Herman Melville, an American author best known today for his novel Moby Dick, was actually more popular during his lifetime for some of his other works. He traveled extensively and used the knowledge gained during his travels as the basis for his early novels. In 1837, at the age of eighteen, Melville signed as a cabin boy on a merchant ship that was to sail from his Massachusetts home to Liverpool, England. His experiences on this trip served as a basis for the novel Redburn (1849). In 1841 Melville set out on a whaling ship headed for the South Seas. After jumping ship in Tahiti, he wandered around the islands of Tahiti and Moorea. This South Sea island sojourn was a backdrop to the novel Omoo (1847). After three years away from home, Melville joined up with a U.S. naval frigate that was returning to the eastern United States around Cape Horn. The novel White-Jacket (1850) describes this lengthy voyage as a navy seaman.

With the publication of these early adventure novels, Melville developed a strong and loyal following among readers eager for his tales of exotic places and situations. However, in 1851, with the publication of Moby Dick, Melville's popularity started to diminish. Moby Dick, on one level the saga of the hunt for the great white whale, was also a heavily symbolic allegory of the heroic struggle of man against the universe. The public was not ready for Melville's literary metamorphosis from romantic adventure to philosophical symbolism. It is ironic that the novel that served to diminish Melville's popularity during his lifetime is the one for which he is best known today.

In what year did Melville’s book about his experiences as a cabin boy appear?

Câu hỏi liên quan

• When the author says parents are “left in the dark”, he means that they ____________

• Which of the following was NOT mentioned in the passage as a source of information for The Sea Around Us?

• The word “forces” in line 9 could best be replaced by:

ZUNIA12

• The passage implies that Melville stayed in Tahiti because ...........

• The author mentions "several representative handfuls" in the passage in order to show ______.

• The word “constrained” in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to     .

• The word "prosperity" in line 1 could be best replaced by which of the following?

• Which of the following is NOT true about life in the future?

• The first songs of the Beatles were __________

• According to the passage the first fire used by people was probably obtained ..........

• The word "it" refers to ______.

• The word "fused" in line 2 is closest in meaning to .........

• Why does the author mention "artistic, political, or pedagogic communication"?

• What is the main idea of the passage?

• The underlined word “refrains” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ......

• Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

• The word “they” refers to ................

• Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the second paragraph of the passage?

• What did the five campers do when they saw a group of apelike creatures?

• Lake Vostok is potentially important to scientists because it________.