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.

According to the passage, Melville’s early novels were ...............

Câu hỏi liên quan

• After which year did the town really begin developing?

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ZUNIA12

• Which of the following is NOT true according to the text?

• What is the main purpose of the passage?

• According to the passage, what can be learnt about passive students?

• Why do people say women produce more than half of the food in Africa?

• The word “wink” in the second paragraph means most nearly the same as ............

• The word “they" in paragraph 5 refers to ................

• What is the main idea of the passage?

• According to the passage, a regional university rector in Germany is elected by _____.

• The word "they" refers to ........

• What would happen if you pressed the snooze button?

• Based on the passage, what is probably true about tsunamis?

• In order to operate a computer, a student does not have to be _______

• The passage mainly discusses ______.

• According to the passage, what is TRUE about origin of tea drinking?

• What does the passage mainly discuss?

• It can be inferred from the passage that ___________.

• The statement: "Colloquialisms, on the other hand, are familiar words and idioms that are understood by almost all speakers of a language and used in informal speech or writing, but not considered acceptable for more formal situations." means: