Matt’s Class

Essay #3 (9/10/09)

Prompt:

In chapter one of Moby-Dick, Ishmael says of himself, “I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail the forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts. Not ignoring what is good, I am quick to perceive a horror, and could still be social with it–would they let me…” (8).

First, describe one or two of Ishmael’s actions we’ve read about so far that show this quote is true. Then, describe a time in your life when you’ve had a similar “itch.” Describe why you felt the way you did and what it made you do.

Hints:

This is another big-time brainstorm week. Out of 40 points, you can earn 25 just for your brainstorm and outline. The brainstorm should help you come up with unexpected examples from your own life of what you’ve done when tormented by the “everlasting itch” Ishmael describes.
Speaking of brainstorms, the main weakness most people showed in last week’s writing was unadventurous brainstorming–that is, on your brainstorms, you only wrote things you would actually use in an essay, rather than letting your mind wander far and wide. To get full points on your brainstorm this week, make it huge and random. Then, use your outline to pull out the usable parts. The idea is to discover what you think WHILE you brainstorm, not just write down what you already know.
The quote included in the prompt has a lot of juicy words in it, like “tormented,” “remote,” “forbidden,” “barbarous,” etc. Use these words to help you expand your brainstorm into new and unexpected territories, as well as to help you think about what Ishmael has done so far that might fit this quote.