An Investigation of Literary Greatness: Still a Battle of the Sexes
"'I am an experienced writer and have some sense whether an idea can work or not...I wasn't sure it would work and I really thought about it for nine months before I put pen to paper. But I didn't feel intimidated by Melville's accomplishment. I felt inspired by it.'" Naslund quoted by Jamie Allen (CNN Interactive Senior Writer)(1999)
For most people the mention of "great literature" stirs up the classic images of such authors as Shakespeare, Twain, Hemmingway, Salinger, Fitzgerald, and Melville among many others. Without belittling those very talented authors I would like to question their superiority over lesser acclaimed or widely known authors. What makes great literature and who gets to decide what qualifies? Perhaps a book such as Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund could be a "greater" book than its famous precursor, Herman Melville's Moby Dick. But who can one say that one book is greater than another? In the end the question of greatness comes down to who is measuring it.
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Perhaps it means to have succeeded gracefully at whatever goal there was in mind. Perhaps it is to be liked by others, or to be meaningful. Perhaps it is represented by being carried on through time. Or perhaps greatness is whatever people make it to be and can never be fully defined. Most likely any or all of those things contribute to
From Herman Melville you learn his unique writing style of a humorous and lighthearted book even though it digs deep into the problem of revenge. Melville was shamed for writing Moby Dick but as time grew people saw Moby Dick as a excellent novel. People say that Melville 's writing is confusing and hard to understand but if given enough time and concentration to read the book you get skills out of it as a better reader and a better writer. You would get a better understanding of his unique writing style and have a fun time reading it. The problem with Moby Dick being in the english process is that people are going to have to spend a huge amount of time of their class to read this book. If you wanna learn an important topic of revenge Moby Dick is the perfect book. Reading Moby Dick makes you feel like you are experiencing these scenes of intensity. The book is extremely hard to understand towards end and to other scenes but it will help to understand other books you will read in the future and increase how well you can write. This is why Moby Dick is one of the most well known,well written, and greatest novels made in America. Moby Dick teaches you about revenge, and improves your reading and writing. Moby Dick should be in the english learning
Early experiences in Melville’s life influenced many of his writings and the themes of his stories. As you know all of this began in a particular way, just like everybody else’s life.
The highest social class in Victorian England was the Nobility or Gentry class. The members of this class were those who inherited their land, titles, and wealth . Popular opinion at the time asserted that the noble class women led lives of lavish luxury and wedded bliss. "Ladies were ladies in those days; they did not do things themselves, they told others what to do and how to do it."
The body of this argument lies in a meager psychoanalysis of Melville. I have had to take a very broad approach, look at Melville purely as a man. I have attempted to put the reader into Melville's head, where I have attempted to put myself. To better achieve this I discuss much of Melville's background, hoping to give the reader a sense of what he had experienced. I have written with confidence, but hopefully not too much, you must decide for yourselves what of mine you feel is right. It is always very hard to use psychoanalytical approaches, because, as the mind is a mystery, it is all ultimately unproved. All psychoanalytical opinion is based on event, as all psychology is based on the idea that men are shaped by experience. I speculate below, on things I cannot really know, and I do this only to achieve some rough personal connections between Melville and his Moby-Dick. It serves me, and I hope you as well.
Watson, J. (1985). Nursing: Human Science and Human. Norwalk; CT: Appleton – Century – Crofts.
It is often a topic of argument: What makes a classic? Well because “a classic” can define just about anything, we first will narrow it down. This paper will focus on the field of literature. Still what makes a piece of literature a classic? Well as outline above, the most common criteria for literature tend to focus on language of a novel, a novels appeal to a large audience, and its ability to endure time. These are three basic criteria that are accepted by most critics and I agree with their ability to separate a good novel from a classic one. Now that we know what criteria we are basing our decisions on we must define them clearly so that there isn’t any confusion.
