REQUIRED READING– *Books available in the SDSU bookstore*

–Herman Melville, Moby-Dick (1851), Penguin edition (2002), intro by Andrew Delblanco
**You MUST have the book, not an e-reader digital version*

Suggested Reading:
Nathaniel Philbrick, Why Read Moby-Dick?: (Viking, 2011)

**NOTE: Schedule might change**

Part I: Getting Our Sea Legs

Week 1: Introductions
August 26: Introduction to the class
August 28: Introduction to the class & each other

Week 2:  Historical Context
September 2: Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The American Scholar” (1837)
—SLIDES from class

September 4: Gilbert King, “The True-Life Horror That Inspired ‘Moby-Dick’ (2013)
–SLIDES from class

Week 3: Prefatory and Framing
September 9: Philip Hoare, “What ‘Moby-Dick’ Means to Me” (The New Yorker, 2011)
-SLIDES from class

September 11: John R. Gills, “The Blue Humanities” (2013)
–SLIDES from class
Additional Reading: Nathaniel Philbrick, excerpt from Why Read Moby-Dick (2011)

Week 4: Prefatory Framing
September 16: Steve MENTZ VISITS CLASS!
Steve Mentz, “A Poetics of Planetary Water: The Blue Humanities after John Gillis” (2023).
Steve Mentz, Preface to Ocean (2020) (6 pages)
-extra credit: 5 questions for Mentz based upon our readings
Extra credit event: 3:30-4:45 Steve Mentz in conversation with Professors Pressman and Diana Leong in the DH Center

September 18: Andrew Delbanco, “Introduction” (pp. xi-xxviii)
SLIDES from class

Part II: Diving In

Week 5: “Etymology” and “Extracts” and Chapters 1-3
September 23: No class meeting—Rosh Hashanah
September 25:  “Etymology” and “Extracts”, Chapters 1-3
SLIDES from class

Week 6: Chapters 4-12
September 30: Chapters 4-12 (pp. 33-63)
SLIDES from class

October 2: No class meeting—Yom Kippur

Week 7: Chapters 13-33
October 7: Chapters 13-27 (pp. 64-132)
SLIDES from class

October 9: Chapters 28-33 (pp. 133-160) [*Note ch. 28, 32]
Peer review of thesis statement for essay 1– bring print-out of thesis to class
SLIDES from class

Week 8: Chapters 34-42
October 14: Chapters 34-36  (pp. 161-181) [*Note ch. 35, 36]
Peer review of thesis statement for essay 1– bring print-out of thesis to class
SLIDES from class

October 16: Chapters 37-42 (pp. 182-212) [*Note ch. 41, 42]
SLIDES from class

**Short Essay: Close Reading 1—Due Sunday 10/19  at midnight, posted to the blog**

Week 9: Chapters 43-73
October 21: Chapters 43-57  (pp. 213-296) [*Note ch. 55]
SLIDES from class
October 23: Chapters 58-73 (pp. 297-358) [*Note ch. 68]
SLIDES from class

Week 11: Chapters 91-108
November 4: Chapters 91-96 (pp. 415-465) [*Note ch. 93, 94, 95,]
SLIDES from class

November 6: Chapters 97-109 (pp.466-518) [*Note ch. 99, 109]
Peer review of thesis statement for Essay 2– bring to class
SLIDES from class

**Revisions to Essay 1 Due Sunday 11/9 at midnight, email the professor **

Week 12: Chapters 109-132
November 11: Veteran’s Day– no class

November 13: Chapters 110-132  (pp. 519-593) [*Note ch. 113, 123, 132]
Peer review of thesis statement for Essay 2– bring to class
SLIDES from class

*NEW DEADLINE: Short Essay: Close Reading 2—Due Sunday 11/16 at midnight, posted to the blog**

Part III. Ripples and Ramifications

Week 12: THE END.–
November 18:  Chapters 133-epilogue (pp. 594-625) [*Note ch. 135, epilogue]
SLIDES from class

November 20: Reflection conversation
SLIDES from class

Week 13: Thanksgiving Week—No class meetings—Thesis Review
(BLOG prompt: What you still need to learn/do for your final project)
November 25: No class meeting. Asynchronous peer review in Google docs

INSTRUCTIONS: 1) Post a draft of your thesis and plan for the final essay; thesis statement (2-3 sentences)  at the beginning of before our class time (before 2 pm). You can add more content about your planned media format, if you want feedback on that too! 2) During class time, add comments on at least one peer’s abstract– but hopefully every one– by Tuesday, November 25 at midnight.

November 27: No class meeting. Thanksgiving

**Revisions to Essay 2 Due Sunday 11/30 at midnight, email the professor**
**Final project proposals due Sunday 11/30 at midnight, posted to the blog**

Week 14: Adaptations & The Canon & The Construction of Literary Value- How the Big Book Became the Great Big Book
December 2: Matthew Willis, “Melville Reborn, Again and Again” (2014),              
O.W. Riegel, “The Anatomy of Melville’s Fame” (1931)
SLIDES from class

December 4: selected poems by Steve Mentz from Sailing Without Ahab: Ecopoetic Travels (2024):“Ideas” (21), […] (38), “The Chart” (54), “The Chase—Second Day” (145-8)
-excerpts from Emoji Dick (2010): “The Chase” (pp.699-716) and “Epilogue” (pp. 717).
-check out the digital poetry generator “Sea and Spar Between” by Nick Monfort and Stephanie Strickland (2010)
Additional: Paintings by Leroy Neiman
SLIDES from class

Week 16: Workshops & Conclusion
(BLOG prompt: What you learned in this class– final take-away/So What!)
December 9: Final project workshopping in class

December 11: Concluding Conversation
*extra credit blogs due by end of last class period**

*Final Essay due, Wednesday, December 17, at midnight, posted to the blog**