9th Grade
Informational Text
1020L
West African Society at the Point of European Contact
Passage Summary:
"West African Society at the Point of European Impact" describes the great cultural achievements of West Africa in the centuries before the Atlantic slave trade.
When and How to Pair:
Introduce this informational text after students have completed the novel, in order to generate a discussion on authorial perspective. Now that students have read Heart of Darkness, ask them to consider the portrayal of the native peoples in the novel with how Africans are described in the article. What are the contrasts between the portrayal of Africans in the novel with those described in the article? Does Marlow give a rounded view of the natives in the novel? If so, how? If not, what reasons would you give for why you don’t think he has?