Gajduske, E. Robert. Hemingway's Paris. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1978. Mahoney, John. Ernest Hemingway. New York: Barnes and Noble INC., 1967. McSowell, Nicholas. Life and Works of Hemingway. England: Wayland, 1988. Meyers, Jeffery. Hemingway: A Biography. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1985. Shaw, Samuel. Ernest Hemingway. New York: Fredrick Ungar Publishing Company, 1974. Tessitore, John. The Hunt and The Feast, A life of Ernest Hemingway. New York: Franklin Watts, 1996. Waldhorn, Arthur. A Reader's Guide to Ernest Hemingway. New York: Octagon
What makes literature so special is the fact that some words never have one rigid definition. What a word truly means is always up for debate, and can be defined differently by all.
Herman Melville attended a strict New York Male High School and, ironically, struggled at a young age to read and write (Bengtsson). He had difficulty gaining approval of family members and his father once said, “Your little protégé Herman, although a monitor at the High School, is rather indisposed this evening.” (Robertson 35). Regardless of the negative feedback towards Melville himself, he never gave up trying to win the acknowledgement and acceptance of his family (Padilla). At just 20 year old, Melville went on his first journey across the sea; this was the start of his significant inspiration for years to come (Robertson 34). Sailing from New York to Liverpool would begin t...
Two concepts at the heart of nursing are comfort and caring. The Meriam Webster dictionary defines comfort as easing grief or trouble, as well as giving hope or strength. The definition of caring is showing or feeling concern for others. Theorists Jean Watson and Katharine Kolcaba seek to enhance nurses understanding of caring and comforting patients through their respective theories. This paper will discuss their theories using a stepwise approach.
...thout writing fiction novels. The narrator is a symbol for Melville’s readers, and poor Bartleby is a symbol for Melville. The narrator demands Bartleby to keep copying his work, but Bartleby has stated numerous times that he “would prefer not to”. Melville is against writing more fiction because he did not want to cheapen the means of his fiction. In the end, none of Melville’s works after “Moby Dick” became popular and he ended up dying in poverty and obscurity, very similarly to Bartleby.
John Green’s wonderful yet tragic best-selling novel The Fault in Our Stars tells a heart-wrenching story of two teenage cancer patients who fall in love. Augustus Waters and Hazel Lancaster live in the ordinary city of Indianapolis, where they both attend a support group for cancer patients. Falling in love at first sight, the two are inseparable until Augustus’s cancer comes out of remission, turning Hazel’s world upside. This is one of the best young-adult fiction novels of the year because it keeps readers on the edge of their seat, uses themes to teach real life lessons, and uses a realistic point of view instead of the cliché happy ending of most books.
Herman Melville, one of the more iconic names in Gothic literature, saw the world differently. Free from the Puritan rhetoric, Melville very much enjoyed the pleasures of the natural world. Melville traveled, and spent time among Natives. In several accounts he described his favorable time amongst them, and showcased the idea of noble savages beyond the borders of America. Without such tragedy to fuel him, Melville penned optimistic stories of adventure and excitement. The world wasn't a trap or a test, but a rich pearl oyster to be pursued and celebrated. True fame, or at least legacy, came later, with the publication of Moby-Dick. A darker story, but still heavy with adventure, Moby-Dick was undoubtedly a story of tragedy. Ahab, the iconic captain in the story, was driven by an obsession to hunt down a whale that injured him years prior to the story's beginning. Rather than accepting this as nature being a bit dangerous Ahab, against the better judgment of other members of his crew, anthropomorphised the titular whale, seeing it as a someone, not something, that wronged him and des...
Melville was born into the time when inspiring works of American literature began to emerge. Yet, European heritage in literature still had a strong hold on American writers of the time. C. Other contributions by Herman Melville were his narrative poems, and writings of other sea journeys.II. SettingMoby Dick is set in a time when whaling was a very well known trade, it was made popular because of the dyer need for oil for lamps. A.
Moby Dick, written by Herman Melville, is believed by some to be the greatest literary works of all time. The book takes place in the 1840s and seems greatly advanced for its time. Herman Melville uses many literary techniques that bring about severe imagery as well as insight and education to the readers. One concept that is conveyed in Moby Dick is the journey itself. This is broken into the physical journey, the spiritual journey, and life’s journey.