tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425514987715337437.post333417787396533930..comments2024-03-26T22:47:45.276-07:00Comments on Intro to Critical Reading: Final ProposalAdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16302919444091859459noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425514987715337437.post-23712706795864975212011-04-20T18:47:13.748-07:002011-04-20T18:47:13.748-07:00I find all of this very interesting and worthwhile...I find all of this very interesting and worthwhile, and I don't really have any complaints. I do, however, have one important conceptual question. You mention a number of times that you think Melville is advocating some kind of religious eclectisism, with some model of Christianity being the opposite or alternative. While this is in modest danger of becoming too vague (simply because "eclectisism" could be either vague or precise, well or poorly explained - be careful to be clear about what you mean), what really interests me is what *you* think.<br /><br />It's one thing to argue that Melville, or Ishmael, has a particular religious vision. That argument, to a specialist, can certainly be interesting.<br /><br />But why does it interest you? Why is this topic important, or meaningful to you? Maybe you don't know (yet), and that might be fine - but it might be that you want to *use* Melville, to think through, define, qualify, praise, or attack some modes of religious thought.<br /><br />For this essay to be good, you just need to execute what you've proposed well. For it to be great, we need to know why this topic is important; we need it to <i>be</i> important.Adamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16302919444091859459noreply@blogger.com