Diary authors

1. Karla Daza 2. Denny Molano

3. Daniela Peralta 4. Damian Gasca

Historical context
Inventions Politics/religion Arts

The incandescent Politics Artists painted

lamp was invented in mostly landscapes
During this period,
1854 by Heinrich and portraits in a
two ideas guided
Gobel. It is a source realistic style. The
foreign policy:. The
that produces trends of modern
doctrine of President
artificial light. art in Europe
James Monroe; it can
reached the United
be summarized in the
States through
phrase America for
exhibitions in New
the Americans. The
York such as the
idea of Manifest
Armory Show.
Destiny stated that
the powers of the
world should bring
-The telephone was civilization to less
invented in 1854 by developed countries.
Antonio Meucci. It is
(Albert Bierstadt,
a telecommunications
1863,The Rocky
device. Religion
Mountains).
By 1850 Catholics had
become the largest
denomination in the
country. Between
1860 and 1890 the
population of
Catholics in the
 United States
increased threefold
through immigration

Author biography facts

Birthplace and date Childhood Life problems

Herman Melvill was Herman Melville's Melville, who

born on August 1, childhood took a lacked economic
1819 in New York drastic turn due to resources, had to
City, U.S. the unexpected death work as a
of his father, leaving crewman on
him with his mother several ships,
and seven siblings. including a
This led the young whaler. He was a
Melville to apply for deserter, a prisoner
a job in a bank and of a dangerous
drop out of high Indian tribe. A
school. Despite being couple of years
forced to give up his later, he settled in
education, Herman Massachusetts,
did not turn his back where he devoted
on his desire to himself to writing
pursue learning. In until 1863. Three
this way, Melville years later, due to
began to educate the little economic
himself, with the help success of his
 of many books that works, he had to
allowed him to obtain accept a job as a
the cultured language customs official.
he possessed.

Literary influences Writing style Ideology

Besides being an His style of writing Herman was

author who draws was romanticism and heavily influenced
heavily from the travel literature. by the Republican
Bible and works by party where the
William Shakespeare, philosophy or
such as The Tempest, ideology of Anti-
his decisive Federalism, the
influences are two ideology that
great pens, that of defended the
James Cooper, rights of the States
american novelist of the United
who stood out for his States against the
popular adventure Federal
novels, from whom Government, was
he adopted the epic represented.
spirit, and that of
Nathaniel
Hawthorne, prolific
author of stories that
moved between
Gothic fiction and
dark romanticism,
and from whom he
admired his ability to
construct allegories.
And it is both
characteristics, the
adventurous spirit
and his allegories that
have made Moby
Dick stand the test of
time.

What are the connections between the author’s life and the
novel?

Herman was inspired by his life experiences as he spent a great

deal of time on various whalers, special ships for catching whales.
Therefore, these adventures led him to write what would become
his most outstanding work. On the other hand, his adventures at
sea not only gave him inspiration for Moby Dick. Another of his
notorious works, A Cannibal Eden, was also based on his
experiences as a crew member.

What historical events / ideas motivated the author to write this

book?

Melville, immersed in the writing of his great whaling novel, Moby

Dick, was greatly motivated by the veteran author's intense
romantic introspection and rejection of conformity.

Literary elements

What are the main themes of the book? Explain why.

Revenge: The character of Captain Ahab has a fetish and is, at the
same time, prey to his fetish: Moby Dick. Ahab's resentment
against Moby Dick becomes the only meaning in his life. Moby
Dick becomes an idol on which Ahab pours all of his energy,
leading him to death.

Nature: As a being of nature, Moby Dick is a representation of the

untamed and the wild. For the blinded Western man, he is the
"beast" destined to be dominated, but who has reversed the
established order.
 Symbolism in the novel

Moby Dick: This whale represented all the desires,

passions, the energy of the captain, it was what made
him want to navigate in turbulent waters and go to
Character danger, it became almost his religion, at the same
time it was his destiny and his end.

The ship: it is a clear representation of the world as a

Place single place inhabited by a great diversity of people
and multiculturalism.

The gold doubloon: this coin mainly represented the

hope for many of those who followed the captain, to
return home to their families and have a better future,
Item as on the other hand, it represented the mechanisms
of autocratic populism and authoritarian
individualism.

