Moby-Dick

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For other uses, see Moby-Dick (disambiguation).

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

Title page, first American edition of Moby-Dick
Author	Herman Melville
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Novel, adventure fiction, epic, sea story
Publisher	Richard Bentley (Britain) Harper & Brothers (U.S.)
Publication date	October 18, 1851 (Britain) November 14, 1851 (U.S.)

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale is a novel by American writer Herman Melville, published in 1851 during the period of the American Renaissance. Sailor Ishmael tells the story of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaler Pequod, for revenge on Moby Dick, the white whale which on an earlier voyage destroyed his ship and severed his leg at the knee. The novel was a commercial failure and out of print at the time of the author's death in 1891, but during the 20th century its reputation as a Great American Novel was established. William Faulkner confessed he wished he had written it himself,^[1] and D. H. Lawrence called it "one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world", and "the greatest book of the sea ever written".^[2] "Call me Ishmael" is among world literature's most famous opening sentences.^[3]
The product of a year and a half of writing, the book draws on Melville's experience at sea, on his reading in whaling literature, and on literary inspirations such as Shakespeare and the Bible. The detailed and realistic descriptions of whale hunting and of extracting whale oil, as well as life aboard ship among a culturally diverse crew, are mixed with exploration of class and social status, good and evil, and the existence of God. In addition to narrative prose, Melville uses styles and literary devices ranging from songs, poetry, and catalogs to Shakespearean stage directions, soliloquies, and asides.
Dedicated to Nathaniel Hawthorne, "in token of my admiration for his genius", the work was first published as The Whale in London in October 1851, and under its definitive title in New York in November. Hundreds of differences, mostly slight and some important, are seen between the two editions. The London publisher censored or changed sensitive passages and Melville made revisions, as well, including the last-minute change in the title for the New York edition. The whale, however, appears in both editions as "Moby Dick", with no hyphen.^[4] About 3,200 copies were sold during the author's life.

Young Goodman Brown

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=young+goodman+brown&&view=detail&mid=895329AFEA6653CDA757895329AFEA6653CDA757&FORM=VRDGAR

American Romanticism

American Romanticism /"Rappaccini's Daughter"

AMERICAN LITERATURE: AMERICAN ROMANTICISM OVERVIEW

AGENDA:
Today we will begin a 2 day lesson on Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter" and then continue with the other stories you were asked to read over the break.

Our goal is to address the following questions tomorrow.

EQ: After close reading and analysis of the story, explore and evaluate the relevance of the following key ideas represented  in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 19c.short story “Rappaccini’s Daughter” have for the modern reader?

1.    Ethics and science (responsibility of scientists) Thematic

2.    Relationship between creator/inventor and creations/invention Thematic

3.    Relationships among families and friends Character analysis

4.    Impact of obsessions on self and others Character analysis

5.    Allegorical inversion of the “Garden of Eden” Rhetorical strategy

But first, let's take a moment to do a QUICKWRITE on your first reactions to "Rappaccini's Daughter".  Post your responses on the blog (or use looseleaf paper period 9).  Five minutes, GO!


Now let's take a look at American Romantics who are considered anti-Transcendentalists (or the Dark Romantics) because of their fascination with evil, death and the supernatural.

http://www.brighthubeducation.com/high-school-english-lessons/6429-notes-on-american-romanticism-class-handout/

• Romanticism in American Literature brought us some of the world's greatest writers. Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Washington Irving and Henry David Thoreau are still studied in classrooms throughout America and in Europe.

• Romanticism

  Romance describes strange lands and wonderful adventures. It allows the writer greater latitude to include the marvelous with the real. The romance may include the traditional hero with white hat on the white horse; the evil villain with the long black mustache; the lovely young woman in need of rescue, and the hairbreadth rescue itself. Romanticism as a movement began in the late 18th century, moved to England where it developed an emphasis in the glorification of nature, the supernatural, and the rebel—the individual against society. It spread to America in the early to mid 19th century and is represented in such writers as Hawthorne, Poe, and Cooper.

