the mind into three parts, id, ego, and super-ego.  Each part of the mind is responsible for something different.  Id and super-ego are comparable to the angel and devil sitting on one's shoulders telling one right and wrong

Id-the impulsive, child-like portion of the psyche that operates on the "pleasure principle" and only takes into account what it wants and disregards all consequences.

Id is equivalent to the devil sitting on one's shoulder.

Super-Ego-plays the critical and moralizing role in the psyche, aims for perfection, includes ego's ideals, punishes misbehavior with feelings of guilt.

Super-ego is equivalent to the angel on one's shoulder.

Ego- the organized, realistic portion on the psyche that acts according to the "reality principle" and seeks to please the id’s drive in realistic ways that will benefit in the long term rather than bringing grief.

Ego is equivalent to one's conscience.

Iceberg Model of Human Consciousness

How do these ideas apply if we view Heart of Darkness as a journey into self?  The critic Frederick Karl notes that Conrad utilizes the jungle as a symbol not only of what we fear, but also of what we destroy (130-2). Through this symbol, Conrad voices his concerns on both political policy and the irrationality of human behavior.

·         Which characters represent Id, Ego, and Superego?

·         What circumstances are necessary in order for the Id to overtake human consciousness?  What is destroyed in the process?

·         What does Conrad seem to be saying about human nature (at least the nature of MEN) in general?

Heart of Darkness Part 3 Questions

Heart of Darkness Questions for Part 3 taken from http://english.sxu.edu/boyer/207_materials/hd_bed_qst.htm
We started working on these last week.  They are due Thursday at the beginning of class. I hope this is helping get a more general grasp of what is happening in the book as you work through it.

PART 3 (pages 71-95)

1.	At the Inner Station, continued (71-80). How does Marlow describe the Russian at the beginning of Part 3? What does the Russian tell Marlow to do with Kurtz (71)? How does the Russian describe his relations with Kurtz? How did Kurtz get so much ivory?
2.	What does Marlow see when he turns his binoculars on Kurtz' compound again (73-74)? How does what Marlow sees relate to the idea of restraint? How does Marlow evaluate Kurtz on p. 74? How, according to the Russian, did Kurtz control the natives?
3.	What happens that evening when Kurtz is brought out on a stretcher (75)? How does Marlow describe him? What to Marlow seems to be the most important of Kurtz' attributes? How was Marlow included in the letters that the boat had brought to Kurtz (77)?
4.	How does Marlow describe the woman (77)? Notice her action at the top of p. 78 for later reference. What sort of encounter did the Russian once have with the woman (78)?
5.	How does Kurtz respond to Marlow? How does the manager respond to Kurtz? What is wrong, to the manager, with what Kurtz has done? What does the Russian suggest to Marlow (79-80)? What does he ask for? What does the Russian now think of Kurtz?
6.	Marlow and Kurtz (80-88). What happens to Kurtz that evening (80-81)? What images come to Marlow's mind as he tracks Kurtz? Where was Kurtz going? Why is the moment of their confrontation important to Marlow (82)? How does Marlow think of Kurtz (83)?
7.	What does the woman do as the boat is departing with Kurtz (84)? What do the natives do when Marlow blows the boat's whistle? What does the woman do? Then what do the pilgrims do?
8.	What does Kurtz talk about to Marlow on the boat and how does Marlow respond (85-86). What are Kurtz' last words (86)? How does Marlow interpret them?
9.	What happens to Marlow after Kurtz' death? How does Marlow think of death? How much to we learn of Marlow's trip back down the river and back to the sepulchral city?
10.	Return to the Sepulchral City (88-90). What happens to Marlow back in the sepulchral city? What does Marlow do with (and learn from) his three visitors: the man in spectacles (88), Kurtz' "cousin" (89), and the journalist (89)? What does Marlow think of them?
11.	Marlow and the Intended (90-94). What does Marlow think of as he approaches the Intended's home? What is the setting in which Marlow and the Intended meet, and how does he describe her?
12.	What do Marlow and the Intended say to each other? How is she responding to Kurtz' death? When she puts out her arms (93), what does Marlow see?
13.	What does Marlow say Kurtz' last words were (94)? What were Kurtz' actual last words to Marlow (86)? Why is Marlow surprised when "nothing happened" (94)? What did he expect to happen? What does he think of his lie? (Remember p. 64.)
14.	Consider Marlow's relation to women (especially, in this case, to the Intended). What does his statement (p. 64) say about him: "They -- the women I mean -- are out of it -- should be out of it. We must help them to stay in that beautifyl world of their own, lest ours get worse." Why might Marlow hold a position like this? Going to the next level: does this seem to be the position of Conrad, of the novel Heart of Darkness, or is the novel aware of and somehow commenting on Marlow's position?
15.	The Closing (95). What is the effect of the closing paragraph, with its return to the ship on the Thames? What is the effect of the repetition of the image of Marlow as a Buddha (as also on pp. 18 and 21)? What do you make of the last repetition of the book's title in the last phrase? Which way are they going?

