Help with Evaluative Critical Response: Heart of Darkness & Apocalypse Now (1 Viewer)

imhungry990

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Hi everyone, I need some help with structuring my critical response for an assessment. The task requires me to evaluate Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad) and Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola), analyzing their transformation and assessing notions of cultural and artistic values.

The Most Important Things I Need to Do:
  1. It’s an EVALUATIVE critical response → I need to integrate my own judgment throughout the essay.
  2. I MUST integrate critical responses → Since this is a critical response, I need to incorporate perspectives from literary and film critics rather than just stating my own ideas.
  3. I need to move away from a thematic approach → My teacher emphasized that I shouldn’t just analyze themes like “imperialism” or “war.” Instead, I need to approach it from an existentialist perspective and focus on how both texts explore nihilism.

My Main Argument
Both Conrad and Coppola explore nihilism, but they do so through different lenses:
  • Conrad critiques imperialism as inherently nihilistic, showing how it is driven by a hollow pursuit of ivory, a symbol of meaningless greed.
  • Coppola critiques war as an absurd, hollow spectacle, highlighting its lack of purpose through visual and narrative techniques.

Key Ideas & Evidence I Want to Use

I have a lot of ideas and evidence but need help structuring them effectively:
  1. Imperialism as Nihilistic in Heart of Darkness
    • Ivory represents the emptiness of imperialist ideals.
    • Kurtz’s downfall shows the moral and existential void at the heart of colonial conquest.
  2. War as Nihilistic in Apocalypse Now
    • Coppola presents war as meaningless performance, a hollow spectacle:
      • "Ride of the Valkyries" scene → War as theatrical and detached from reality.
      • The never-ending bridge battle → War is cyclical and futile.
      • Willard smearing mud on his face before killing Kurtz → War as performative.
  3. Key Quotes & Concepts to Incorporate
    • "Cutting them in half with a gun and giving them a bandaid." → Highlights the futility of American intervention.
    • Carl Jung’s concept of ‘The Other’ → My teacher loves this one, so I need to integrate it!
    • LSD & altered perception → Soldiers experience war differently from civilians (e.g., finding destruction beautiful).
    • Existentialism & absurdity → The bridge scene shows the irrationality of war.

My Struggles
  • How to structure this cohesively → I have all these ideas, but I don’t want it to feel like a list of evidence without deep analysis.
  • How to integrate critical responses → I know I can’t just state evidence; I need to evaluate it and incorporate perspectives from critics.
  • How to approach studying & writing the essay → Any advice on planning an evaluative critical response?

Would love any guidance! Thank you in advance 🙏
 

MoeyNeeds90+

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Hi everyone, I need some help with structuring my critical response for an assessment. The task requires me to evaluate Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad) and Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola), analyzing their transformation and assessing notions of cultural and artistic values.

The Most Important Things I Need to Do:
  1. It’s an EVALUATIVE critical response → I need to integrate my own judgment throughout the essay.
  2. I MUST integrate critical responses → Since this is a critical response, I need to incorporate perspectives from literary and film critics rather than just stating my own ideas.
  3. I need to move away from a thematic approach → My teacher emphasized that I shouldn’t just analyze themes like “imperialism” or “war.” Instead, I need to approach it from an existentialist perspective and focus on how both texts explore nihilism.

My Main Argument
Both Conrad and Coppola explore nihilism, but they do so through different lenses:
  • Conrad critiques imperialism as inherently nihilistic, showing how it is driven by a hollow pursuit of ivory, a symbol of meaningless greed.
  • Coppola critiques war as an absurd, hollow spectacle, highlighting its lack of purpose through visual and narrative techniques.

Key Ideas & Evidence I Want to Use

I have a lot of ideas and evidence but need help structuring them effectively:
  1. Imperialism as Nihilistic in Heart of Darkness
    • Ivory represents the emptiness of imperialist ideals.
    • Kurtz’s downfall shows the moral and existential void at the heart of colonial conquest.
  2. War as Nihilistic in Apocalypse Now
    • Coppola presents war as meaningless performance, a hollow spectacle:
      • "Ride of the Valkyries" scene → War as theatrical and detached from reality.
      • The never-ending bridge battle → War is cyclical and futile.
      • Willard smearing mud on his face before killing Kurtz → War as performative.
  3. Key Quotes & Concepts to Incorporate
    • "Cutting them in half with a gun and giving them a bandaid." → Highlights the futility of American intervention.
    • Carl Jung’s concept of ‘The Other’ → My teacher loves this one, so I need to integrate it!
    • LSD & altered perception → Soldiers experience war differently from civilians (e.g., finding destruction beautiful).
    • Existentialism & absurdity → The bridge scene shows the irrationality of war.

My Struggles
  • How to structure this cohesively → I have all these ideas, but I don’t want it to feel like a list of evidence without deep analysis.
  • How to integrate critical responses → I know I can’t just state evidence; I need to evaluate it and incorporate perspectives from critics.
  • How to approach studying & writing the essay → Any advice on planning an evaluative critical response?

Would love any guidance! Thank you in advance 🙏
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