After reading the final three chapters of the book entitled "The Chase," blog about the novel's conclusion and your reaction to it. What did you learn about whaling? What did you learn about life?
Discuss your reading of the novel, one of the most complex works in American Literature. How did you do? What were some challenges? What were some successes?
Finally, imagine yourself 20 years from now, as a teacher or parent. Would you ask your students or children to read it? Why or why not?
24 comments:
1. The conclusion of this novel wasn't completely predictable but I had a feeling everyone was going to die. I didn't know Ishmael was going to be the only survivor, but I knew something bad was going to happen to Ahab and his crew. I think this conclusion wasn't dramatic enough. I think it should have ended In a better way. Maybe something like, everyone survives, and Ahab is in critical condition and he wakes up to find out that someone else caught Moby-dick. I don't know just something a little more, surprising. Almost like a thriller.
2. I learn that life is too short to give up on your dreams. And as cheesy as it seems, it's true. Ahab spent most of his time chasing after a whale, that he ended up never having in the end. So either this lesson that it taught me was : Don't waste my time on something that's never going to happen, Or never give up because then you're living for nothing.
3. The complexity of this book was actually quite intriguing, and I found it almost intimidating. I don't know, I guess I just found this book a very good book when I understood what I was reading, but until I understood it, I found it incredibly difficult.
3. If I was a teacher, I would have my students read this novel, because it's a novel that can test you reading abilities and show you what you can and cannot read and comprehend. It's always good to challenge yourself. So yes, I would have my children or students read this novel.
I thought the end of the book was very interesting because all of the people on the ship died. Crazy Ahab never gets to kill the whale that he has been chasing for the last 3 days. I think it was rude for Ahab to put his crew into something none of them signed up to do.
I think some of the Challenges of reading Moby-Dick were that it is hard to understand what they are talking about during the book. Some successes of reading the book were that is was interesting to learn about whale ships.
In 20 years if i was a teacher i would make my students read this book because you learn a lot about history even though the book is hard to read.
1) I think the ending could of been a little less dramatic and had a greater ending as well. If Ahab would of survived it would of been better for him to know that moby dick was still at sea or as kaitlyn said someone else catch him.
2) I learned that in life you just have to brush your shoulders off to stuff that comes to you and no matter what keep your feet planted stick to what you believe.
3) In 20 years I see myself not as a teacher maybe a parent. I wouldn't recommend any books to anybody because its all on the type of books you like to read as yourself.
Reading Moby Dick was pretty hard for me because I couldn't really stay interested in it and the content was confusing. 20 years from now as a teacher or a parent I wouldn't ask my students or my kids to read this because I had a hard time reading it and it would be hypocritical to ask them to read it as well
The concluding chapters of Moby Dick were kind of blah to me. I agree with Kaitlyn, it wasn't as much of an adventure as it could have been. Mr. Gillis had already told the class that everyone dies, except for Ishmael. I knew it was coming, I would have been more impelled to read, if I was anticipating a thrilling ending, or the capture of Moby Dick.
I would say the book teaches passion, and to follow your dreams. The men on the ship do what they have to make money for their family, even thought they are putting their lives in great risk. Life is full of risks, and whaling is a good example.
I struggled with this book more than I thought I would. I could not get excited about the book, and was not impelled to read. I read it because it was assigned, however would not have willingly read the novel. Twenty years from now I would encourage my children or students to read the book, to test their reading abilities, and will power. If you can power through a book this tough, you should be proud.
1. I never would have thought everyone was going to die at the end of the book and that Ishmael was going to be the only one to live. I didn't really like the ending I thought it was going to be a lot better.
2. I learned that you really don't have much time in life. One day you could be very happy and okay the next you could be dead. Life flashes before you eyes and you don't even realize it.
3. The book was kind of hard to read at certain times. There were times when I couldn't understand it at all. It was a very challenging book but I am somewhat glad I read it.
4. 20 years from now if I was a teacher I would make my students read the book because even though it is a very long book and most might not find it interesting. They all will be thankful to have read it because Moby-Dick is a famous history book. The students would learn a lot.
