Heart of Darkness and Research Topic Idea

In the Heart of Darkness essay I am writing about how Conrad displays his value and belief that white men always need to hold power over the native Africans to, in their mind, fulfill their obligation to be a  leader to a group they view as uncivilized. I will go into detail about how the white men view the African people as undomesticated animals who are weak, powerless, and helpless. I was thinking of contrasting the physical feature descriptions of the Africans to the physical features of the white men, specifically Kurtz. I was going to use the quote when they describe his head to show how much everyone venerated him and all the power he held. Then I was going to tie these two descriptions and outlooks together to show how the white man's physical features let the reader know who is in charge and has power. But more importantly how they use that power to justify their invasion into Africa and disrupting the lives of the Africans because they do not operate the same way they do in Europe.

A topic for my research paper I was thinking of doing was how has technology changed the delivery of health care? I know its pretty general topic but I was thinking of looking at specific areas such as the positive and negative impacts on jobs, the level of safety in the production of drugs, and how little communities like Bemidji are in contact with people on the other side of the world for medical advise. Any suggestions to narrow it down would be great!

In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the Africans are looked down upon and treated horribly by the white invaders coming into their nation so much so they are dehumanized.  A quote within the story portraying the dehumanizing attitude towards the black people is:  "A lot of people, mostly black and naked, moved about like ants" (Conrad, 80).  The fact that the Africans were almost naked dehumanizes them because much like animals who show nothing but their skin, these people were not given the necessitates they needed to survive in the African climate.  If anything would happened to them due to the lack of clean and plentiful clothes, no one would particularly care.  This attitude relates to the way humans treat their animals.  Another way the reader sees dehumanization through this quote is by the way they refer to the black people as ants.  This shows the reader the attitude that the white people hold of themselves, they see themselves as ultimately powerful, far superior, mighty, and in total control of the course of the African's life.  The comparison to an ant shows how they view the Africans as powerless and insignificant.  They don't see these people as human beings they dehumanize them by allowing them to wear very little clothing and to be compared to an insect crawling on the ground.  Throughout Heart of Darkness the white invaders try to colonize African villages but they do it in a way that  focuses the power onto them so they are able to dehumanize these people in order to maintain this power.  

In Agatha McGee and the St. Isidore Seven and Rufus at the Door the main women in these stories play masculine roles to have authority and power over situations.  In Dodgers Return, the main character, Ross, fails to portray masculine traits making him appear to be weak and hold no significant value or power in the outcome of Dodgers life, even if he thinks he did.  Hassler indirectly states that you need to take on the male stereotypical traits of being bold and having control over situations in order to have any sort of power. Through these three stories John Hassler portrays the role of power only through characters who take on masculine roles.

Anniversary

In the short story Anniversary, Jon Hassler presents a man with the stereotypical need for control, but the story reveals the control he is fighting for is within himself.  

The narrator thrives on his control through using red ink:  "Red puts everything else in the background" (37, Hessler).  He used red ink to put his words, opinions, and thoughts above and in front of all others.  In a way it’s overbearing, but it is what he needs to feel as if he is in control.  He uses the power of the red ink to mask his feelings of aimlessness caused by the conflict within him.  The inner conflict, indirectly stated, is how he is dealing with stages of dementia.  This conflict prevents him from being able to remember much of anything anymore.  “Angeline’s? Who is Angeline?” (Hassler, 38).  This quote shows the narrator’s confusion and lack of memory because we later come to know that Angeline is his daughter-in-law.  What the reader infers through reading the letter that Angeline wrote to the narrator was that they were close and connected.  This is shown when her letter starts with “Dear Dad” (Hassler, 40).  By saying “Dad”, the reader can see the daughterly love and connection these two have.  The connection is weakened, if not nonexistent altogether because the narrator isn't in control of his own memories and doesn't even know who she is.  His character vs self conflict is different because he doesn't know he is dealing with it. But the reader picks up on it and it plays on our emotions because he can't remember certain important people in his life.  He desperately needs to reread letters and papers and mark them up with his red ink to maintain his authority over what he can still control. The narrator encompasses the  male stereotypical desire to be in control and through this character vs self conflict you see how far and what means he goes to maintain that sense of control.

