Initial Investigation

Part I: Exploration
1. Identify the issue or problem that you plan to focus on in your research project.
I will be writing about how colonialism is explored in “Heart of Darkness”.

2. What is your personal connection to and interest in this topic?
This is one of my favorite books. It is a book I constantly consider and reconsider and I am very interested in it.

3. What opinions do you already hold about this topic?
I am of the opinion that Conrad is very anti-colonialist and portrays it in a very dark way.

4. What knowledge do you already have about this topic?
I have read the book and discussed it at length. There is significant debate on the racism of the book, but I am of the opinion that the depiction of racism is a small facet of the depiction of colonialism.
What are your main questions about this topic?
My questions are, what specifically does Conrad write that gives his opinion of colonialism?
What are you most curious about?
I am most curious about how the author shows his opinions without directly stating them. I am also curious about how the author went about creating a book with so many overlapping ideas, all of which are incredibly well developed.

6. Within what scholarly discipline (such as history, biology, psychology) do you expect to do most of your research? How does this discipline approach or study this topic?
I expect most of my research will be done in psychology with a little research on the historical facts of colonialism. Studies of this topic in psychology are done by investigating how the text shows the author’s thoughts, and also how we as readers interpret the text to arrive at what we believe are the author’s thoughts.
Historically this topic will be studied by citing statistics of the examples the book provides.

7. How could you research this topic outside the library (for example, through interviews and/or observations)? I can interview people who have read the novel and have an educated response to my topic. I would be able to interview at least a few people because I have already discussed this with others.

Part II: Focusing
Write an initial claim, or an open-ended question, to guide your research on this topic. Make it specific but exploratory. Remember that a good claim opens up an area of inquiry about a topic; a claim should invite evidence, support, and debate.
How does Joseph Conrad explore colonialism in "Heart of Darkness"?
racism, spread of religion/ values, economics, human nature (possession/control/dominance)

Why does this matter? Colonialism is a representation of human nature, it has historical significance, it was key in the development of modern world