Guest Editor: Anne Hanson

For a book circle project, AP senior English students were asked to create a lesson where they teach the novel to their peers. The lesson had to have a presentation, a video, and an activity.

The group taught “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad.

In the picture they are recreating the scene where Marlow and his crew see savages who have died and Marlow is disgusted since those who are dying can no longer work.

The group’s activity was to have the students participate in: measuring their heads (a reference to Marlow’s doctor at the beginning of the novel), a “the horror, the horror” act-off, telling the best lie to “the intended” of Kurtz, recreating Kurtz’s painting of the blindfolded woman with the torch, and two journeys – one to the inner station where “savages” with nerf guns were waiting, and one to the central station where Marlow sees the dying savages.

The students did a great job at being creative and incorporating different parts of the novel into a fun activity that ended in laughter.

Students featured: Noah Case, Morgan Squires, Sophia Rose, Wesley Nygard, Wesley Thomas, Caitlin Elliot, Grisha Pradhan, Macy Marquette, Miranda Barraza, Megan Jorgenson, Tiffany Carmichael, Aliah Campos, Jami Kay, and Laura Fetzer