Lit Openers
Episode 12: Heart of Darkness
by Joseph Conrad
Part of the Lit Openers Series | Episode 12: Heart of Darkness
In this YouTube Short, we pose two critical questions regarding Conrad's choice of setting in the first line.
Methodology for Opening Line Analysis:
Context: Establishing the historical setting.
Tone: Identifying the narrator's perspective.
Symbolism: Spotting early motifs (e.g., the Thames).
Lit Openers Ep 12 Heart of Darkness ANSWERS
Created for LnT
by Anna Maria Bellomo
Former High School English Teacher
Created for LnT
by Anna Maria Bellomo
Former High School English Teacher
Interactive Biography Chart
ESSENTIAL BIOGRAPHIC INFO |
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| Author Name: | Joseph Conrad born Jósef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski | |
| Pseudonym: | ||
| Nickname: | Konrad (his childhood name) / "The Polish Sailor" | |
| Date of Birth: | 3rd December 1857 | |
| Place of Birth: | Berdychiv, Ukraine (then part of the Russian Empire) | |
| Date of Death: | 3rd August 1924 | |
| Time Period: | Late Victorian Age | |
| Type of Education: | largely home-schooled by his father and private tutors. School/University St. Anne's High School (Kraków); Boarding house for orphans (Lwów). Places lived Ukraine, Russia (Vologda), Poland (Kraków), France (Marseilles), England (London, Kent). Peculiar events Attempted suicide in 1878; 20 years as a sailor in the French and British Merchant Navies; didn't learn English until his 20s. | |
| School/University: | St. Anne's High School (Kraków); Boarding house for orphans (Lwów). | |
| Places where the author lived: | Ukraine, Russia (Vologda), Poland (Kraków), France (Marseilles), England (London, Kent). | |
| Peculiar events: | Attempted suicide in 1878; 20 years as a sailor in the French and British Merchant Navies; didn't learn English until his 20s. | |
LITERARY PRODUCTION |
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Main works |
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| Complete title: | "Heart of Darkness" (1899/1902) | |
| Genre: | Novella, Psychological novella, Colonial novella | |
| Synthesis: | Charles Marlow travels up the Congo River to meet Kurtz, an ivory trader and best agent of the company, who is sick. The journey serves as a critique of European imperialism and an exploration of the darkness in the human soul. | |
Other works |
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| Title: | "Lord Jim" (1900) | |
| Genre: | Adventure novel | |
| Brief Synthesis: | A young sailor abandons a sinking ship in a moment of cowardice and spends his life seeking redemption in a remote Malay settlement. | |
| Title: | "Nostromo" (1904) | |
| Genre: | Political Novel | |
| Brief Synthesis: | Set in the fictional South American country of Costaguana, it explores themes of revolution, capitalism, and the corrupting power of silver. | |
| Title: | "The Secret Agent" (1907) | |
| Genre: | Political novel, thriller | |
| Brief Synthesis: | A novel about espionage and anarchism in London, focusing on a double agent's failed attempt to blow up the Greenwich Observatory. | |
This lesson is part of a 12-episode methodological series by Ms. Anna Maria Bellomo, Former High School English Teacher.