AP English Literature Unit Calendar: Civil Monsters Masquerading as Men: A Journey into the Heart of Darkness “We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness.” – Marlow, speaking of his quest to find Kurtz in Heart of Darkness “Horror has a face... and you must make a friend of horror…. [T]hese were not monsters, these were men... trained cadres. These men who fought with their hearts, who had families, who had children, who were filled with love ... but they had the strength ... to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling.” – Colonel Kurtz speaking to Captain Willard in Apocalypse Now “There’s many a beast then in a populous city, / And many a civil monster.” – Iago, speaking to Othello in Othello “If you only knew the power of the dark side.” – Darth Vader, speaking to Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back “Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.” – Yoda, speaking to Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi "Everyone carries a shadow," wrote psychologist Carl Jung, "and the less it is embodied in the individual's conscious life, the blacker and denser it is." Jungian psychology refers to this unknown dark side of the personality as “the shadow archetype,” and it manifests itself symbolically in literature and film in the form of actual characters who serve as dark shadows of the protagonists. Darth Vader, Lord Voldemort, and Gollum, for instance, all serve as literal antagonists, respectively, to Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter, and Frodo Baggins, but they also act as figurative shadows of the heroes themselves. They all represent the subconscious dark sides of the heroes’ personalities, and all three characters struggle to avoid giving in to this darker nature. Pay attention to a similar dichotomy between light and dark as we study Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness and William Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello (and the film adaptations of these texts). The former text follows the protagonist on a literal quest into the heart of Africa to find an ivory trader named Kurtz, but the story is really a psychological journey into the dark side of human nature. The latter text presents the tragic downfall of the noble Othello at the hands of the conniving Iago, but the story is really a psychological exploration of what causes a civil man to become a murderous monster. While reading these stories, look for glimpses of yourself in these characters. Do you have a dark side, a shadow? Are you merely a monster masquerading as a man? Anchor Texts: Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness; William Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello Supplementary Texts: Francis Ford Coppola’s film adaptation of Heart of Darkness (Apocalypse Now); Kenneth Branagh’s film adaptation of Othello; Various poetry/prose selections for AP essay analysis Permission Slip: Apocalypse Now and Othello As part of our current unit, we will be viewing scenes from Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 film Apocalypse Now (based on Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness) and Kenneth Branagh’s 1995 film version of William Shakespeare’s Othello. Both films are rated R and thus require parent permission: _____ My son/daughter ______________________________________ has permission to watch scenes from these films in class. _____ My son/daughter ______________________________________ does not have permission to watch scenes from these films in class. (He/she will not be penalized in any way for not participating.) Parent signature: _________________________________________________________________________________________ 1/4/16 1/5/16 1/6/16 1/7/16 1/8/16 TEACHER WORK DAY – NO SCHOOL AP Essay #6 Prompt Analysis (Heart of Darkness opening scene) AP Essay #6 Prompt Analysis (Heart of Darkness opening scene) AP Essay #6 Prompt Analysis (Heart of Darkness opening scene) AP Essay #6 Prompt Analysis (Heart of Darkness opening scene) Unit Introduction Read Heart of Darkness, Ch. 1, pp. 1-5 & work on DRJ (10 entries per chapter for 30 total) Read Heart of Darkness, Ch. 1, pp. 610 & work on DRJ (10 entries per chapter for 30 total) Preview this semester’s senior project assignments Begin Heart of Darkness MWDS (5 entries per chapter for 15 total) Read Heart of Darkness, Ch. 1, pp. 1115 & work on DRJ (10 entries per chapter for 30 total) 1/11/16 1/12/16 1/13/16 1/14/16 1/15/16 Open-Ended 4T Thesis (prep for AP Essay #7) Open-Ended 4T Thesis (prep for AP Essay #7) Open-Ended 4T Thesis (prep for AP Essay #7) Open-Ended 4T Thesis (prep for AP Essay #7) Open-Ended 4T Thesis (prep for AP Essay #7) Quiz: Heart of Darkness, Ch. 1 Socratic Seminar #1: Heart of Darkness, Ch. 1 (5 MWDS entries due) Vocabulary Quiz #14 Read Heart of Darkness, Ch. 1, pp. 21-26 & work on DRJ (10 