How to Read Moby Dick

How to Read Moby Dick originated in 1997 because of a great respect for the novel. I had first skimmed it in the seventh grade. I read it in the tenth grade and again in the eleventh. After that, I returned for a reread every two or three years. Each time, I thought I answered some questions, but more challenges arose with each reading. Admittedly, I was and continue to be obsessed.

By the time the WWW arrived, followed by Netscape's web site editor and my first computer, I had read Moby Dick at least 14 times in its entirety and was trying to get others to take the journey. However, only a handful of readers continued past chapter 32, and half of those quit by chapter 50. Obviously, first time readers needed some help.

The first Moby site went up July 4, 1997, at www.addr.com/pthompson. In 2000, it was named a "YaHoo! Favorite," through which many people found it. The number of hits and the emails surprised me. I had not imagined that so many Ishmaels roamed the world. By 2008, a redesign of the web site was overdue, so I put it under its own domain name, ReadMoby.com, and have been working to upgrade it since.

I thank all of you for your support through the years. Some of you have monitored this site since its Beginning. I hope that you continue to find it useful.

Patricia R. Thompson, M.A.

Patricia R. Thompson has taught all ability levels in academic grade levels from 7 through 14 and adults of all ages in private settings, specializing in American literature and development of writing skills. Other endeavors include writing, historical reseach, digital archiving, formatting ebooks for publication, and web site management.

prthompson@ReadMoby.com

If you would like occasional notification of updates to the web site, please send me an email so that I have your address.

If you have suggestions for the web site, I will appreciate hearing from you.

I am considering the following:

1) Add a monitored forum, but I am not sure that it would be useful. Perhaps a wiki blog would be better.

2) As you see from the left navigation bar, I am working on adding suggested extension activities/discussion topics/projects that help focus a reader's attention and critical thinking on particular aspects of the novel, which may prove useful to book club readers as well as students. I also have a collection of public domain drawings and clip art for presentations and other projets to add as free items in the Store.

3) Add a Subscription section for more extensive learning and teaching tools. Among them is an interactive map based on the map on the home page. It marks the ship's location along the route and shows chapter numbers and chapter synopses. Also, offer detailed plans for conducting group discussion.