Exploring the Text

Access the text here.

  1. How would you describe the tone that the speaker uses to present himself in the first paragraph?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - How would you describe the tone that the speaker uses to present himself in the first paragraph?
  2. Throughout this selection, Herman Melville uses a great deal of figurative language and vivid imagery. Select two examples. How do they contribute to his purpose?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - Throughout this selection, Herman Melville uses a great deal of figurative language and vivid imagery. Select two examples. How do they contribute to his purpose?
  3. Briefly recount Ishmael’s three reasons for going to sea. Which one do you find most compelling? Why?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - Briefly recount Ishmael’s three reasons for going to sea. Which one do you find most compelling? Why?
  4. How would you describe the speaker’s attitude toward life as revealed in paragraphs 9 and 12?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - How would you describe the speaker’s attitude toward life as revealed in paragraphs 9 and 12?
  5. How would you characterize the speaker based on his use of language?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - How would you characterize the speaker based on his use of language?
  6. Melville employs many references to the Bible and to ancient Greek myth and philosophy. How do these allusions contribute to his purpose?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - Melville employs many references to the Bible and to ancient Greek myth and philosophy. How do these allusions contribute to his purpose?
  7. Historian Nathaniel Philbrick, author of the 2000 National Book Award–winning book, In the Heart of the Sea, which tells the story of the Essex, a whaling ship whose adventure inspired Melville’s Moby-Dick, recounts his experience with Melville’s novel as a young man and the son of an English professor. “Even though I hadn’t read a word, I grew up hating Moby-Dick,” he writes. “I resisted until my senior year in high school when my English teacher made it clear that I had no choice… . The voice of Ishmael, the novel’s narrator, caught me completely by surprise. I had expected to be bored to death, but Ishmael sounded like the best friend I had always hoped to find.” Philbrick cites the opening chapter as having hooked him in. Based on your reading of “Loomings,” how would you evaluate Philbrick’s remarks?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - Historian Nathaniel Philbrick, author of the 2000 National Book Award–winning book, In the Heart of the Sea, which tells the story of the Essex, a whaling ship whose adventure inspired Melville’s Moby-Dick, recounts his experience with Melville’s novel as a young man and the son of an English professor. “Even though I hadn’t read a word, I grew up hating Moby-Dick,” he writes. “I resisted until my senior year in high school when my English teacher made it clear that I had no choice… . The voice of Ishmael, the novel’s narrator, caught me completely by surprise. I had expected to be bored to death, but Ishmael sounded like the best friend I had always hoped to find.” Philbrick cites the opening chapter as having hooked him in. Based on your reading of “Loomings,” how would you evaluate Philbrick’s remarks?
  8. Does “Loomings” make you want to read the novel Moby-Dick? Why or why not?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - Does “Loomings” make you want to read the novel Moby-Dick? Why or why not?