New+Notes,+Round+Two

1. How many narrators does the author use in Moby Dick? Try to identify each narrator.
There are many narrators in Moby Dick, however Ishmael and Ahab are the prominent ones. We also see the story through the eyes of the different crew members depending on the chapter or scene.

2. What purpose does each narrative voice seem to have? (Identify the purpose of each)
Ishmael's narration moves the story along, but also makes commentary on many of the occurences on the ship and certain aspects of the society he lives in. Ahab's brief narration is to help the reader understand what he is thinking in his obsessive determination to find Moby Dick. The same purpose is used in the narration of the other crew members.

==3. How many genres (drama, novel, travel narrative, diary, scientific journal, homily/sermon, etc.) of writing does the author use in writing Moby Dick? Identify them and determine the author's purpose in using each one.==

Melville uses many genres in writing Moby Dick, like: Travel Narrative- The author’s purpose for using this technique was to show the detail of everything that went on and all of the different items they encountered aboard the Pequod during their journey. Scientific Journal- The author used this form of writing so as to insert pieces on the art of whaling and all of the science that lies behind it. What is known as Cetology, is the study of whales. Novel- It is considered a novel based on its length and structure of events. It also contains characters and shows actions that are made. Homily/Sermon- A homily or sermon usually is accompanied by a moral or teaching of some sort. The author uses this to show the different morals that are taught within the text and most of the time it can be related to something in the outside world. Frame Story- The author uses this in order to veer from the main subject onto short stories about other things like Cetology. Diary- This is used to describe what happened and what they did day today aboard the Pequod.

4. Who is the protagonist of the novel?
Ishmael is the most notable and probably the best choice for the protagonist, particuarly because he serves as the main narrator for the novel. We follow his journey on The Pequod and watch him try to cope with the insane Captain Ahab. Also, he is the only survivor of the whale's destruction of the ship.

5. Who's story is being told in Moby Dick? Why does the author spend so much time focusing on seemingly minor characters who do not move the main plot of the novel?
Ishmael is recounting his adventures on //The Pequod//, and therefore it his primarily his story that is being told. Melville also concentrates on the occurences and events of other characters to give background for why certain things are happening on the ship. He also gives background on many of these characters through Ishmael, because Ishmael is a very perceptive and analytic man. He looks at details and wants to know as much as he possibly can, a characteristic of a very intellectual person. Through these "seemingly" minor characters, Melville gives insight to the time period of which he is writing and has lived through. It is through these individuals that he can give criticism and much more knowledge to the reader. It could also be argued that Melville's story was being told in Moby Dick. He spent many days at sea as a crewman and later a whaler. He abandoned this lifestyle with another of his shipmates, but on the island they deserted the ship, they met a group of cannibals. The cannibals, like Queequeg, treated Melville and his companion well, but they left the group and joined another whaling ship. Melville's life story parallels Ishmael's in many ways, and is possibly telling his story through his protagonist.

//Very Scary Cannibals...// http://www.peteranthonyholder.com/images/cannibals.jpg

6. What is a frame story? How does this structure help the author to develop the themes of his novel?
-a narrative that provides the framework within which a number of different stories, which may or may not be connected, can be told. This helps the author develop the themes by tieing them all together and not needing them to be connected in any way, but in most cases there are links between the other stories to each other and the main story line.
 * -**a narrative technique whereby a main story is composed, at least in part, for the purpose of, etc.) is a narrative technique whereby a main story is composed, at least in part, for the purpose of story within a story organizing a set of shorter stories, each of which is a -- or for surrounding a single story within a story

7. What about the chapters on cetology? What purpose do they serve in the author's development of a central purpose?
The chapters on Cetology keep the focus back on the idea of transcendentalism, the idea that all of the subjects discussed are of equal importance in the community on the //Pequod//.

==8. What seems to be the author's purpose in writing this book (**Remember:**Remember: we already have many stories that deal with the dangers of obsession and monomaniamonomania; why would Melville take a theme that has been used again and again and apply it to a story that started out as a simple whaling adventure gone wrong?)==

It is possible that Melville was partially recounting his adventures on the whaling ship //Acushnet//, as many of the same elements are present in his life and in the novel. The book was dedicated to Nathaniel Hawthorne, another novelist, short story writer, and son of a sea captain of the same time period. The two were friends, and Melville even wrote a review entitled "Hawthorne and His Mosses" on Hawthorne's //Mosses from an Old Manse//. In one of the chapters, Melville gives reference to "The Sphinx" which parallels some ideas in Hawthorn'e's work. It is possible that Melville created Moby Dick as an offering to his friend with these factors. Melville also uses many elements and characteristics of other significant literary works in his novel. The Bible and many Shakespeareian works are present in the work. It is possible that Melville combined a present setting and modern adventure with many timeless themes and characteristics to create a critical novel or a tribute to many literary works. However, when he orginally sought out to write Moby Dick, it had no allegorical references, but Hawthorne made the suggestion which Melville took. It is most probable that the novel was not written for money, as he started writing it in one day without food or disturbance. Also, a few of his other works were written for some income. //Nathaniel Hawthorne, a friend of Herman Melville's.// //http://www.liberliber.it/biblioteca/h/hawthorne/immagini/ritratto.jpg//

Melville may have selected the theme of obsession to critique the actions of the government and others during the time in which he lived. Obsession and want are two characteristics that show greed in an individual or body. At this time, industrialism was taking control of the nation and Melville (along with others) felt that this was taking principles on which the fouding fathers have built this country. The goal of industrialism was to mass produce to make the largest amount of profit as possible. The Founding Fathers believed in sacrificing for the common good, the republicanism in which the nation was structured on. Industrialism, particularly in the factories, implemented a sense of slavery and created a new economic classes of the wealthy, profit-minded, and increasingly greedy factory owners (thereby disrupting the economic equality that the nation was built on).

9. As a whole, how does the author's use of narrative structure (the multiple narrators, the different genres, the ambiguous protagonist, the many digressions) help the author to achieve his purpose?
The many narrators and the use of digression greatly help Mellville convey a theme of transendentalism. By using multiple narrators as well as a semi-omniscent narrator, the book allows us to believe that there is really no main character. One could argue that the main character is in fact the ship, or moby dick, or ahab. Digression sets us up to believe that the chapters unrelated to the immediate story, aka ceteology and other such nonsense, is just as important as the novel itself.

=Works Cited:=

1. "Herman Melville." Herman Melville (1819-1891). 2002. Books and Writers. 10 Oct 2006 .

2. "Moby Dick." Moby Dick. The Literature Network. 10 Oct 2006 .

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