Lesson 2: Dramatic Perspective in Moby Dick

Project Gutenberg’s free online text of Moby-Dick is the edition referenced in this unit.

Lesson readings the following selection:

•  “Sunset,” chapter 37

Whiteboard, chalkboard, or large piece of paper

• Worksheet 3
• Worksheet 3 (teachers version)
• Worksheet 4
• Worksheet 4 (teacher version)

Activity 1. Understanding Literary Terms

Reference the EDSITEment Literary glossary for definitions and examples for the terms used in this lesson.

Introduce or review with students the basic distinction between the perspectives offered in a first-person narrative and the way perspective may be presented in dramatic writing.

• Convey to students that a first-person narrative uses first-person pronouns to provide an account of an event. The story, therefore, is colored by the narrator’s views and personality.
• A drama might not have a narrator at all. In many plays, audience members or readers interpret the actions and words of the characters on their own instead of having the story filtered through the narrator.

Introduce or review the term soliloquy, a dramatic technique by which a character can directly reveal the inner working of his mind and heart to the audience or reader.

• Writers use a soliloquy not only to develop the play but also to provide an opportunity to see hidden motivations of a certain character.

Introduce or review the idea of a foil, a literary device whereby a character shows qualities that are in direct contrast to the qualities of another character. This serves to highlight the traits of each. 

Writers use the literary device of a foil to show the development of two characters’ personalities and also their roles in the story.

Activity 2. Comparing Perspectives

Have students assess Ishmael’s main character traits. (Having each student summarize their paragraph from Lesson 1 would accomplish this well.) Make a list of Ishmael’s most dominant character traits on the board or large paper. Write them in a single column so students can later record the dominant character traits of Ahab in a column next to them.

Tell students that they will now analyze the other major character of the book, Captain Ahab, by reading a scene from his point of view. Have students read “Sunset,” chapter 37 and complete Worksheet 3 in pairs or individually. Suggested answers are provided in Worksheet 3 (teacher version).

• Note to students that for this chapter Melville has shifted into first-person narration, telling the story from Ahab’s perspective. Discuss how this shift can be thought of as a soliloquy. The temporary movement from fictional narrative to dramatic monologue is necessary at this point to lay out in inner workings of Ahab’s mind for readers.
• When students have completed the worksheet, review the answers together. Then guide them in a discussion of Melville’s characterizations of Ishmael and Ahab and the perspective from which he introduces each character.
• Ask students to share the descriptive adjectives they wrote for Captain Ahab. Record this on the board next to those about Ishmael.
• Once students have examined both characters, have them compare the content of both first-person introductions using Worksheet 4. Remind students they must support their answers with textual evidence from chapters 1 and 37. (Worksheet 4. teacher version is available with suggested answers.)

Have students write a well-supported paragraph that responds to the following prompt:

• Analyze how Ahab serves as a foil for Ishmael. Considering for this exercise that Ahab is Ishmael’s foil, what character trait or belief does Melville highlight by playing off each character against the other in the novel? Use specific evidence from chapters 1 and 37 to support your analysis.