Academic standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.1
- Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.4
- Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grades 11-12 reading and content, choosing flexibly...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.5
- Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.6
- Acquire and use accurately general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 11-CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze how an...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.10
- By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 11-CCR text complexity band...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.9
- Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.1
- Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.10
- Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.2
- Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.3
- Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.4
- Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience....
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.9
- Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
- CLE 3003.1.1
- Demonstrate control of Standard English through grammar usage and mechanics (punctuation, capitalization, and spelling).
- CLE 3003.1.2
- Employ a variety of strategies and resources to determine the definition,
pronunciation, etymology, spelling, and usage of words and phrases.
- CLE 3003.3.1
- Write in a variety of modes, with particular emphasis on persuasion, for
different purposes and audiences.
- CLE 3003.3.3
- Organize ideas into an essay with a thesis statement in the introduction, well-constructed paragraphs, a conclusion, and transition sentences that connect...
- CLE 3003.5.1
- Use logic to make inferences and draw conclusions in a variety of complex
oral and written contexts.
- CLE 3003.6.1
- Comprehend and summarize the main ideas of complex informational texts
and determine the essential elements that elaborate them.
- CLE 3003.6.3
- Read, interpret, and analyze graphics that support complex informational and
technical texts.
- CLE 3003.8.1
- Demonstrate knowledge of significant works of American literature from the
colonial period to the present and make relevant comparisons.
- CLE 3003.8.4
- Analyze works of American literature for what is suggested about the
historical period in which they were written.
- CLE 3003.8.5
- Know and use appropriate literary terms to derive meaning and comprehension from various literary genres.
- CLE 3005.1.1
- Demonstrate control of Standard English through grammar usage and
mechanics (punctuation, capitalization, and spelling).
- CLE 3005.1.2
- Employ a variety of strategies and resources to determine the definition,
pronunciation, etymology, spelling, and usage of words and phrases.
- CLE 3005.3.1
- Write in a variety of modes for different purposes and audiences.
- CLE 3005.3.3
- Organize ideas into an essay with a thesis statement in the introduction, well-constructed paragraphs, a conclusion, and transition sentences that connect...
- CLE 3005.6.1
- Comprehend and summarize the main ideas of complex informational texts
and determine the essential elements that elaborate them.
- CLE 3005.6.3
- Read, interpret, and analyze graphics that support complex informational and
technical texts.
- CLE 3005.8.1
- Demonstrate knowledge of significant works of British literature from the
Anglo-Saxon period to the present and make relevant comparisons.
- CLE 3005.8.2
- Understand the characteristics of various literary genres (e.g., poetry, novel,
biography, short story, essay, drama).
- CLE 3005.8.3
- Recognize the conventions of various literary genres and understand how they
articulate the writers vision.
- CLE 3005.8.4
- Analyze works of British literature for what is suggested about the historical
period in which they were written.
- CLE 3005.8.5
- Know and use appropriate literary terms to derive meaning and comprehension from various literary genres.
- SPI 3002.1.9
- Recognize a shift in either verb tense or point of view within a writing sample.
- SPI 3003.1.11
- Correctly choose verb forms in terms of tense, voice (i.e., active and passive), and mood for continuity.
- SPI 3003.1.5
- Use previously learned techniques such as recognizing cognates, root words, affixes, foreign phrases, and textual context to identify unfamiliar words, including...
- SPI 3003.2.5
- Identify the rhetorical devices used in a complex speech (i.e., rhetorical questions, parallelism and repetition, analogies, hyperbole, metaphors, simile,...
- SPI 3003.3.13
- Identify the targeted audience for a selected passage.
- SPI 3003.3.8
- Choose the transitional device that appropriately connects sentences or paragraphs within a writing sample.
- SPI 3003.3.9
- Rearrange the order of supporting paragraphs within a writing sample given a specified organizational pattern (comparison-contrast, chronological).
- SPI 3003.5.11
- Identify the main claim, premise(s), evidence, or conclusion of a given argument.
- TSS.ELA.11-12.L.CSE.1
- Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking; consider complex and contested matters of usage...