Cryptids for Freshmen

NAME:

CRYPTID:

Cryptozoology (from Greek κρυπτός, kryptos, "hidden" + zoology; literally, "study of hidden animals") refers to the search for animals whose existence has not been proven.
The animals cryptozoologists study are often referred to as cryptids.
Cryptozoology is not a recognized branch of zoology or a discipline of science. It is an example of pseudoscience because it relies heavily upon anecdotal evidence, stories, and alleged sightings.

Because of this, cryptids are a GREAT spot for you to begin writing a monster story.

Most of Frankenstein was written in FIRST PERSON (from the “I” point of view).  You will be writing from the first person point of view of your cryptid.

The GOAL of this creative writing assignment is to develop the character of the monster so we (the audience) can understand

·         The feelings and motivations of your cryptid

·         An explanation of its origins

o   Where they human before?  Animal?  Machine?

o   Was it a natural phenomenon that created them?  A person?  Did they sacrifice themselves for the greater good?  Were they the victim of an experiment?  Were they an accident?

·         What does this cryptid DO and why?  What are their daily routines like?

·         Who (if anyone) does this cryptid interact with and why?

·         What main problems does this cryptid have?

You finished assignment should be

·         3+ Pages

·         Double spaced

·         Times New Roman

·         One Inch Margins

FOR TOMORROW, bring

·         A print out of the Wikipedia page on your animal

·         Another article or picture you find from Google

·          Some information about the geographic location(s) where this cryptid has been sighted.

 You do not have to use all of the information you find, but the general physical description and common beliefs about this creature should provide you with a starting point to begin writing.

It is due April 11^th, 2012.

Sophomore English True Grit

WRITE a compare and contrast paper examining a specific scene from the book and the two movies (1969 and 2010).  Use the graphic organizer provided to you plan your writing (this is not an option, but will be graded on completeness).
You MUST use specific quotes/language from the book, as well as discuss images and language choices from the movie.  I foresee some people complaining that they do not have enough material to write three pages-- I don't buy it!  Make sure you are backing your arguments appropriately.

Due Dates
Essential Questions: 4/4 (beginning)
Thesis Statement: 4/5 (end of class)
Competed graphic organizer: 4/10 (end)
First Complete Draft: 4/13 (end)
Final Draft: 4/18 (end)

Three pages, double spaced, times new roman, 1 inch margins.... the usual.

Senior Tech 4/2

Autobiography Introductory Assignment

The final project of the year will require you to reflect upon your personal and educational experiences as you move towards life outside of La Farge High School.  To help acquaint you with the genre before you begin your fourth quarter project, I would like you to find the autobiography of a famous person in the library.

Because we are only going to be working on this assignment this week, I would like you to focus on one small part or chapter of the book.  You do not have to read the whole thing (though you can), but should provide a close reading of the section you choose.

Please consider and prepare written answers to the following questions:

o   What key questions does this person seem to be striving to answer through their writing (list and explain each with specific examples)?

o   What do they highlight as some of the key experiences/influences of their life or career thus far (list and explain how they are important)?

o   Do you admire this person after reading a section of their autobiography?  Why or why not?

o   What makes this autobiography worth reading?  Why do you think a publishing company might choose to publish this life story as opposed to someone else's?

o   What techniques do they employ that you might use while writing your own autobiography?

Final Project Of Mice and Men

milanareaschools.org/~growley/.../documents/Final%20Project.doc

Pickleweasel

Final Project

Of Mice and Men

Choose two of the following activities for your final project (no more worksheets, but options!).  All work must include good writing practices, must be typed and free of errors.

1.  Write a newspaper article that would appear in the local newspaper the day after Lennie and Curley’s wife are killed.

2. Write the conversation that George has with Slim over drinks after Lennie’s death.

3. React to the novel by writing a poem.  Your speaker might be Lennie or George or another character – or you. 

4. Rewrite a scene as it might have happened if another decision had been made or something else had happened.  For example:

a)    What if Candy had come in while Lennie was patting Curley’s wife’s head?

b)   What if Crooks hadn’t backed down when Curley’s wife turned nasty?

c)    What if the searchers had gotten to Lennie before George did?

5. Add a short episode to the story in which you appear.  (You might be a worker at the ranch, someone George meets in town, a relative of one of the men etc.)  How would you participate in the story?

6. Write a flashback scene to an earlier time that didn’t appear in the novel, but might have – such as Curley and his wife’s engagement or a scene from the days when Aunt Clara was taking care of George.

