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Literature and the New Imperialism
A Learning Activity—0-40 points
Rudyard Kipling: 1865-1936
Rudyard Kipling was one of Britain’s favorite poets and novelists of the late 19th and early 20 th centuries.
Today he is best known for his children’s stories, Kim, The Jungle Book, and the poem “Gunga Din”. Born in India to
English parents and schooled in England, Kipling’s stories and poems about life in the British colonial empire led to
his early popularity. In 1907 Kipling became the first English writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Kipling wrote “The White Man’s Burden” in 1899, as a poem to guide the United States as it considered how
to govern the Philippines, a prize won in the Spanish American War. While some literary experts interpreted the
poem as a satire of imperialist attitudes, other critics blasted it for promoting racism and elitism.
With the outbreak of World War I, opposition to imperialism increased and Kipling’s once shining star faded.
Nevertheless, “The White Man’s Burden” continues to be quoted today in the debate about the United States’ use of
military power in Iraq and Afghanistan with the purpose of fighting terrorism and spreading democracy.
“The White Man’s Burden”:
Rallying Cry for Imperialism or Satire—You Decide
“The Black Man’s Burden”:
Analysis of an Essay
There are two parts to this assignment.
PART 1: Literary Analysis—25 points
 I will organize you into teams of 2 or 3 students.
 Each student should read carefully the poem “The White Man’s Burden” by Rudyard Kipling and the essay,
“The Black Man’s Burden by E.D. Morel on the following pages.
 As a group review the questions for the two literary works and decide if your group wants to analyze Kipling’s
poem or Morel’s essay.
 Discuss and then write your answers—in sentence form—to the questions that apply to Kipling’s poem or
Morel’s essay
 This section is worth up to 25 points. You will be graded how well you follow directions, include concrete
details in your answers, and construct your answers in complete sentences.
PART 2: Poetry Reading or Oral Presentation—15 points
a. If your group has chosen to analyze “The White Man’s Burden” you will also prepare an oral interpretation
(reading) of the poem to the class.
 Each student will recite a section of the poem. You are not required to memorize the poem, but you must
practice your reading so that you deliver a smooth and meaningful presentation.
 After reciting the poem your team must also briefly summarize its interpretation (from question 8a). Your
summary must quote at least two lines from the poem to support your team’s analysis.
 In conclusion you should state how your reading of the two literary works has influenced your view of
colonialism
b. If your team has chosen to analyze “The Black Man’s Burden” you must present a 5-minute summary of your
analysis to the class
 Your presentation must include a visual aide with a picture that you believe represents Morel’s view of
colonialism in Africa
 The picture may be hand-drawn or clipped from a magazine or the Internet—paste the picture onto newsprint
or insert an Internet image into one PowerPoint slide
 Your presentation must quote two passages from Morel’s essay to support your analysis. State each quote
and then explain what you think it means
 In conclusion, each student should summarize how reading the two literary works have influenced his or her
view of colonialism, (from question 4b)
This section is worth up to 15 points.
For "The White Man’s Burden”
0-5 points: posture and voice projection
0-5 points: evidence that the reading was rehearsed by presenting a smooth reading and vocal interpretation
of the words
0-5 points: summary supported by quotations from the poem
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For “The Black Man’s Burden”
0-5 points: posture and voice projection
0-5 points: visual aide (newsprint or one PowerPoint slide) represents the Morel’s point of view
0-5 points: oral summary supported by at least 2 quotes from the essay
IMPORTANT: Any student who is absent during one or more days the class is working on this project must
complete the questions for Kipling’s poem and Morel’s essay as an individual activity. The questions must
be completed using a computer.
White Man’s Burden” by Rudyard Kipling (1899)
29
The ports ye shall not enter,
The roads ye shall not tread,
Go mark them with your living,
And mark them with your dead.
33
Take up the White Man's burden—
And reap his old reward:
The blame of those ye better,
The hate of those ye guard—
The cry of hosts ye humour
(Ah, slowly!) toward the light:—
"Why brought he us from bondage,
Our loved Egyptian night?"
