Open Prompt #2 (Revisited)

1983. From a novel or play of literary merit, select an important character who is a villain. Then, in a well-organized essay, analyze the nature of the character's villainy and show how it enhances meaning in the work. Do not merely summarize the plot. 


          In the classic novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville Moby Dick is thought of by Captain Ahab to be the ultimate evil.  Moby Dick is a sperm whale who tore off Captain Ahab’s leg.  Throughout the novel Captain Ahab, filled with a lust for vengeance, tries to defeat the whale. 

  A major theme of this novel is that revenge is not worth it.  Throughout the novel Captain Ahab, filled with a lust for vengeance, tries to defeat the whale.  Ahab was obsessed with this as his only goal was to hunt and kill the whale.  Ahab let this obsession consume his thoughts and he could not find happiness in life until this whale was dead.   

Moby Dick clearly represents represents greatness.  It is an insurmountable task to kill Moby Dick as he is so giant and powerful.  Moby Dick is clearly the villain in the novel as he ripped off Captain Ahab’s leg during a whaling incident and led to the deaths of almost the whole crew.  Moby Dick’s attacks are not unwarranted, but he causes harm to many characters in the story and is portrayed by Captain Ahab as complete evil.  Moby Dick’s villainy is caused by the whaling crew hunting and attempting to kill it so Moby Dick is not truly evil.

Ahab met another whaler named Captain Boomer who lost an arm to Moby Dick.  Instead of being angry and seeking vengeance Captain Boomer was just happy to be alive.  The two different responses to being attacked by the two men represent that everyone has a choice to make when they are wronged.  They can choose the unfulfilling choice of revenge or they can choose to forgive or forget.  It is clear that revenge is not the correct choice as Ahab’s quest for vengeance results in Moby Dick sinking the whole ship, resulting in every man dying except for one lucky character named Ishmael.  Captain Boomer chose not to seek revenge and as a result lived a much happier life.   

Response to Course Materials #6

          Hamlet is now finally over and we can focus on other things such as multiple choice! Although this practice is tedious I know I need to work hard on them because that is what will be on the AP exam in May. As we continue to work with vocabulary words I think they are starting to come back to me after I memorized them at the beginning of the year for the terms test. The poems are still very hard for me to comprehend on a deep level, but I suppose with more practice they will get easier. 
          With the new semester comes a big shift in the blogs. Instead of writing Open Prompt and Closed Reading essays we are now going back through and revising them. I think this is really cool because I can compare my more recent assignments to my assignments from the beginning of the year. This helps me go back and look at my own work and see where I can improve.
          The new openers are fun, challenging, and I feel like they help a lot. We are able to review didls at the same time. It is pretty obvious knowing didls well is imperative to do well on the AP exam. Now that spring is approaching my focus is now mainly on the exam. 
          I am excited we are starting Rosencrantz and Guildenstern but it is kind of frustrating knowing that we haven't completely escpaped Hamlet yet.