Curiosity

            Curiosity is the basis of a successful and meaningful learning experience. In our graded and ungraded seminars this semester, curiosity of literature was the driving force towards new discoveries. During the Heart of Darkness unit, our class had a very engaging seminar mostly focused on the motifs in the novella. The motifs we discussed included “the fog” and “the flicker” which had to do with the idea of light and dark throughout the novella. With this exploration I posed questions about the motive behind the fog. A specific question I formed was whether the fog was an object of mystery or an object of shelter for the European Imperialists. After these types of questions were posed, other students raised questions about responses and also branched off into new topics from that original base topic.

            My artifact is a response to the seminar and what I think the central idea of the fog is about. Curiosity fueled my desire to question the fog and in the end I concluded my thoughts about the entire text as a result of this conversation. It led me to central question of what the imperialists motives really were, and why they had to hide behind something such as fog to keep the real occurrences in the Congo a secret form the rest of the world. Curiosity is not something I struggle with. However, voicing my curiosity in an effective way is something that I have struggled with during this course. I felt that I exhibited good habits of discussion, but I still have a lot of progress to make in terms of asking questions in a clear manner and processing information that may bring new questions or deeper meanings to light during seminars.

seminar notes on “the fog”