1
Take up the White Man's burden—
Send forth the best ye breed—
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
5
To wait in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild—
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child.
37
Take up the White Man's burden—
In patience to abide,
To veil the threat of terror
And check the show of pride;
40
By open speech and simple,
An hundred times made plain
To seek another's profit,
And work another's gain.
Take up the White Man's burden—
Ye dare not stoop to less—
Nor call too loud on Freedom
To cloke your weariness;
45
Take up the White Man's burden—
The savage wars of peace—
Fill full the mouth of Famine
And bid the sickness cease;
By all ye cry or whisper,
By all ye leave or do,
The silent, sullen peoples
Shall weigh your gods and you.
49
Take up the White Man's burden—
Have done with childish days—
The lightly proferred laurel,
The easy, ungrudged praise.
53
Comes now, to search your manhood
Through all the thankless years
Cold, edged with dear-bought wisdom,
The judgment of your peers!
9
13
17
21
25
And when your goal is nearest
The end for others sought,
Watch sloth and heathen Folly
Bring all your hopes to nought.
Take up the White Man's burden—
No tawdry rule of kings,
But toil of serf and sweeper—
The tale of common things.
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“The Black Man's Burden” by Edward Morel, (1903)
Edward Morel, a British journalist in the Belgian Congo, drew attention to the abuses of imperialism in
1903 with the following response to Rudyard Kipling’s famous poem “The White Man’s Burden.”
It is [the Africans] who carry the 'Black man's burden'. They have not withered away before the white
man's occupation. Indeed ... Africa has ultimately absorbed within itself every Caucasian and, for that
matter, every Semitic invader, too. In hewing out for himself a fixed abode in Africa, the white man has
massacred the African in heaps. The African has survived, and it is well for the white settlers that he has....
What the partial occupation of his soil by the white man has failed to do; what the mapping out of
European political 'spheres of influence' has failed to do; what the Maxim and the rifle, the slave gang,
labour in the bowels of the earth and the lash, have failed to do; what imported measles, smallpox and
syphilis have failed to do; whatever the overseas slave trade failed to do, the power of modern capitalistic
exploitation, assisted by modern engines of destruction, may yet succeed in accomplishing.
For from the evils of the latter, scientifically applied and enforced, there is no escape for the African. Its
destructive effects are not spasmodic: they are permanent. In its permanence resides its fatal consequences.
It kills not the body merely, but the soul. It breaks the spirit. It attacks the African at every turn, from every
point of vantage. It wrecks his polity, uproots him from the land, invades his family life, destroys his
natural pursuits and occupations, claims his whole time, enslaves him in his own home....
…In Africa, especially in tropical Africa, which a capitalistic imperialism threatens and has, in part,
already devastated, man is incapable of reacting against unnatural conditions. In those regions man is
engaged in a perpetual struggle against disease and an exhausting climate, which tells heavily upon child
bearing; and there is no scientific machinery for salving the weaker members of the community. The
African of the tropics is capable of tremendous physical labours. But he cannot accommodate himself to
the European system of monotonous, uninterrupted labour, with its long and regular hours, involving,
moreover, as it frequently does, severance from natural surroundings and nostalgia, the condition of
melancholy resulting from separation from home, a malady to which the African is specially prone.
Climatic conditions forbid it. When the system is forced upon him, the tropical African droops and dies.
Nor is violent physical opposition to abuse and injustice henceforth possible for the African in any part of
Africa. His chances of effective resistance have been steadily dwindling with the increasing perfectibility
in the killing power of modern armament...
Thus the African is really helpless against the material gods of the white man, as embodied in the trinity of
imperialism, capitalistic exploitation, and militarism...
