4
-NiE ,
21 JUNE 2017
A single-minded pursuit
INTERMEDIATE Novel
CAPTAIN Ahab, a whaler, lost his leg many years ago during an encounter with the great white whale, Moby Dick. Consequently, he embarked on a relentless path of revenge to find and kill it. Driven by his obsession and mad rage, Captain Ahab disregarded everything else, including the danger to the lives of his whaling crew aboard his ship, the Pequod. The story is narrated by Ishmael. He was a young sailor who was sailing with Captain Ahab on his first whaling job. Read the novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville to find out whether Captain Ahab managed to hunt down and kill the whale.
NiE Activity 1 Critical thinking ● Identify
● Organise
Communicating ● Oral ● Written
● Aural
Creative thinking ● Imagine
● Connect
Problem solving ● Recreate ● Present
Collaborating ● Listen ● Contribute respectfully
● Attain goal
The point of view in a novel is the angle or perspective from which the story is told. It can influence the tone of the entire story. In Moby Dick, the story is told from Ishmael’s first-person point of view. Here is an extract from the first chapter of the novel.
My name is Ishmael and this is my story. I’m a sailor and I work on different ships. I love my life on the ocean. It’s sometimes dangerous but never, never boring. I feel sad when I’m not on a ship. One November day I thought, “I want to work on a whaling ship.” Why did I want to be a whaler? I can’t tell you. The life of a whaler is very dangerous.
In groups of four, scan The Star for an article or news report of an incident, situation or event involving people. Cut it out and paste it on a sheet of A4 paper. Imagine that you were involved in the situation. In about 50 to 100 words, write a short description of it, from the first-person point of view. When you are done, read it out in class.
Example NiE Activity 3
Girl hit by shotgun pellets in her home
Two men arrested over shooting
ALOR SETAR: A 12-year-old girl was hit 13 times by stray shotgun pellets at her home in Kampung Lubuk Keriang, Pokok Sena, near here. She was having dinner with her family in the kitchen when a shot fired by a bird hunter hit the house and her. Nur Syahida Bakar was struck in the head, chest, legs, right shoulder and arm at about 6.30pm while the fridge near her was peppered by more than 50 pellets. She was writhing in pain on the floor after being hit, her family told police. – The Star, Apr 25, 2017
● Identify ● Reason
● Identify
● Reason
Creative thinking ● Imagine ● Connect ● Brainstorm ● Invent
Problem solving ● Recreate
● Present
● Recreate ● Present
Communicating ● Oral ● Written
● Aural
Collaborating ● Listen ● Contribute
● Attain goal
● Imagine ● Connect ● Brainstorm
When Starbuck tried to reason with Captain Ahab about the dangers involved in his mad pursuit of Moby Dick, the latter became very angry. Here is an extract from the novel.
Communicating ● Oral
● Written
Collaborating ● Listen ● Contribute respectfully
● Attain goal
respectfully
A metaphor is a literary term for comparing two things directly using their similarities. One thing is implied to be another due to similar traits or characteristics. A simile is also a figure of speech used to make comparisons and show similarities between two different things. Now we were in the boats. Moby Dick came up out of the water again. He was a huge, white mountain! (metaphor) Captain Ahab was there. His face was as happy as a child’s face on Christmas morning. (simile) – Moby Dick In groups of four, look in The Star for two pictures of individuals. Cut them out and paste them on a sheet of A4 paper. For each picture, create a metaphor and a simile using at least four words from The Star. Display your work on your classroom wall and do a gallery walk.
Example
● Organise
Problem solving
NiE Activity 2 Critical thinking
Creative thinking
Critical thinking
“Are you going to follow this animal because it won a fight with you? It’s wrong. It’s crazy!” shouted Starbuck. When he heard this, Captain Ahab turned on his whalebone leg. He was very angry now and he shouted in Starbuck’s face. “This whale is evil! Do you understand? White is the colour of ice and ice takes strong ships down under the water. White is the colour of a man’s eyes when he can’t see. White is the colour of dead men. White is evil and the whale is evil. He’s laughing at me. I’ll only be free when this evil is dead. Dead!” In the extract, Captain Ahab is comparing white with evil because of his hatred for Moby Dick. In groups of four, think of positive comparisons for the colour white. Complete the sentences below on a sheet of A4 paper. You must use at least five words from The Star. When you are done, illustrate your work with pictures from The Star and display it on your classroom notice board. White is the colour of __________ and __________. White is the colour of a __________ when __________. White is the colour of __________. White is __________ and the __________ is __________.