- TSS.ELA.11-12.L.VAU.4
- Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on 11th -12th grade-level text by choosing flexibly from a...
- TSS.ELA.11-12.L.VAU.5
- Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings in grades 11-12 reading and content; interpret...
- TSS.ELA.11-12.L.VAU.6
- Acquire and accurately use general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the...
- TSS.ELA.11-12.RI.CS.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze how an author...
- TSS.ELA.11-12.RI.IKI.9
- Analyze and evaluate a variety of thematically-related texts of historical and literary significance for their topics, facts, purposes, and rhetorical...
- TSS.ELA.11-12.RL.CS.4
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific...
- TSS.ELA.11-12.RL.IKI.9
- Demonstrate knowledge of and analyze thematically-related, significant literary texts, considering how two or more texts treat similar themes or topics.
- TSS.ELA.11-12.W.PDW.4
- Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
- TSS.ELA.11-12.W.RBPK.9
- Support and defend interpretations, analyses, reflections, or research with evidence found in literature or informational texts, applying grade band...
- TSS.ELA.11-12.W.RW.10
- Write routinely over extended time frames and shorter time frames for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
- TSS.ELA.11-12.W.TTP.1
- Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning supported by relevant and sufficient evidence.
- TSS.ELA.11-12.W.TTP.2
- Write informative/explanatory texts to analyze, synthesize, and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the...
- TSS.ELA.11-12.W.TTP.3
- Write narrative fiction or literary nonfiction to convey experiences and/or events using effective techniques, well-chosen details, and well-structured...
- TSS.ELA.11.RI.RRTC.10
- (For 11th Grade) Read and comprehend a variety of literary nonfiction throughout the grades 11-12 text complexity band proficiently, with a gradual...
- TSS.ELA.11.RL.RRTC.10
- (For 11th Grade) Read and comprehend a variety of literature throughout the grades 11-12 text complexity band proficiently, with a gradual release of...
- TSS.ELA.12.RI.RRTC.10
- (For 12th Grade) Read and comprehend a variety of literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 11-12 text complexity band independently and...
- TSS.ELA.12.RL.RRTC.10
- (For 12th Grade) Read and comprehend a variety of literature at the high end of the grades 11-12 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Alignment of this item to academic standards is based on recommendations from content creators, resource curators, and visitors to this website. It is the responsibility of each educator to verify that the materials are appropriate for your content area, aligned to current academic standards, and will be beneficial to your specific students.
Essential and guiding questions:
- Some critics believe that in Heart of Darkness Conrad illustrates how "the darkness of the landscape can lead to the darkness of social corruption." What does this statement mean? How can one's environment affect one's actions, feelings, and morals? Is this statement believable or not? Have you ever experienced a change in yourself that resulted from a change in your environment? What kind of change was it?
- Heart of Darkness seems to blur the line between the so-called "advanced" society of Europe and the "primitive" society of Africa. What makes one culture "civilized" and another "savage" in the eyes of the world? Are these distinctions valid? Do you think that the culture you live in is "advanced" or "civilized"? Why?
- In Heart of Darkness , Kurtz is depicted as an upstanding European who has been transformed by his time in the jungle—away from his home, away from familiar people and food, and away from any community moral support that might have helped prevent him from becoming such a tyrant. There was nothing and no one, in essence, to keep him on the straight and narrow. Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation? Was there ever a time in which you felt alone, in a strange environment, or different from everyone else around you? How did that experience affect you or change you? Did you find yourself pulled toward base, cruel instincts as Kurtz was? What did you do to cope with those feelings?
- Kurtz's dying words are a cryptic whisper: "The horror, the horror." What "horror" could Kurtz have been talking about? Is there more than one possibility? Why do you think Conrad made this scene so ambiguous?
- Some readers claim that Heart of Darkness is strictly a political novella. Others, however, say it's really a story about the human condition. Can a work of fiction be interpreted in different ways? Should readers consider the author's intent when analyzing a story?
- Heart of Darkness can sometimes seem to readers like an incredibly dark, depressing story that paints civilizations in a very negative light. Did it seem this way to you, or did the story contain any positive moments? If so, what were they? Why did they seem positive?
