Eliza's Midterm Post: Pre-writing

Below is some light pre-writing. At this point, the question/thesis concerns the lack of true connection and on the excessive consumption or focus on consumption in Moby Dick and in digital culture (for some). It's loose but it's an example of pre-writing, pre-outlining.

Paper:

Topic that interests me: the transition from consuming to creating/connecting.

How this did or didn’t happen in MB:

·         Ahab’s focus was to consume the whale, you could argue. He did lots of creating and connecting (though not true person-to-person connecting – he was an isolated creature), but in his madness it was all focused towards killing and consuming the whale.

What are the similarities and differences between consuming online and Ahab’s hunt/killing the whale?

·         When you’re consuming in excess, you’re trying to bite off more than you can chew. The internet has “more to see than can ever be seen, more to do than can ever be done.” (TLK) Ahab ended up biting off more than he could chew.

o   There are likely academic papers on the futility and meaning of his chase – it wouldn’t be hard to connect those to digital consumption.

·         When you try to consume something, it remains but the satisfaction is gone because you’ve e.g. already watched that movie trailer you were anticipating for months. The fun in consumption, you might say, is thinking and pondering…e.g. frame-by-frame analyses of the next Harry Potter movie…(Pottercast!) and Frozen… However, it depends on the content and your consuming habits. News (read, swallow, been there read that) vs. movie trailers (savoring every frame!)

How is Ahab creating and connecting?

·         Others are working on this. He did his research and found people to sail under him.

o   Btw, he created things for his crew to consume – food chain?

o   Kylee’s prewriting: http://teamishmael.blogspot.com/2013/10/kylees-midterm-post-2.html

How is Ishmael creating, consuming, and connecting?

·         If I argue that Ahab was consumed in the chase to consume, I could argue that Ishmael is the opposite – he’s creating a TON of stuff and trying to connect with and affect his readers (someone remarked about Ishmael’s comment re: oil – every drop you burn = a drop of blood spilt so be careful)

Pip’s madness from isolation (http://teamahab.blogspot.com/2013/10/charting-path-to-connectedness-midterm.html#more)

Pip’s madness and Ahab’s madness – Ahab has a focus and so seems productive though he isn’t really (economically speaking) – and Pip has no focus except his past sins.

·         (This could be another paper – internet user stereotypes)