Attempting to read Moby Dick, and finish it, was definitely not something that I was expecting to do this year. Before this class, I have definitely heard of the book and have been one of the people that thought it was only about a whale attacking whalers. Not only do I feel a big sense of accomplishment for finishing the book but I also have a lot of appreciation for being surrounded by intelligent students and professor Pressman throughout this whole process. This book was a tough one for me and I would not have made a dent in this book if I was reading it on my own. I most likely would have not finished it and not pick it up again, which means I would have missed out on how great this book was.
During this class, I realized how much I needed to work on my analyzing skills and now at the end of class I feel like I have made an improvement. Even though I am not where I want to be in this aspect, I will continue working on this. Outside of this class, I find myself practicing this with other texts and even movies! I keep asking myself why is this relevant or why are certain scenes a certain way. This makes my learning so much fun as I come up with different interpretations.
I also want to point out how amazing the structure for this class was, from the pre-reading material, the actual book, to the post-reading material. All of it made perfect sense in the order it was scheduled.
This is a very rich final post, and I’m grateful for it. I’m glad that you learned the importance of reading collaboratively and reading challenging texts. I’m also glad that you thought the structure of the class worked and that you’re realizing that close reading and textual analysis is not something you perfect but something you practice for the rest of your life. These are huge takeaways, and I’m very glad to see you offer them on our final day. Thank you so much for all of your hard work and brilliance.
Hi Jackie!
I totally agree that I don’t think I would be able to make a dent, or even start, the novel without the class and my fellow classmates. I also agree with you that this class has prompted a greater effort on my part to sit down and work through a larger text.
Hey Jackie. I’m in the same boat as you when you said that you did not expect Moby-Dick to really be anything else besides a whaler adventure story. This novel proved to be much, much more than that, and I think that the feeling of accomplishment we all share for finishing the novel is definitely well deserved. I also agree with you when you said that by yourself you would not be able to finish this novel, but by being surrounded by those who are experiencing the journey of the Pequod, the novel made a lot more sense. I think the class structure was great too, I really enjoyed hearing everyone’s input on the chapters we read, especially the ones that really confused. It was nice to hear how everyone read the novel from a different perspective, showing why this novel remains a timeless classic.