Essential question
What does the repeated word 'my' reveal about how Kurtz understands people, land, and power?
Marked passage
- Passage location
- Part II
- Start anchor
- Ivory? I should think so. Heaps of it, stacks of it.
- End anchor
- That was the reflection that made you creepy all over.
Kurtz's language of possession
CONTENT NOTE · Colonial violence and racist/imperialist language.
Ways to teach it
Listening
Listen to the exact passage; visual following is optional. Same question and evidence demand.
Solo
Read the exact passage independently.
Supported
Use narration and sentence highlighting while reading the same passage.
Teacher guide
Close
Name the single detail that most changed or sharpened your interpretation, and explain why.
Evidence
Identify several things Kurtz claims with possessive language and explain why at least one of them cannot legitimately be owned in the way he speaks of it.
Mark
Circle every use of 'my' or another possessive attached to Kurtz. Draw arrows from those possessives to what he claims—objects, territory, people, or ideas. Star the possession that is most disturbing because it is not really ownable.
Instructional move
Track repetition as a map of a character's worldview
Notice
• What kinds of things does Kurtz speak of as belonging to him? • How does repetition make possession sound like a habit of thought rather than an isolated phrase? • What happens to other people’s independence inside Kurtz’s language?
Strong answer
Kurtz's repeated 'my' reveals a worldview of possession: land, ivory, station, people, and even ideas become extensions of himself. Power is imagined as the right to absorb everything into ownership.
Think
Answer provisionally: What does the repeated word 'my' reveal about how Kurtz understands people, land, and power? Choose the strongest interpretation you can defend from this passage alone.
Watch for
Do not count repetitions without interpreting them. The lesson asks what the grammatical habit reveals about Kurtz's idea of power.
Why this passage
Kurtz’s repeated 'my' turns ivory, station, river, and people into extensions of possession. The repetition reveals a worldview in which value is measured by ownership and other beings are absorbed into the self.
Write
Write a short evidence-based response to: What does the repeated word 'my' reveal about how Kurtz understands people, land, and power? Use at least two details from the assigned passage and explain how they support your interpretation.
Student tasks
Mark
Circle every use of 'my' or another possessive attached to Kurtz. Draw arrows from those possessives to what he claims—objects, territory, people, or ideas. Star the possession that is most disturbing because it is not really ownable.
Notice
What kinds of things does Kurtz speak of as belonging to him? How does repetition make possession sound like a habit of thought rather than an isolated phrase? What happens to other people’s independence inside Kurtz’s language?
Think
Answer provisionally: What does the repeated word 'my' reveal about how Kurtz understands people, land, and power?
Write
Write a short response using at least two pieces of evidence from this passage. Use evidence from the assigned passage. Show what you noticed and how the text supports your interpretation.