1. The conclusion of this novel wasn't what I expected. I thought they were going to catch moby-dick and go back home to their families. The ending was interesting. All the men died, but Ishmael. I thought it was ride of Ahab to drag the men with him, when the men didn't want to search for Moby-dick anymore.
2. Moby- dick was challenging for me to read. I didn't enjoy the book until I understood what was going on. I learned that Ahab had a passion to catch Moby-dick, but never got to. Ahab had a dream, but couldn't finish it because he died.
3. If I'm a teacher I would have the students read this book because they can learn about the history and can test their reading skills. Even though it's a hard reading it's a good way to test the students.
I thought it was a good ending to the book. Most books would have ended in the death of Moby Dick and I think that is what makes it a great American book. I didn't realize how difficult killing a whale would be. They are a very dangerous animal and this book brings that out. It also brings out what humans are capable of. How far humans will go to get revenge.
I struggled with the words that had to do with the ship or a reverence to the ship. I did alright when reading these words even though I had to look up a lot of the words.
In 20 years from now I would definitely ask my kids or students to read Moby Dick. It is a great book. I mean yeah it is 133 chapters but I would give them the abridged version. It is a great story which is about more then whaling. It is about human characteristics and how we act too.
I knew it from the very beginning that Ishmael would be the only survivor of this voyage. I didn't really think the end was that good comparatively. I learned that you only live once and bad things can happen anytime so you have to live it up.
Reading Moby-Dick was the biggest reading challenge I have ever experienced. At first I was not really having fun reading this book. as I got farther and farther into the book it was much more fun to read. It was getting easier and exciting things were happening. If I was a teacher I would have all my students read this novel because it is fun to read and is also a challenge.
I was both very shocked and not shocked at all at the deaths of everyone on the ship, except for Ishmael. On one hand, I anticipated that Ahab would catch Moby Dick and claim his revenge, but on the other hand its fairly predictable that a mad man and his men would perish at the hand of his enemy. Pretty much everything about whaling I learned because I knew nothing about whaling beforehand. In regards to what did I learn about life, I learned to let things go. Not everything is worth chasing down.
i had some difficulty with this book because of the way it was written. It had a certain dialect to it that I was unfamiliar with. I had difficulty understanding what was going on.
If I were to be a teacher in the future I would have no choice whether to have my students read it, if it were on the reading list. If I were a parent I would certainly not make my child read this book. I like to think that I would be the parent that doesn't make their child do what they don't want if it has no benefit to their future.
The ending to me wasn't completely hidden from me. I mean they were doing something incredibly dangerous in the first place so I thought that there was a very good possibility that everyone except him would die. It was a bit dramatic but i like the ending. Overall the book was a tough read but i fought through it! :)
From this book I learned that whaling is not for the average man. You have to be born with the will to do it, along with the mental and physical power. Its a very dangerous job, only for daring men.
I learned that everyone uses their life in their own way. When one has a set goal in mind, they alter their life to meet that goal in anyway.
Reading this book was hard for me. I'm not going to lie, it put me to sleep at least 10 times. But when I wasn't sleeping the parts that I read were very cool. It enjoyed reading about the whaling job and what the men went through for so long. Also the adventure parts of the book like the hunting of Moby-Dick was fun to read. If I were a teacher I would ask my students to read this book, its got many life lessons all through out it. If I were a parent I would read this to my child at a young age, so they learn good lessons early on in life.
The ending of the novel caught me off guard, I was predicting that moby dick would be killed, and so would most of the crew. I learned that whales are a pain in the ass to kill and that in modern times all they need to do now is bring a professional Russian dual-wielding two AA-12 to kill the bastard. One must not obsess over things or they will get nothing. (NO SOUP FOR YOU!)
I did alright reading the novel, the language wasn't very difficult due to other hints within the text and the tone of each paragraph. On occasion I realized what was happening in a previous passage only a few passages down after said passage.
If the language did not change to an extent where it doesn't matter anymore, I would force my offspring to read this novel so that he can't bitch about reading other novels about them being "hard".