To reduce all the varied and picturesque and stimulating episodes in savage life to a dull routine of endless
toil for uncomprehended ends, to dislocate social ties and disrupt social institutions; to stifle nascent desires
and crush mental development; to graft upon primitive passions the annihilating evils of scientific slavery,
and the bestial imaginings of civilized man, unrestrained by convention or law; in fine, to kill the soul in a
people-this is a crime which transcends physical murder.
Source:
Edward Morel, “The Black Man’s Burden, Internet Internet Modern History Sourcebook, Fordham
University, ed. Halsall, Paul, Web, 3/29/06 http://www.fordham.edu/halsall
/mod/1903blackburden.html
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Print first and last names of every member of the team:
You may write your answers on separate sheets of paper---just write the number of the question by your
answer
Questions for “The White Man’s Burden:
1a. What was "the white man's burden"?
2a. What did Kipling mean by "Go bind your sons to exile"?
3a. Who were the "Your new-caught sullen peoples, Half-devil and half-child", and what do you think
these lines reveal about Kipling’s belief about these people?
4a. What is meant by the phrase "To seek another's profit, And work another's gain"?
5a. What does Kipling predict will happen "when your goal is nearest"?
6a. According to this poem, what rewards will the white man reap for his efforts?
7a. The poem was written as advice to the United States which was emerging as a world power in the late
19th and early 20th centuries. How does the expansion of U.S. power relate to the three lines toward the end
of the poem that begin with: “Have done with childish days—…”
8a Does the poem reflect colonialist sentiments or a satire of colonialism. Quote two specific excerpts
from the poem, and write commentary for each that explains your point of view.
Questions for “The Black Man’s Burden:
1b. Describe three of the examples of mistreatment of native Africans that Morel argues were inflicted by
European colonists. Use quotes from the essay to support your answer.
2b. What does Morel fear will be the effect of “modern capitalistic expansion assisted by the modern
engines of destruction”?
3b. In your own words, explain what Morel means by “…a crime that transcends physical murder.” In
constructing your answer, cite specific examples from Morel’s essay.
4b. Write a paragraph (2-chunk) about how your opinion of colonialism has been influenced by reading
these two literary works. Do you agree with Kipling or Morel in their points of view? Support your essay
with specific quotes from the literary works of the authors.
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Grading Checklist
Print Names of the members of your team:
____
_________________
Check one: Our team will analyze and present: ___ “The White Man’s Burden” ___ “The Black Man’s Burden”
Grading for Part I—Written Analysis:
Points
Grading criteria
0-10 points
Thoughtful responses to all questions that include
quotations from the poem or essay and commentary
0-10 points
Responses were well organized and written in good
sentence form with no errors in grammar, spelling,
punctuation and capitalization
0-5 points
The Part I analysis demonstrates effective teamwork and
was turned in by the assigned deadline.
Grading for Part II—Oral Presentation:
Points
Grading criteria
0-5 points
Posture and voice projection
Points and Comments
Points and Comments
0-5points
WMB—practice and smooth recitation
BMB—creates effective visual aide
0-5 points
Thoughtful commentary supported by quotations from the
poem or essay
TOTAL: PART I_________ + PART II__________ = __________ POINTS
Grading Checklist
Print Names of the members of your team
Check one: Our team will analyze and present: ___ “The White Man’s Burden”
Grading for Part I—Written Analysis:
Points
Grading criteria
0-10 points
Thoughtful responses to all questions that include
quotations from the poem or essay and commentary
0-10 points
Responses were well organized and written in good
sentence form with no errors in grammar, spelling,
punctuation and capitalization
0-5 points
The Part I analysis demonstrates effective teamwork and
was turned in by the assigned deadline.
Grading for Part II—Oral Presentation:
Points
Grading criteria
0-5 points
Posture and voice projection
___ “The Black Man’s Burden”
Points and Comments
Points and Comments
0-5points
WMB—practice and smooth recitation
BMB—creates effective visual aide
0-5 points
Thoughtful commentary supported by quotations from
the poem or essay
TOTAL: PART I_________ + PART II__________ = __________ POINTS
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