2. Moby Dick Herman Melville, 1851

3. Herman Melville Herman Melville was an American writer who lived in the 19 th century This is Melville (shortly before eating Tom-Yam- Gung)

4. Moby Dick Moby Dick is considered to be one of the great American novels Having been written over 150 years ago, it captures the essence of the early vision of the American dream There was a 1956 film version and a more recent 2010 version

5. Plot outline On the surface, the book tells the story of a man’s quest to kill a whale According to Wikipedia: The story tells the adventures of wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod, commanded by Captain Ahab. Ishmael soon learns that Ahab has one purpose on this voyage: to seek out Moby Dick, a ferocious, enigmatic white sperm whale. In a previous encounter, the whale destroyed Ahab's boat and bit off his leg, which now drives Ahab to take revenge.

6. Characters Moby Dick is famous for the great characterization in the novel Notable characters include: -Ahab the obsessed captain -Queequeg the cannibal -Moby Dick (the whale) who personifies or symbolises various things in the novel

7. Course focus During this course we will focus on a few key early chapters from the book We will analyse the atmosphere and writing style that creates the unique style of the book The focus will be on the characterisation

8. The end