entries per chapter for 30 total) Read Heart of Darkness, Ch. 2, pp. 27-31 & work on DRJ (10 entries per chapter for 30 total) Read Heart of Darkness, Ch. 2, pp. 3236 & work on DRJ (10 entries per chapter for 30 total) 1/18/16 1/19/16 1/20/16 1/21/16 1/22/16 Open-Ended 4T Thesis (prep for AP Essay #7) Open-Ended 4T Thesis (prep for AP Essay #7) Open-Ended 4T Thesis (prep for AP Essay #7) Open-Ended 4T Thesis (prep for AP Essay #7) Open-Ended 4T Thesis (prep for AP Essay #7) Quiz: Heart of Darkness, Ch. 2 Socratic Seminar #2: Heart of Darkness, Ch. 2 (10 MWDS entries due) Vocabulary Quiz #15 Read Heart of Darkness, Ch. 2, pp. 37-48 & work on DRJ (10 entries per chapter for 30 total) Read Heart of Darkness, Ch. 3, pp. 49-53 & work on DRJ (10 entries per chapter for 30 total) Read Heart of Darkness, Ch. 3, pp. 5458 & work on DRJ (10 entries per chapter for 30 total) Read Heart of Darkness, Ch. 1, pp. 16-20 & work on DRJ (10 entries per chapter for 30 total) View scenes from Apocalypse Now Weekly vocabulary list due (first one will be done together) AP Essay #7 Prompt Analysis AP Essay #6 (Prose) due to turnitin.com by 11:59 pm MLK HOLIDAY – NO SCHOOL Weekly vocabulary list due View scenes from Apocalypse Now Senior Project Work Day 1/25/16 1/26/16 1/27/16 1/28/16 1/29/16 AP Essay #8 Prompt Analysis (Poetry Compare/Contrast) AP Essay #8 Prompt Analysis (Poetry Compare/Contrast) Quiz: Heart of Darkness, Ch. 3 Socratic Seminar #3: Heart of Darkness, Ch. 3 (15 MWDS entries due) TEST: Heart of Darkness Read Heart of Darkness, Ch. 3, pp. 59-63 & work on DRJ (10 entries per chapter for 30 total) Read Heart of Darkness, Ch. 3, pp. 64-70 & work on DRJ (10 entries per chapter for 30 total) View scenes from Apocalypse Now Submit MWDS & DRJ to Turnitin.com by 11:59 pm After test: Begin Othello MWDS (3 entries per act for 15 total) No vocabulary list/quiz this week due to Friday’s test AP Essay #7 (OpenEnded) due to turnitin.com by 11:59 pm 2/1/15-2/5/16 Prep for AP Essay #8: Comparison/Contrast of Eliot’s “The Hollow Men” & Hughes’ “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” Review of Heart of Darkness multiple choice passages (paired thematically with scenes from Apocalypse Now) Vocabulary Quiz #15 2/8/15 2/9/15 2/10/15 2/11/15 2/12/15 AP Essay #8 Prompt Analysis (Poetry Compare/Contrast) AP Essay #8 Prompt Analysis (Poetry Compare/Contrast) AP Essay #8 Prompt Analysis (Poetry Compare/Contrast) AP Essay #8 Prompt Analysis (Poetry Compare/Contrast) AP Essay #8 Prompt Analysis (Poetry Compare/Contrast) Weekly vocabulary list due Staged Reading: Othello 1.2 & work on DRJ (5 entries per act for 25 total) Staged Reading: Othello 1.3 & work on DRJ (5 entries per act for 25 total) Quiz: Othello, Act I Vocabulary Quiz #16 View scenes from film version of Othello Staged Reading: Othello 2.1-2 & work on DRJ (5 entries per act for 25 total) 2/15/15 2/16/15 2/17/15 2/18/15 2/19/15 WINTER BREAK WINTER BREAK WINTER BREAK WINTER BREAK WINTER BREAK 2/22/15 2/23/15 2/24/15 2/25/15 2/26/15 Open-Ended 4T Thesis (prep for AP Essay #9) Open-Ended 4T Thesis (prep for AP Essay #9) Open-Ended 4T Thesis (prep for AP Essay #9) Open-Ended 4T Thesis (prep for AP Essay #9) Open-Ended 4T Thesis (prep for AP Essay #9) Staged Reading: Othello 1.1 & work on DRJ (5 entries per act for 25 total) Vocabulary Quiz #17 Weekly vocabulary list due Staged Reading: Othello 2.3 & work on DRJ (5 entries per act for 25 total) Quiz: Othello, Act II View scenes from film version of Othello Staged Reading: Othello 3.1-2 & work on DRJ (5 entries per act for 25 total) Staged Reading: Othello 3.3-4 & work on DRJ (5 entries per act for 25 total) Senior Project Work Day AP Essay #8 (Poetry) due to turnitin.com by 11:59 pm 2/29/16 3/1/16 3/2/16 3/3/16 3/4/16 Open-Ended 4T Thesis (prep for AP Essay #9) Open-Ended 4T Thesis (prep for AP Essay #9) Open-Ended 4T Thesis (prep for AP Essay #9) Open-Ended 4T Thesis (prep for AP Essay #9) Open-Ended 4T Thesis (prep for AP Essay #9) Quiz: Othello, Act III Staged Reading: Othello 4.1-2 & work on DRJ (5 entries per act for 25 total) Staged Reading: Othello 4.3-5.1 & work on DRJ (5 entries per act for 25 total) Vocabulary Quiz #18 Socratic Seminar #1: Othello, Acts I-III (9 MWDS entries due) View scenes from film version of Othello 3/7/16 3/8/16 3/9/16 3/10/16 3/11/16 AP Essay #10 Prompt Analysis AP Essay #10 Prompt Analysis AP Essay #10 Prompt Analysis TEST: Othello No vocabulary list/quiz this week due to Friday’s test Quiz: Othello, Acts IV-V Socratic Seminar #2: Othello, Acts IV-V (15 MWDS entries due) Weekly vocabulary list due Staged Reading: Othello 5.2 & work on DRJ (5 entries per act for 25 total) AP Essay #9 (OpenEnded) due to turnitin.com by 11:59 pm View scenes from film version of Othello Senior Project 15-1515 Blog Check Due (including picture of product) Unit Introduction: TBA Submit MWDS & DRJ to Turnitin.com by 11:59 pm