Herman Melville: A Biography And Analysis Essays -- essays research pa

Herman Melville A Biography And AnalysisThroughout American history, very few authors have earned the right tobe called great. Herman Melville is unitary of these few. His novels and poemshave been enjoyed humanness wide for over a century, and he has earned hisreputation as one of the finest American writers of all time. A man of toweringtalent, with intellectual and aesthetic brilliance, and a mind of deep insightinto human motives and behavior, it is certainly a disgrace that his truegreatness was not recognized until nearly a generation after his death.Born in the city of New York on August 1, 1819, Melville was the thirdchild and second son of Allan Melvill(it wasnt until Allans death in 1832 thatthe e at the end of Melville was added, in order to make a more obviousconnection with the Scottish Melville clan), a altogethersale merchant and importerthen living in comfortable economic circumstances, and of Maria GansevoortMelvill, only daughter of the richest man in Albany, t he respected andwealthy General Peter Gansevoort, hero of the defense of Fort Stanwix during theAmerican Revolution. In total, Allan and Maria had eight children. On his fathers side, his ancestry, though not so prosperous as on his mothers, was equallydistinguished. Major Thomas Melvill, his grandfather, was one of the Indiansin the Boston Tea Party during the events leading to the war and who had thenserved his country creditably throughout the hostilities. The Melvill familykept on their mantelpiece a store of tea drained out of Major Melvills clothesafter the Tea Party as a momento of this occasion.Herman attended the New York Male High give lessons from about the age ofseven until 1830. By that time, Allan Melvills business had begun to fail, dueto his credit being overextended. After futile attempts to re-establish himself,he eventually found it necessary to hold the management of a New York furcompany back in Albany. The family moved there in the autumn of 1830, and during that time Herman attended, along with his brothers Gansevoort and Allan, theAlbany Academy. hardly as luck seemed to again be favoring the Melvills, Allansbusiness affairs again suffered a setback. Excessive worry and overwork finallytook their toll upon his health. By January, 1832, he was b... ...an leftbehind in a tin box after his death. It was here Billy Bud was first discoveredand later published, which introduced a whole new generation to Melvilles work.Soon critics, students, and the general public were reading his novels andstories, and greeting some of them as masterpieces. In 1927, American novelistWilliam Faulkner declared that Moby Dick was the book he most wished he hadwritten.Knowing the quality of his work, one can not help but feel sympatheticto Melvilles passing. He died on September 28, 1891 in his home in New YorkCity, still unknown by the general public. If any writer deserved to berecognized and praised during their lives, Melville is that writer. Althoughunf ortunate that his passing went some unnoticed by the public, he is now andjustly so, an immortal in the annals of American literature, and his work willbe looked upon with both admiration and envy for many years to come.APPENDICESAny appendices should appear after the text of your term paper.BIBLIOGRAPHYUse the Bibliography TaskWizard to help you quickly and easilycreate a bibliography for your paper. Pick the same(p) style as your footnotestyle.