• American Romanticism

  In the 1830’s, America began to experience the impact of the Romantic Movement that was transforming European civilization. Like the European movement of which it was an offshoot, American Romanticism was in a broad sense a new attitude toward nature, humanity, and society that espoused individualism and freedom. Many trends characterized American Romanticism. Among the most important are the following:
  

  
  

  le

  • An impulse toward reform (temperance, women’s rights, abolition of slavery)
  • A celebration of individualism (Emerson, Thoreau)
  • A reverence for nature (Cooper, Emerson, Thoreau)
  • A concern with the impact of new technology (locomotive)
  • An idealization of women
  • A fascination with death and the supernatural (Hawthorne, Poe)

• Important Writers

  • Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882): Self-Reliance
  • Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862): Walden, Civil Disobedience
  •  Washington Irving (1783-1859): The Devil and Tom Walker, Rip Van Winkle Tales
  • Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849): The Pit and the Pendulum, The Masque of the Red Death, The Raven and many many more
  • Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables, Doctor Heidegger’s Experiment, Young Goodman Brown
   

  Analysis of "Rappaccini's Daughter"

  Discussion Points
  

  1. American Romanticism: The tenets of American Romanticism include the dangers of technology and a fascination with death and the supernatural. Rappaccini's unprioritized love for science and the supernatural aura surrounding Beatrice satisfy these aspects of American Romanticism.
  2. Characterization: "Rappaccini's Daughter" is a short story with no hero and no likable characters. Although we sympathize with Giovanni, his obsessive nature and unwillingness to listen to reason make him unlikeable. Beatrice endangers Giovanni's life. Rappaccini is a brilliant scientist but a lousy human. Pietro Baglioni appears to be the the voice of reason but acts treacherously to defeat his rival, as evidenced by his final comment and obvious jealousy.
  3. Allusions: References to the Garden of Eden, direct and indirect, abound.
  4. Symbolism: The poisonous plant and deteriorating statue in the center of the garden symbolize physical and moral corruption. The color purple, a hybrid color, symbolizes the mixing of ingredients and the mixing of good and evil in humans. Rappaccini's black clothing represents his diabolical nature.
  5. Setting and Mood: Hawthorne's physical description of the mansion and Giovanni's apartment help establish an ominous mood and foreshadows the story's tragic ending.
  6. Paradox: The controlling image of the story, the garden and Beatrice, is a paradox--a poisonous Eve and a poisonous Garden of Eden.
  7. Theme: Possible themes include the duality of human nature, the corrupting potential of science, lust, and jealousy.

  
  More resources:
  

  http://hawthorneinsalem.org/Literature/Hawthorne&Women/Rappaccini/Explorations.html 

   

  http://hawthorneinsalem.org/Literature/Hawthorne&Women/Rappaccini/MMD1230.html 

   

  http://www.mshogue.com/English_11/rappaccini.pdf 

   

  http://www.humanities360.com/index.php/nathaniel-hawthorne-rappaccinis-daughter-science-destroys-nature-mad-scientist-eden-garden-9226/

Common Core Review

http://video.wcny.org/show/regents-review/

Walt Whitman

From Shmoop:

What Walt Whitman did... and why you should care

"The work of my life is making poems," 1 declared Walt Whitman, the former printer and journalist who burst onto the literary scene in 1855 with his groundbreaking poetry collection Leaves of Grass. From the moment of its publication, Leaves of Grass was unlike any book that America had ever read before. It was bold, lyrical, sexual, sensual, and uniquely American. The Transcendentalist sage Ralph Waldo Emerson (a huge Whitman fan) described the poem as "a remarkable mixture of the Bhagvat Ghita and theNew York Herald."2 Whitman spent the rest of his life revising and expanding Leaves of Grass, issuing new editions right up until his death in 1892 at the age of 72.

Readers of the book had one of two reactions: the poems were a work of genius, or they were obscene filth. Whitman's embrace of the body and his frank discussion of erotic love, including love between men, were scandalous to many of his mid-nineteenth century readers. 

He did not back down. Whitman was the self-appointed bard of American life, singing of men and women, North and South, soaring ideals, and the gritty reality of the physical world. His poetry reflected the truth of daily life. Yet possibly the truest thing he ever wrote came near the end of his career, when he pondered the legacy of his poems: "I tickle myself with the thought how it may be said years hence that at any rate no book on earth ever had such a history." 3