English 12: Final Essay

Topic time. Though this technically falls into the synthesis essay and literary essay, how we cite and work with film in this kind of essay is quite different than how we work with text. Check the criteria handout. Today, start your research and find sources to support your position.

Read the topic carefully. It's one thing to just write freely about existentialism, but each topic has a specific framework you must follow to be on topic. 

1. Sartre’s Hell is Other People: Isolation and the Self

Consider Sartre’s notion that “hell is other people.” How do the interactions among the crew (or between Willard and Kurtz) illustrate existential isolation, bad faith, or authenticity? Analyze how characters struggle with self-definition in the face of others’ expectations and judgment.

2. “I Love the Smell of Napalm”: Kilgore and the Absurd Hero?

Analyze the character of Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore through the lens of Camus’ concept of the absurd. Does Kilgore embody the absurd hero, confronting the meaningless violence of war with passionate intensity and personal code, or is he a figure of existential denial? Consider how his flamboyant behavior, love of surfing, and surreal detachment from the war reflect or contradict Camus’ ideas in The Myth of Sisyphus.

3. Kurtz and the Collapse of Essentialism

Colonel Kurtz appears to have abandoned traditional moral frameworks and embraced a new identity. Does Kurtz’ transformation reflect the existential rejection of essentialism? Discuss how his philosophical evolution compares with existentialist ideas found in the writings of Camus, Kierkegaard, or Sartre.