7. Write a detailed description of a day on the ranch.  Write it as though you are one of workers, you can be a character already in the book or you can be yourself.  You may want to describe what it was like the day George and Lennie arrived or a typical day in the field with them.  You may also want to write about George and Lennie’s last day on the ranch.

Post Colonial

Love After Love

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

Derek Walcott

 How is Marlow finding (grappling with) a dual identity in the wilderness?

EC: What do the rivets (or lack or rivets) represent?

"I was not surprised to see somebody sitting aft, on the deck, with his legs dangling over the mud. You see I rather chummed with the few mechanics there were in that station, whom the other pilgrims naturally despised -on account of their imperfect manners, I suppose. This was the foreman -a boiler-maker by trade -a good worker. He was a lank, bony, yellowfaced man, with big intense eyes. His aspect was worried, and his head was as bald as the palm of my hand; but his hair in falling seemed to have stuck to his chin, and had prospered in the new locality, for his beard hung down to his waist. He was a widower with six young children (he had left them in charge of a sister of his to come out there), and the passion of his life was pigeon-flying. He was an enthusiast and a connoisseur. He would rave about pigeons. After work hours he used sometimes to come over from his hut for a talk about his children and his pigeons; at work, when he had to crawl in the mud under the bottom of the steamboat, he would tie up that beard of his in a kind of white serviette he brought for the purpose. It had loops to go over his ears. In the evening he could be seen squatted on the bank rinsing that wrapper in the creek with great care, then spreading it solemnly on a bush to dry.

"I slapped him on the back and shouted, 'We shall have rivets!' He scrambled to his feet exclaiming, 'No! Rivets!' as though he couldn't believe his ears. Then in a low voice, 'You . . . eh?' I don't know why we behaved like lunatics. I put my finger to the side of my nose and nodded mysteriously. 'Good for you!' he cried, snapped his fingers above his head, lifting one foot. I tried a jig. We capered on the iron deck. A frightful clatter came out of that hulk, and the virgin forest on the other bank of the creek sent it back in a thundering roll upon the sleeping station. It must have made some of the pilgrims sit up in their hovels. A dark figure obscured the lighted doorway of the manager's hut, vanished, then, a second or so after, the doorway itself vanished, too. We stopped, and the silence driven away by the stamping of our feet flowed back again from the recesses of the land. The great wall of vegetation, an exuberant and entangled mass of trunks, branches, leaves, boughs, festoons, motionless in the moonlight, was like a rioting invasion of soundless life, a rolling wave of plants, piled up, crested, ready to topple over the creek, to sweep every little man of us out of his little existence. And it moved not. A deadened burst of mighty splashes and snorts reached us from afar, as though an ichthyosaurus had been taking a bath of glitter in the great river. 'After all,' said the boiler-maker in a reasonable tone, 'why shouldn't we get the rivets?' Why not, indeed! I did not know of any reason why we shouldn't. 'They'll come in three weeks,' I said, confidently.

"But they didn't. Instead of rivets there came an invasion, an infliction, a visitation. It came in sections during the next three weeks, each section headed by a donkey carrying a white man in new clothes and tan shoes, bowing from that elevation right and left to the impressed pilgrims. A quarrelsome band of footsore sulky niggers trod on the heels of the donkey; a lot of tents, campstools, tin boxes, white cases, brown bales would be shot down in the court-yard, and the air of mystery would deepen a little over the muddle of the station. Five such installments came, with their absurd air of disorderly flight with the loot of innumerable outfit shops and provision stores, that, one would think, they were lugging, after a raid, into the wilderness for equitable division. It was an inextricable mess of things decent in themselves but that human folly made look like the spoils of thieving.

"This devoted band called itself the Eldorado Exploring Expedition, and I believe they were sworn to secrecy. Their talk, however, was the talk of sordid buccaneers: it was reckless without hardihood, greedy without audacity, and cruel without courage; there was not an atom of foresight or of serious intention in the whole batch of them, and they did not seem aware these things are wanted for the work of the world. To tear treasure out of the bowels of the land was their desire, with no more moral purpose at the back of it than there is in burglars breaking into a safe. Who paid the expenses of the noble enterprise I don't know; but the uncle of our manager was leader of that lot . . .

"I had given up worrying myself about the rivets. One's capacity for that kind of folly is more limited than you would suppose. I said Hang! -and let things slide. I had plenty of time for meditation, and now and then I would give some thought to Kurtz. I wasn't very interested in him. No. Still, I was curious to see whether this man, who had come out equipped with moral ideas of some sort, would climb to the top after all and how he would set about his work when there."

 
Vocabulary: Ethnocentrism
Exotic
Other
Othering
Dual Identity