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

• As it can be inferred from the passage, which of the following is an advantage of mixed-ability teaching?

• The word "appealing" is closest in meaning to ........

• The man mentioned in the passage, who used his cell phone too often, ...........

ZUNIA12

• The phrase "set off" is closest in meaning to______________.

• The best way to protect children from improper material is .............

• What were "steady sellers"?

• Which of the following types of food preservation was NOT mentioned in the passage?

• The author mentions the “ shoesbox under the bed” in order to ................

• It can be inferred from the passage that the eye ___.

• What does the passage mainly discuss?

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• According to the passage, all of the followings are TRUE except ___________.

• The phrase “more achievement oriented” in the paragraph 6 is closest in meaning to ______.

• What does the word “magni” stand for?

• We can see from paragraph 5 that after his father’s death, Mantle ______.

• When was M.L. born?

• The word “bizarre” is closest meaning to ..........

• According to the passage, Porter’s Father was ___________.

• It can be inferred from the passage that the countries which are mainly responsible for global warming are ____.