An Outpost Of Progress

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What do you know about colonialism in Africa? If you’re not familiar with colonialism in Africa, how about another part of the world? What attitudes and beliefs do you believe enabled colonialism?

Teaching Suggestion: Joseph Conrad’s writings, many of which are based on his own experiences, explore the colonization of Africa and the attitudes of the colonizers. Students may not be familiar with the colonization of the Congo by Belgium, but they likely have learned about colonialism in the United States or elsewhere. Activating this background knowledge may help students better understand “An Outpost of Progress.”

• This short article from National Geographic provides a brief description of Belgium’s colonization of the Congo.
• This article from Foreign Policy examines the attitudes underlying colonialism and how Belgium is reckoning with its history as a colonizer.

2. What role do you think society has in shaping human behaviors? How do you think humans would act if removed from society?

Teaching Suggestion: This question can help to prepare students for the theme of The Moral Degeneracy of Human Nature by having them think about human nature and society’s impact on humans.

• This brief article from the University of Texas introduces social contract theory.

Differentiation Suggestion: The webpage from the University of Texas includes a short YouTube video that covers the same material as the article. Some students, including those who are auditory and visual learners, might benefit from watching the video instead of or in addition to reading the article.

Short Activity

In 1948, the United Nations published “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” Before reading the UN’s list, come up with your own list of at least 8 human rights that all people are entitled to. Compare lists with a classmate and discuss why you included each right on your list.

Teaching Suggestion: This activity will help students to consider the rights that each human deserves to prepare them to reckon with how these rights are violated in “An Outpost of Progress.”

• This webpage from the United Nations lists all rights found in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
• This webpage from the United Nations contains a video that explains The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Differentiation Suggestion: Some students may benefit from starting this activity with a partner or visually representing their list of rights.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the story.

How do you think loneliness affects people? Have you experienced loneliness? How did it impact you?

Teaching Suggestion: This prompt may help students to consider loneliness to prepare them for the much deeper theme of Existential Loneliness.

• This video from the BBC explains existentialism in under 3 minutes.