--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In school I ended up writing three…" description: "\"“In school I ended up writing three different papers on \"The Castaway\" section of Moby-Dick, the chapter where the cabin boy Pip falls overboard and is..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/david-foster-wallace-161_herman-melville_in-school-i-ended-up-writing-three-diffe_1777926.jpg" --- # In school I ended up writing three different papers on… ![“In school I ended up writing three different papers on "The Castaway" section of Moby-Dick, the chapter where the cabin boy Pip falls overboard and is driven mad by the empty immensity of what he finds himself floating in. And when I teach school now I always teach Crane's horrific "The Open…” quote by David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/david-foster-wallace-161_herman-melville_in-school-i-ended-up-writing-three-diffe_1777926.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/david-foster-wallace-161_herman-melville_in-school-i-ended-up-writing-three-diffe_1777926.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/david-foster-wallace-161_herman-melville_in-school-i-ended-up-writing-three-diffe_1777926.jpg) > ““In school I ended up writing three different papers on "The Castaway" section of Moby-Dick, the chapter where the cabin boy Pip falls overboard and is driven mad by the empty immensity of what he finds himself floating in. And when I teach school now I always teach Crane's horrific "The Open Boat," and get all bent out of shape when the kids find the story dull or jaunty-adventurish: I want them to feel the same marrow-level dread of the oceanic I've always felt, the intuition of the sea as primordial nada, bottomless, depths inhabited by cackling tooth-studded things rising toward you at the rate a feather falls.”” [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He wants readers to experience the profound, unsettling awe of the ocean's vast, indifferent emptiness, similar to the dread felt by characters in classic sea literature. **In simple terms:** Feel the deep, unsettling awe of the sea. Key Takeaway Embrace the unsettling awe of vastness. Themes literature existential nature education Mood thoughtful intense Type reflective philosophical When to use this quote - teaching literature - discussing marine metaphors - writing about dread - exploring existential themes Key Concepts phenomenology cosmic insignificance psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does confronting existential dread affect learning? - Can awe be cultivated without fear? A Different Perspective The emotional impact may overwhelm some students, limiting engagement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Castaway Section](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/castaway-section-1836782/) [Herman-melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/herman-melville-2/) [Jaws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jaws/) [Moby Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moby-dick/) [Moby-dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moby-dick-2/) [Ocean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ocean/) [Oceanic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oceanic/) [Overboard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/overboard/) [Papers Castaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/papers-castaway-1836781/) [Pip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pip/) [Sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea/) [Section Moby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/section-moby-1836780/) [Stephen-crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stephen-crane-177772/) [The sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/the-sea/) [The-ocean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/the-ocean-187894/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“ From CATS ARE KIND "A man said to the universe, 'Sir, I exist!' 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Appel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-m-appel/) [Browse all 10 Herman-melville quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/herman-melville-2/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In school I ended up writing three different papers on \"The Castaway\" section of Moby-Dick, the chapter where the cabin boy Pip falls overboard and is driven mad by the empty immensity of what he finds himself floating in. And when I teach school now I always teach Crane's horrific \"The Open Boat,\" and get all bent out of shape when the kids find the story dull or jaunty-adventurish: I want them to feel the same marrow-level dread of the oceanic I've always felt, the intuition of the sea as primordial nada, bottomless, depths inhabited by cackling tooth-studded things rising toward you at the rate a feather falls.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Foster Wallace" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/in-school-i-ended-up-writing-three-different-papers-on-the-castaway/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Herman-melville" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/in-school-i-ended-up-writing-three-different-papers-on-the-castaway/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/david-foster-wallace-161_herman-melville_in-school-i-ended-up-writing-three-diffe_1777926.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/david-foster-wallace-161_herman-melville_in-school-i-ended-up-writing-three-diffe_1777926.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/david-foster-wallace-161_herman-melville_in-school-i-ended-up-writing-three-diffe_1777926.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In school I ended up writing three different papers on \"The Castaway\" section of Moby-Dick, the chapter…” — David Foster Wallace", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "David Foster Wallace", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“In school I ended up writing...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/in-school-i-ended-up-writing-three-different-papers-on-the-castaway/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/in-school-i-ended-up-writing-three-different-papers-on-the-castaway/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```