Sample Student Outline.

Below I've copied and pasted an outline written by a former student for a very similar paper. The student's final paper earned an "A."

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Thesis: While the book Heart of Darkness and the film "Apocalypse Now" might seem similar, when one looks deeper, they are in fact very different.

First section--"similarity" section
Topic sentence: Both the book and the movie involve a dangerous journey down a body of water, and in both, that journey is narrated by a similar character.

Topic sentence: The character of "Kurtz" is similar in each. In both the movie and book, Kurtz is a once "respectable" white man who has apparently gone crazy and disappeared into the jungle.

Research source: Review from Washington Post of Apocalypse Now (will be using point about Kurtz from this review).

Second section--"differences"

Topic sentence: While both involve a dangerous journey down a body of water, the time period and settings of the book and movie are very different.

Topic sentence:  Heart of Darkness and "Apocalypse Now" are thematically different in many ways. For example, the book is more about capitalism, and what people will do to make money. The movie, however, is about war.

Research source: article in NYtimes. Will be using historical fact from article about how Belgium (book is set in area of Africa controlled by Belgium) made money from colonizing part of Africa.

Topic sentence: Also on the topic of theme, the Heart of Darkness seems very racist, while the movie does not. The Heart of Darkness suggests that Africans are savages and that anyone who spends time with them will also become savage. The movie, however, suggests that war is horrific and that anyone who spends too much time around war might become savage--and most of the people we see waging war in this movie are white Americans.

Research source: The Education of a British-Protected Child (book of essays) by Chinua Achebe.  Will be paraphrasing from essay --- his interpretation of Heart of Darkness and how it is racist.