Peter and Naomi's Outline for Discussion on 9/24/14

Looking forward to tomorrows discussion!

1.     Poe’s portrayal of African American and Native American characters (Dirk Peters and Richard Parker).

a.     Is racism present? Examples?

b.     What do we think of the theory of Poe as a racist mocking the middle passage?

2.     The mutineers:         

a.     What are their goals, whose side are the characters on, and what are the parties involved?

b.     How does drunkenness and violence play a role in the takeover of the Grampus? Morality?

3.     What is the relationship between Arthur and Augustus?           

a.     How do the characters influence each other?

b.     Do the characters change/develop throughout the book?

4.     Adventures at sea.

a.     Why are Augustus and Arthur drawn to life at sea?

b.     How are sailors affected by superstition in the novel? Especially the ghost ship?

5.     How does Poe establish/or not establish credibility to Arthur’s narrative?

6.     What is Poe’s writing style?

a.     How is language used? Foreshadowing/metaphor and superstition?  

b.     What does the ghost ship represent?