truthhod Quest for Truth in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Essay

The Quest for Truth in Heart of Darkness      Ã‚  Ã‚   Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is set in Africa's Congo region, and his descriptions of that place are stark yet full of the wonder of discovery as well as the shock that comes from uncovering ugly truths. Conrad was purposefully vague in his setting for Heart of Darkness; he never actually named the destination to which Marlow journeyed. This may be because Heart of Darkness was more an inner journey than a journey between places.   Conrad juxtaposed his protagonist's inward quest with an outward journey through the wilderness of   "dark" Africa. The novel's climax was not comprised of actions, but of moral discoveries and intellectual awakenings.     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A stylistic device utilized by Conrad throughout the novel is the highlighting of themes by setting certain symbolic elements in opposition to contrasting symbolic elements. In order to accomplish this, he relied heavily on metaphors. Metaphors only gain meaning, as they are associated in the reader's mind with images or ideas that are beyond the intrinsic meanings of the words themselves (Searl 1979). In reference to the title Heart of Darkness, Ian Watt said " . . . Both of Conrad's nouns are densely charged with physical and moral suggestions; freed from the restrictions of the article, they combine to generate a sense of puzzlement which prepares us for something beyond our usual expectations: if the words do not name what we know, they must be asking us to know what has, as yet, no name" (Watt 1963).   Resonating throughout Heart of Darkness was the contrast between elements, which may be represented as being light, and elements, wh ich may be characterized as being dark. Light carries with it the metaphorical meanings ... ... Cox, C. B. Conrad: Heart of Darkness, Nostromo, and Under Western Eyes. London: Macmillan Education Ltd., 1987. Guetti, James. ‘Heart of Darkness and the Failure of the Imagination’, Sewanee Review LXXIII, No. 3 (Summer 1965), pp. 488-502. Ed. C. B. Cox. Ruthven, K. K. ‘The Savage God: Conrad and Lawrence,’ Critical Quarterly, x, nos 1& 2 (Spring and Summer 1968), pp. 41-6. Ed. C. B. Cox. Street, Brian V. The Savage in Literature. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., 1975. Thornton, A. P. The Imperial Idea and its Enemies. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1985. Watts, Cedric. A Preface to Conrad. Essex: Longman Group UK Limited, 1993.   Wiley, Paul L. Conrad's Measure of Man. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1954. Wynne-Davies, Marion. Ed. The Bloomsbury Guide to English Literature. New York: Prentice Hall General Reference, 1990.

Live Concert Essay

Throughout the history of time, music has changed, grown, and developed into many unique and different genres and broken off into many interesting directions. Among one of these rather recent and distinct groups comes the genre of psychedelic rock portrayed by groups like Dr. Dog and Wilco. Psychedelic rock is considered controversial simply because of its origin and the habits it produces, encourages, and signifies in present day culture. The genre of psychedelic rock uses ragas, which literally means â€Å"color† or â€Å"hue†, and the drones of Indian music to create its individual and mood enhancing sound. This genre is a style of rock that comes from the cultures of the United States as well as the United Kingdom in 1960’s in which the use of psychedelic or hallucinogenic drugs were popular. This music is meant to reflect the feeling and effects of the common drugs and to replicate the experience of a trip from certain drugs such as cannabis, peyote, mescaline, and LSD. This trend began in America first in San Francisco, California and slowly spread through the country. This genre of music still exists today and one form of that music is from the band Dr. Dog which originates from West Grove, Pennsylvania and consists of five members, Tony Leaman who plays the bass, Scott McMicken who is the lead guitar player, Frank McElroy who also plays the rhythm guitar, Zach Miller on the keyboard, and Eric Slide on the drums. Much of this music is relaxed and tranquil, not as much hype and energy as typical rock. To create something as unique as that of Psychedelic rock, or acid rock, there are certain instruments that are used to execute the sound. Commonly used instruments in these kinds of bands include the electric guitar, percussion, keyboards, and exotic instruments such as the tabla and the sitar. These exotic instruments add a new element that was never found in western culture before. These new types of foreign instruments create a new sound and sensation for the listener. Since the whole point of psychedelic rock is to reproduce the awareness of a high from certain drugs, it has many social issues that come along with it. Many of the songs of this genre allude to the use or effects of drugs and the music resembles that emotion. The dissonance of the tones within each song creates the feeling of a drug effect and adds to the large subculture of the twentieth century. Although the music did not necessarily encourage the use of drugs to listen to the music, it had a profound effect on people of that generation. The hippie subculture of the sixties and the seventies were some of the people that surrounded this type of music. That doesn’t mean that they had to do drugs, but it means they most likely did. These were the people who went against the societal norms and expectations of the era and were engaged in music like psychedelic rock. The lyrics to most of Dr. Dog’s songs are quite ambiguous. Each song has a meaning that’s personal to the individual who is hearing it. What the listener takes away is something of their own perception and thought process. Through my own interpretation of the lyrics, this part of a song called â€Å"The Breeze† refers directly to why this type of music is controversial.

My Leadership Philosophy Of Leadership - 1550 Words

Every individual has his or her own definition of leadership. In order to develop my leadership philosophy, I needed to describe leadership in my own words. Simply put, leadership is taking ownership, setting a positive example, and motivating those in your unit to follow your lead. In addition to understanding leadership, the USAF core values and personal experiences have helped shape my leadership philosophy: Moral courage – commitment to achieving organizational greatness through teamwork, caring, and trust. Since childhood, my family, peers, superiors, and subordinates have influenced my values, beliefs, and principles turning me into the person I am today. Primarily, the United States Air Force (USAF) has engrained in me how†¦show more content†¦In addition to the core values, personal experiences throughout my Air Force career have shaped my leadership philosophy, mainly through the observation of different leaders. Hence, my upbringing, the USAF core val ues, and personal experiences have laid the foundation for my leadership philosophy. I will discuss in the succeeding paragraphs those leadership traits essential to my leadership philosophy. Moral courage is the bedrock of my leadership philosophy. Merriam-Webster defines courage as the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. In other words, moral courage means to make the right decisions for the greater good of the unit. Doing the right thing takes moral courage, especially if the action the leader is taking is unpopular. This may even include risking your career to stay true to your own values and beliefs. One example that reinforces the importance of moral courage is that of Col H.R. McMaster during his time in Iraq when he made a profound impact on Army tactics. Although his superiors did not agree with him, he stayed true to his values to fix the broken process. 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