I think that the end of this novel was not predictable. The end of the book really surprised me that everybody died. I believe that this book should have ended in a different way. The book was good but i think that near the end of the novel it started to go down hill like the author gave up writing it. I think that i did a good job reading and interpreting this novel. If I were a teacher i would have my students read this novel because it was full of information and it was a good way to learn how to interpret a novel and find out what the story line is.
Moby Dick, the novel, concluded with Ahab and his crew dying minus Ishmael. After chasing a whale simply for revenge and enduring things that one cannot even imagine, the conclusion must leave people in shock to see that the chase, the destruction of the ship, and the torturing of the crew was all for nothing. There is a lot to learn about whaling, including the struggles and the life it requires to live on the sea and do whaling. It takes a lot of strength both mentally and physically. In life, things are going to happen that are not expected and it is important to not try and take revenge. There is no point of taking things into your hands. Life happens.
As taking the science quest of the Moby Dick adventure, most of the book was able to hold my interest making it an easier book for me to comprehend. In my opinion, I did as well as one could do with no previous knowledge of whaling. It was challenging not understanding some of the vocabulary and some of the details of the whaling and ships. As I kept reading though, it became easier to learn and discuss the book and was able to hold my interest in many ways.
I think that children should not have to read should a complex novel, but it also would give them a good challenge, so it could go both ways. By reading it, you gain an incredible amount of knowledge and an incredible amount of success and relief that you made it through the whole novel. On the other hand, it is very complex and hard to read and people must struggle to keep their attention throughout the novel, so kids will find other ways around reading it.
This book could b confusing at sometimes. The scenes during the final 3 chapters were very descriptive. I thought it was strange that the author only had one survivor from the entire crew. I learned that whaling is a very complicated process, with all the different thing you have to do just to get the whale to the processing ship. Whalers can also be gone for a very long time when they are trying to find whales to kill. I learned that life is unpredictable and anything could happen to you or your friends.
I thought that the book was very easy to understand most of the time. Sometimes the language that was used was a little hard to understand. I think that I did very well reading the book and understanding it and staying caught up with what was being assigned.
I think that if I was a teacher 20 years from now, being high school or middle school, I would have my kids read this book. I think that with some help anyone can understand it. I would have them read the book in parts and maybe use some online resources to get them through the whole book.
After reading the book Moby Dick I learned a lot about sailing and hunting whales. Unfortunately I feel that I didnt learn so much of a life lesson from this novel except for not to be hard-headed like Ahab was with "whaling" for moby dick, killing all his crew pretty much just to get the whale.. i am sure there were a ton of things i could have learnt from this book but it was hard for me to read and comprehend after. It was prob the way they talked back then, idontknow. But the book deff taught me alot about whales that i didnt know before. 20 years from now i would NOT make my kids read it, but if i was to be a teacher i would deff make them read it for the educational purposes of MOBY DICK.
The book ended in a way that was predictable in a way. From the start you know that Ahab was going to die. He was so caught up in this whale that he didn't care about anything else all he wanted to do was kill this whale and in the end Moby-Dick killed him. The part i didn't think was going to happen was that the whole crew was going to die. Ahab was too caught up in this whale he didn't care about his crew he only wanted to kill this whale.
This reading was hard for me. I had to listen to the audio most of the time. There was just so much too this book that it went in to detail but it was just to much to read. The audio was a great help to me because it cut the reading time down and makes it so i can get it done.
I would want them to read it but i would also cut the reading done like you did this is a good book but just way to much to read.
At the end of the book I didn't expect everyone to die and Ishmael to live. I though the ending was okay. I was thinking that Moby Dick would be caught or get killed. In this book I found out that whaling is very difficult. Whales are very strong and you have to be strong in order to kill a whale.
I learned about life that you have to live it up. You have to enjoy every moment of life because you never know what is going to happen to you the next day.
I thought the book was a tough to understand at times. I had to reread at times to understand parts of the book. There were a lot of words that I didn't understand.
20 years from now if I was a teacher I would have my students read Moby Dick. But I would do what we did and break it up into adventure, poetry, science, and history sections so they can chose what they want to read about. Moby Dick teaches you some lessons in life. I would recommend this book to my students.
