Heart of Darkness

Use these activities to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity. 

Transpose Heart of Darkness to Another Setting

The key elements of Heart of Darkness’s story were famously adapted into a new setting—the Vietnam War—by the filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola in Apocalypse Now. Even before this, Orson Wells proposed a film adaptation in which a fascist dictator would represent Kurtz. Heart of Darkness has been adapted as operas, radio plays, video games, and other forms.

Now it’s your turn. Create an adaptation of Heart of Darkness that moves its key themes and plot points into a brand-new setting. Your final product will be a film “treatment,” which is a document that provides an outline or overview of a film. Your treatment will have a title, logline, story summary, and character descriptions.

Part A: Planning

1. Develop a list of key themes that your adaptation will convey. You do not need to cover every theme that Heart of Darkness covers, but you should choose at least two of Conrad’s themes—described in your own words—to include in your adaptation.

2. Brainstorm possible settings. What are the kinds of settings in place and time that might allow you to convey Conrad’s themes effectively?

3.