Core Humanities Seminar, spring 2002
Paper e

This paper is an opportunity to consider rewriting. Books—and works of art more generally—often use previous works as starting points. Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is one of the works that has been revisited many times by later writers (and other artists). In this paper, consider one of the "revisions" or "echoes" of Heart of Darkness—Eliot’s "Hollow Men," Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, or O’Brien’s "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong," or the Gang of Four’s "We Live as We Dream, Alone." Your paper should consider how the later work adapts and uses Conrad’s work—to critique, re-examine, answer, and echo its issues. A couple of questions it may be helpful to keep in mind are:
1) Why has the new work returned to Heart of Darkness in particular; why does the old work seem to speak to the new subject?
2) What happens to the original work when it is "rewritten" in new terms; do its meanings change; how are they adapted? (These are suggestions; use them if they are helpful.)

This paper will have two stages. First a rough draft is due by Monday, 3/25. After you’ve written your draft, you should make an "x-ray" of it (see editing worksheet). I will meet with each of you in an individual conference to discuss your draft. (We will not have regular class on Monday.)

Papers should be 3-4 pages, double-spaced, in a standard font, with standard margins, etc. Title pages are not necessary.

The revised final draft is due on Wednesday, 3/27.