Moby Dick: Why? Why? Why?

Moby Dick was written by Herman Melville in the Romantic period of American literature. Some of the elements of Romanticism that we see within his work involve the heavy use of symbolism, preoccupation with nature, and the celebration of emotion over/against reason. In this book, the author is preoccupied with questions related to God and the truth! The backdrop of some of these questions come from a time of uncertainty, when discoveries and theories in geology and biology began to challenge the largely accepted Christian worldview of the day. As we read this book, we can place ourselves in the author’s shoes as empathetic readers. What questions can we bring to our reading of Moby Dick? How do the questions of a Christian in the 21st century relate to Melville’s various questions in 1851? How does a Christian interact with the truth, and how can they relate that truth in times of uncertainty?

Here are some of the reasons I want us to read Moby Dick:

1. It’s a novel. There is an interesting story here despite the length.
2. It’s LOW on PLOT and HIGH on WORDS. This book will help us learn to pay attention to language. Melville’s descriptions, attentiveness to detail, and use of language is noteworthy (and that’s really what AP Lang is about: LANGUAGE)!
3. This book is difficult and from 150+ years ago. The reading we do this year will be difficult and some of it will be especially difficult as it is +150 years old. I hope we can learn resilience through reading a sometimes difficult and boring novel.
4. This book is not as difficult as what you will read this year. A lot of what we read will represent modern and contemporary authors, some of whom will be so easy to you after reading Moby Dick.
5. Melville’s book treads into the waters of non-fiction. Some have described Moby Dick as a fictionalized travel journal, and there are several chapters that deal with non-fiction topics, such as various used of whale-blubber and the functions/duties of a shipmate. Our AP Lang course will deal with non-fiction, and this reading will be a touchstone (something to come back to) as we go through the semester.
6. Your reading of this novel (and a strong reading of it) will pay dividends when it comes to taking AP Literature your senior year. Your knowledge of Moby Dick will aid you in writing essays and interpreting literature your senior year as well!

I appreciate that you are in this class and taking on a new challenge. Don’t hesitate to email me if you have any questions.

-Mr. Davis