Read the following group discussion about heart of darkness by joseph conrad, in which an englishman travels through the african congo. riku: i pretty much agree with frederickson's article. edgar: wait, which part of the article? riku: the part where he says that heart of darkness is an exploration of the savage part of human nature, so it could have taken place anywhere — in a hotel room, a laundromat, whatever. the setting didn't really have to be the african congo. maria: frederickson has always been an apologist for joseph conrad. in every article he's written, he always skirts around the fact that heart of darkness is pretty racist in its outlook, so i'm guessing that frederickson is just making it seem like the setting doesn't matter. edgar: so you think the setting does matter? maria: definitely. to conrad, africa is the same thing as savagery. practically a symbol for it. edgar: well, what do other people think? victor: that's what i want to know. i know that chinua achebe wrote an essay that criticizes conrad's point of view, and he's probably not the only one to do so. riku: in that case, i'm going to find an article that agrees with frederickson. why don't you and maria find one that disagrees? victor: well, that's easy. i pick achebe. which student is most clearly determining new research goals? a. victor b. riku c. edgar d. maria