Characters

Motivatio
Name Personality Goals Obstacle
n

Exuberant,i To narrate the crew situations

ntelligent, the story the crew
observant and guide encountere
Ismael
and curious. the crew for d to end
survival. the life of
Moby Dick.

Ahab He’sis a To kill his Situations

fascinating Moby Dick revenge crew
character, encountere
Charismatic d to end
and cruel the life of
 Moby Dick.

Moby Dick To survive Its life Ahab and

is presented the crew
by Ahab as
Moby Dick
the
personificati
on of evil.

Intelligent, To the crew unspecified

outspoken, disregard
Starbuck capable and Ahab's
deeply motivations
religious

Generous to live new his life situations

and adventures the crew
courageous encountere
Queequeg
d to end
the life of
Moby Dick.

Sequence of events
1. Rising actions

What Who is Why did

Where did it
happene affected? that Result
happen?
d? How? happen?

The hope
and all
Captain
the plans
Ahab
 Because that
the crew some
was with have
doubts and with that
uncertainty gold
Everyone in
until the coin,
the crew is
captain were
surprised
appeared never
finally In the ship and
offering a fulfilled
reveals after a few motivated
reward to because
himself to days of to carry out
better everythin
his crew. having set this
achieve his g ended
sail adventure.
mission. in a
tragic
way,
even the
captain
himself
died.

2. Climax of the story

What happened at the climax of the story? Provide details.

Undoubtedly this story was

full of really exciting
moments and uncertainty, of
war between good and evil
but I must say that the
climax of Moby Dick is when
Ahab finds the whale after
that long and desperate
search where they were
unleashed. three days of war and persecution to this great white
sperm whale. The captain with his last forces plunges his harpoon
into Moby's side, but the rope gets tangled in his own leg and the
captain is dragged along with his spear and dies.

3. Resolution

Which was the novel’s conflict? Was it solved? How?

The whole story revolves This conflict is only resolved

around the great whale for
Captain Ahab, Moby Dick is the
embodiment of evil, of which
he feels victim and victimizer at
the same time. Thanks to the
contrast represented by
Starbucks, the only one who
seems aware of the nonsense of
the company, we see how the
captain absolutizes his purpose
in such a way that he does not
mind sacrificing his own and
making a great search to find
his destiny. .
when there is that long-awaited
meeting again between the
captain and the whale, in search
of revenge and after risking his
own, the plans did not turn out
as expected and thus the captain
arrived at his destination, the
that he himself created, his end,
Only one member of the crew
survives after this tragedy.

If one of the characters would have done something different, how

would that change the final outcome?

Maybe only maybe if the captain had removed the blindfold,

which did not allow him to see that this thirst for revenge was
going to destroy him, all that tragedy would have been avoided, all
those lives would not have been lost, but one A great story would
not have been told later by that man who managed to get out of
those troubled waters alive.

Treasure chest
What lessons did you learn from this book?
Honestly, this book left us great teachings and lessons for life, the
greatest is that of realizing that we are not masters of our destiny
but we do have the ability to modify it with the decisions we make.
Either we grow and we are happy or we destroy ourselves.

Do you feel identified with a character from the book? Why?

I think that a character that identifies us in some characteristics is

Starbucks, because despite questioning the captain's decisions, he
did not care how much risk that journey entailed, he risked with
hope. Many times, in order to fulfill a purpose or a dream, we
measure ourselves before any sacrifice in the hope of one day
obtaining that reward.

What emotions did I feel in my favorite part of the book? Why?

Undoubtedly one of my favorite moments was when Ismael was

rescued once and for all from marine hell, after so much evil
between man and nature. We felt a lot of euphoria to know that at
least with a single life there was a light and hope , that lucky man
to tell the story.

How does this book relate to my own life? Was it relevant for me?

It is relevant to our life, life understanding that evil only brings

more evil. Evil resides in human pride and ambition, when man
goes beyond his limits and plays at being god. Therefore, his
destiny is death.

Take notes in class. Write interesting comments from your

partners.

We all have that "white whale" that tempts us, attracts us,
dominates us and makes us take risks, not always with the best
results .... Likewise, the author represented his own white whale in
this masterpiece in real life, but made up with unique phrases and
all his knowledge of life at sea.