Worksheet blog: The River

Marlow's journey is coursed out by the Congo River. The River leads Marlow from destination to destination. As he travels more he learns about the Congo and the people with him. He is also travling in farthing into darkness wHowever the River is much more then just a River. The River acts as a path to Marlow's inner self. He learns that the people he meets now, he is able to familiarize himself with more than the people back in England. In a way, the river allowed to make connections that were not possible before.

psychological significance of journey

Conrad sets Marlow through a physically exhausting journey through the river and Congo. Marlow's journey quickly becomes a psychological journey, by having to have morals. But as he goes farther and farther into "the heart of darkness" his emotions start to take over and his whole journey is at risk. As the narration of Marlow becomes more disorganized we begin to learn that he is over coming his need for such a stable life style and understands what is is like to live in the Congo. He becomes more sarcastic throughout and shows his change through his narration.

#6

Marlow describes a painting of a women whom is blindfolded and holding a torch. The blindfold and torch are 2 contrasting symbols which Marlow emphasizes. The symbols represent the events going on in Africa and European nations, by showing that Europeans are leading Africans down the wrong path.

#2

Marlow begins 'Heart of Darkness' with the account of "very old times, when the Romans first came here" because it foreshadows the upcoming events of the novel. As the Romans came to London, they colonized the land and became a part of London. His journey to Africa will represent the same type of movement of people into a new world.

Tone/Mood

Mood and Tone are the backbone and the face of a poem. They are what a poem is trying to convey to an audience. Often Poetic devices are used to support the tone and mood. For example in To His Coy Mistress, by Andrew Marvell, the mood was a sense of urgency. Word choice often alters the mood depending on the nature of the word. "worms" and "ashes" are two words which give the poem an altered mood of disgust and gives the poem a negative feeling.

Diction

Diction often sets a tone for a poem. By saying certain things in certain ways, a poem can have a specific meaning that derives from the Diction of a poem. Punctuation often is important along with word choice. Words have different implications when said certain ways, which in essence is diction. In An Athlete Dying Young, there is a simple diction that goes along with the serious situation of the athlete. Diction creates a picture in the reader head through the simplistic diction which makes this poem a more capturing poem, all made possible by diction.

Imagery and Figurative Language

Imagery and figurative language are used in poetry to help the audience further understand the meaning of a poem. Once a readers senses are activated he or she becomes more engaged in the reading and thus is able to understand its point more clearly. In To the Virgins, "To-morrow will be dying" is an image of a day dying, which is used to support the theme of carpe diem, showing that time is young and it needs to be taken advantage of.