To revise this paper I restated my thesis to make it clearer and I set it up more to talk about the rest of my paper.  I shortened my first quote to only say the most important part.  I realized by peer reviewing other people's papers, I had understood the story differently.  Instead of understanding it as the time was passing him by, I took it more literal and thought he had dementia.  So in my revision I really went into more detail and found examples to why I thought dementia was occurring. I really emphasized that aspect of the paper and tied the lens back in at the end better.  I chose this paper because it was the one that I put the most revision into to try to make my outlook on the story more understandable.  

        In the film “The Third Man” the director uses the actor’s positioning in the light and shadows to confirm the audience’s growing suspicion of the evil deeds Harry Lime does to maintain power and wealth.  

        About half way through the movie, the audience learns the truth of the horrifying actions Harry Lime does to make his money and to feel as if he is in power.  His fingerprints on viles prove he is responsible for diluting penicillin, which in turn kills the people who use it.  As the movie progresses Harry Lime’s image get worse and his power becomes less.  When Holly Martins finally is able to talk to him face-to-face, Harry’s body positioning reaffirms the evil image that was painted for the audience.  In this scene, Holly has his back facing the camera but his head is turned left in a way to subconsciously hint to the audience that he is harmful.  His body is casted under dark shadow, but his face is lit up from the sun shining through the windows.  The positioning of the shadow covering the majority of his body and the sly, confident way he talks to Holly in this confrontation represents the dark, evil actions he does to keep his power over people.  His confident voice reflects his attitude that he isn’t sorry for what he’s done, in fact, he thinks faking his death was genius.  When the bright sunlight covers only his face it can represent an interrogation room.  Harry is put on the spot by Holly and all the questions he imposes, just like an interrogation room.  When Harry finds out the police know that it isn’t him buried, the sunlight highlights the nervousness and lack of confidence that hits him in that moment.  In the smallest moment of panic the bright light is able to enhance that feeling of lack of power Harry Lime felt.  This lighting and body positioning confirms the evil picture painted of Harry throughout the movie, it shows how he used harmful ways to gain his power over others.      

Snow White

In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, I noticed that Snow White was depicted as the stereotypical woman.  Through the cinematic techniques the audience sees how Snow White encompasses many of the characteristics of a stereotypical woman, such as being gentle, nurturing, cleaning house, and having the need to be rescued by a strong handsome man. 

The characteristics of being gentle and nurturing are portrayed through the sound and lighting.  Snow White voice is higher pitched giving her a friendly feel to the audience.  Her voice is also soft, letting the audience and characters in the movie know she is inviting, caring, and gentle.  The lighting around Snow White brings out the warm yellow color of her clothes to give the whole atmosphere a calm feel to it. 

Because Snow White seems to inviting and friendly the animals lead her to the dwarfs’ home.  When she enters she instantly notices how dusty it is and all the laundry lying around.  This is shown to the audience from the camera panning around the room and tilting when displaying the high piles of dirty dishes.  Her first reaction is feeling bad because they don’t have a mother to do the cleaning and to take care of the house, so she feels it is now her obligation to do the dishes, sweep the floors, and get rid of all the cob webs.  This depiction is a stereotypical woman trait.

In the end Snow White is saved from death by the price.  In this scene the lighting around her depicts her beauty that the prince was drawn to in the first place.  The price is first seen from a low angle making the audience feel as if he is powerful and able to help.  After the kiss and her eyes open the music picks up pace for a joyful feeling.  Without question she leaves with the price for a happy ending.  Snow White’s stereotypical helplessness and need to be rescued is what this movie depicts as the only way to have a happy ending.  

I have enjoyed all the TED talks so far, but Hanna's TED talk really got my attention. 

Hanna delivered it perfectly.  Her speaking was very smooth, it was the right speed and the perfect volume.  Her whole presentation was organized and easy to follow.  She incorporated funny and difficult memories which I felt gave her presentation a well-rounded representation of all the roles being a big sister requires you to be.  I liked how she explained the roles in a lot of detail and with examples.  I also really liked the use of pictures.  Her whole presentation flowed really smoothly and you could really tell how much being a big sister meant to her. 

Although I don't have an older sister, I do have an older brother who I am really close with.  Throughout her presentation and the stories she told it reminded me of my brother and similar situations that we've gone through.  Even though she is in the opposite position in a sibling relationship I was still able to relate it to my own older brother to see where their actions are similar and where they are different

Overall I think Hanna did a great job! She was really easy to listen to and she kept me intrigued the whole time.