Date of Award
Spring 5-12-2017
Document Type
Honors Project
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
English, Linguistics, and Communication
First Advisor
Rigsby, Mary
Major or Concentration
English
Abstract
This essay, "When the 'Universal Trump is Passed Around'" was the final paper submitted to Dr. Mary Rigsby at the conclusion of the Fall 2016 semester for her Moby-Dick senior seminar (Engl.455J). On the first day of class, Dr. Rigsby posed the question to nine senior English majors that would serve as both the prompt for our final essay and overall theme for the course: Is Moby-Dick worth preserving? Throughout the slow and careful reading of Herman Melville's renowned novel about the great white whale, the many parallels to life aboard the Pequod to life in 2017 breached the surface. In essence, this essay is a long-winded "yes" to Dr. Rigsby's question on day one. Relying on the metaphor of America as a ship, I argue for the similarities between the Pequod's Captain and crew-members of 1851 and the citizens and President of the United States today.
Recommended Citation
Garthwaite, Molly Ann, "When the Universal Trump is Passed Around" (2017). Student Research Submissions. 156.
https://scholar.umw.edu/student_research/156