1) Since I already knew how Moby-Dick would end, I wasn't completely surprised. I sort of knew the story before hand and had watched the movie with my parents when I was a pre-teen. I thought it was an interesting ending because not only did Ahab die, but besides Ishmael the entire crew died with him. This was an interesting and realistic way to end the book, because in life a person's actions don't only effect themselves but also effects the people around them. This book taught me life lessons. I learned through this book, people from different backgrounds and cultures can still get along when looking towards a greater goal. I also learned without humility, a group can be easily separated and damaged. The book taught me also, fighting against a greater power whether it supernatural, or nature itself often ends with the opposer losing. Ahab because of his pride fought a force greater than himself and ended up dying because of it.
2) Reading Moby-Dick was an adventure of it's own. I had some trouble reading Melviles large vocabulary, along with his detailed explanations about things, for instance the whiteness of the whale. Some pages took minutes to read because of those factors. I admit I did use spark notes to help me with understanding some of the more complex chapters. Spark notes also helped me fit the story together and helped me know the characters better as well. All in all I'm glad Mr. Gillis gave us abridged sections of the book or I'd in big trouble.
3) In twenty years from now I would recommend my child or children to read Moby-Dick. I would want them to read an abridged version though because of how challenging the book is. I think this book has good life lessons, along with great moral questions every person should present to themselves. So Moby-Dick would be a great read for my Child or Children.
I wasn't too surprised by the ending of Moby Dick. I expected Ahab to die and bring a bunch of people down with him. In fact in the original version Ishmael dies as well. Melville realized you can't kill the narrator so he had to go back and edit the ending.
I already knew a good amount about whaling. The process and tactics used to find and kill whales. However, I never did realize how intense the chase and kill can be as Moby Dick showed me. This book also taught me that obsession and a thirst for revenge can only lead to your downfall. I've never experienced anything in my life such as losing a leg to a whale that would cause me to have these feelings.
I'd encourage my students/children to read this book as it is an important piece of American literature but I certainly would not force them to read the book.
1) The ending to this book was not what I was expecting at all. When they struck Moby Dick with the first harpoon I thought was a sign that they were going to get him. But I did think some crew members were going to die, not all of them but some. How the real ending went was Moby Dick got rid of all the crew members accept for Ishmael.
2) This book was challenging because some of the words I did not know. And also the book did not catch my full attention so it was hard to keep reading a book you really do not want to. Also most of the chapters had deeper meanings that I really did not catch on to, so I would have to do extra work and look it up on spark notes.
3) When I have a kids I would want them to read this book because they might like stuff like this. But the main reason would be because I had to read the book so I would make them go through the same headache.
The ending of the novel caught me off guard, I was predicting that moby dick would be killed, and so would most of the crew. I learned that whales are a pain in the bum to kill and that in modern times all they need to do now is bring a professional Russian dual-wielding two AA-12 to kill the whale. One must not obsess over things or they will get nothing. (NO SOUP FOR YOU!)
I did alright reading the novel, the language wasn't very difficult due to other hints within the text and the tone of each paragraph. On occasion I realized what was happening in a previous passage only a few passages down after said passage.
If the language did not change to an extent where it doesn't matter anymore, I would force my offspring to read this novel so that he can't complain about reading other novels about them being "hard".
The ending was life. Sometimes you chase a dream and you get so caught up that you all die off before it is achieved.
Life is a gamble I suppose. You can chase a dream or a love until you die, and as long as you were happy with the chase then what else matters right?
This book was pretty hard to understand. It seemed to talk in paradigms all the time. One had to break down almost every page and its poetic structure in order to get an idea of what was going on at that moment. Like the Candles chapter or the Forge. They were built in not only for a ship burning or ship breaking but they had resemblances to the bible.
To teach this book I would break it down like we have and have the students break up the chapters. Decoding the chapters one by one almost. So that they understood what was happening every chapter. Or I would give them the double text version, one in a more modern language and the other in original text, just so that they may compare the 2 and see that Moby Dick is a puzzle.
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