Ava Hashemi
AP Literature
03.02 Practice Essay Four
Mr. Moore
October 19, 2022
03.02 Practice Essay Four
Prompt: Carefully read the passage from the opening of a novel. Then write an essay analyzing
how the author establishes the narrator’s relationship to the setting through the use of literary
elements and techniques.
Joseph Conrad’s novel titled Heart of Darkness begins on a small ship named Nellie that
is anchored in London on the Thames River. As the story begins, it is revealed that the narrative
is told using a double narrator technique, in which Marlow's account of the African Congo is
relayed second-hand through the transcription of an unnamed narrator. Conrad intentionally
establishes a mysterious narrator in order to blend Marlow's account of the horrors of
colonization with the crew's gloomy atmosphere. In the opening passage of the novel, Joseph
Conrad establishes a complex relationship between the anonymous narrator and the eerie setting
through the use of both personification and descriptive imagery.
In the opening passage, the narrator begins speaking as the crew aboard waits for the tide
to turn on the Thames River. Here, Conrad employs personification through observations of the
river to symbolize the mystery of both the setting and the unnamed narrator, as well as how their
relationship influences the values of the narrator. The narrator describes the Thames as a
“venerable stream” that serves to provide “good service done to the race that peopled its banks.”
Here, it becomes evident that in the eyes of the narrator, nature exists to benefit humanity,
particularly human exchange and commerce. Furthermore, he continues to express that the “tidal
This study source was downloaded by 100000850872992 from CourseHero.com on 02-17-2023 12:29:35 GMT -06:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/176545737/0302-Practice-Essay-Four-2pdf/
AP Literature
03.02 Practice Essay Four
Mr. Moore
October 19, 2022
03.02 Practice Essay Four
Prompt: Carefully read the passage from the opening of a novel. Then write an essay analyzing
how the author establishes the narrator’s relationship to the setting through the use of literary
elements and techniques.
Joseph Conrad’s novel titled Heart of Darkness begins on a small ship named Nellie that
is anchored in London on the Thames River. As the story begins, it is revealed that the narrative
is told using a double narrator technique, in which Marlow's account of the African Congo is
relayed second-hand through the transcription of an unnamed narrator. Conrad intentionally
establishes a mysterious narrator in order to blend Marlow's account of the horrors of
colonization with the crew's gloomy atmosphere. In the opening passage of the novel, Joseph
Conrad establishes a complex relationship between the anonymous narrator and the eerie setting
through the use of both personification and descriptive imagery.
In the opening passage, the narrator begins speaking as the crew aboard waits for the tide
to turn on the Thames River. Here, Conrad employs personification through observations of the
river to symbolize the mystery of both the setting and the unnamed narrator, as well as how their
relationship influences the values of the narrator. The narrator describes the Thames as a
“venerable stream” that serves to provide “good service done to the race that peopled its banks.”
Here, it becomes evident that in the eyes of the narrator, nature exists to benefit humanity,
particularly human exchange and commerce. Furthermore, he continues to express that the “tidal
This study source was downloaded by 100000850872992 from CourseHero.com on 02-17-2023 12:29:35 GMT -06:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/176545737/0302-Practice-Essay-Four-2pdf/
