Moby Dick
Introduction
“Call me Ishmael.”
Thus begins one of literature’s greatest achievements, a book that attempts to grapple with nothing less than “the ungraspable phantom of life.” Through the tale of the Pequod, Herman Melville presents us with a Shakespearean drama of human endeavor and failure, a meditation on our relationship to the universe that critiques the prevailing optimism of 1840’s Transcendentalism, and an examination of good and evil through a relatively modern microscope of morality.
The story can be said to have three concurrent narrative strands related but essentially separate. The first is Ishmael’s personal narrative, the second is the dramatic quest of the Pequod’s revenge-seeking captain, Ahab, and the third is an expository discourse on the science, craft, and art of whaling. Melville weaves these three strands together through Ishmael’s narration; yet it is the Captain of the Pequod, described as a "grand, ungodly, god-like man," who looms as the most compelling figure in this tale.
Ishmael’s narrative begins in New York, takes him to Nantucket, then sails him more than half way around the world before ending in the Pacific Ocean. During the journey we meet the other characters who become central to the story: Queequeg, the Fiji Islander; Starbuck, the Pequod’s pious first mate; Stubb, the bantering, capricious second mate; Flask, the naive third mate; Fedellah, the sinister, mystical Zoroastrian; Pip, the awkward cabin boy driven to lunacy; Tashtego and Dagoo, the native American and African harpooners; and, lording above them all, the obsessive, vengeful Ahab.
The links below will provide students with the information, resources, and support materials necessary to complete the Unit successfully.
Moby Dick Reader’s Logs (240
pts)
Ahab Character Graffiti (20 pts)
Essay Exam
Rubric (150 pts)
IN CLASS ESSAY EXAM
SCHEDULED FOR BLOCK DAY NOVEMBER 17TH/18TH.
The Moby Dick Project
(50 pts)
PROJECT DUE DATE IS
NOVEMBER 19TH.