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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Coulter come home for lunch?

2. How is the narrator punished for sneaking into the church?

3. How does the narrator describe the men who work the Erie Canal?

4. How much does the uncle in "The Happy Failure" think his invention is worth?

5. What does the narrator's middle-aged employee offer to do for Bartleby?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Nippers's shortcoming as a scrivener?

2. Why does the narrator continue to accept Bartleby's refusals?

3. What does the narrator say happens to one in command who discovers a subordinate who is "significantly his superior"?

4. How does the narrator respond the first time Bartleby answers a request with, "I would prefer not to"?

5. Why does Melville call Redondo the "aviary of the ocean"?

6. What purpose does the circle of listeners serve in "The Town-Ho's Story"?

7. What does the author of "Poor Man's Pudding" and "Rich Man's Crumbs" pray that Heaven will save him from?

8. What does the captain decide to do with Steelkilt and those who followed him in insubordination?

9. Why does Melville come to believe that some buccaneers on the isle of Albermarle must have been gentlemen?

10. What stylistic devices does Melville use to give the reader the feeling of the rooster's crow in "Cock-a-Doodle-Doo"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Melville's purposes in writing are both artistic and moralistic. Select a story in which you see his purpose as basically one or the other, and give examples from the story in your essay that support your thesis.

Essay Topic 2

Several of the stories in this collection deal with relationships between men and women. Using at least two stories as a basis, evaluate Melville's understanding of the status of women in his society and culture. Did he agree with, condemn, or remain neutral about the rights of women?

Essay Topic 3

When Billy Budd is impressed into the royal navy, the captain of the ship he is leaving says that a former enemy, called Red Whiskers, " . . . now really loves Billy--loves him or is the biggest hypocrite that ever I heard of." Is this an instance of skillful foreshadowing? In your essay, analyze why the captain's lament is or is not an example of Melville's foreshadowing the main conflict in Billy Budd.

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