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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 the narrator of "Cock-a-Doodle-Doo?" believe he should not be sued?

2. With what weapon does Radney threaten Steelkilt?

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

4. In which of Melville's novels is "The Town-Ho's Story" included?

5. What office does the narrator of Bartleby hold that no longer exists?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why did the two remaining followers of Steelkilt each hope to be the first out of the hold?

3. What skills are necessary for a scrivener?

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

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

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

7. Why does Melville refer to Oberlus as "a creature whom it is religion to detest?"

8. What did Steelkilt's followers decide to do upon their release?

9. Why is the direct route for an ocean voyage not always the fastest or best, according to Melville in "The Encantadas"?

10. What words does the narrator use to describe Bartleby when he first meets him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Melville employs a wide variety of stylistic techniques in his writing, including a poetic use of repetition. In "I and My Chimney," for example, he writes of " . . . a mysterious door, entering to a mysterious closet; and here I keep mysterious cordials of a choice, mysterious flavor." In your essay, analyze this and other examples of artful repetition you find in these stories.

Essay Topic 2

Setting is particularly important in Melville's stories. Select a story in which the setting is critical, such as the confinement of shipboard or the home as a center for domestic disputes. Analyze the use and power of the setting in the story you chose.

Essay Topic 3

Melville, as a product of his time and place, has opinions that are strongly racist, in the sense of making generalizations about groups of people. For example, "Spaniards are all an odd set; the very word Spaniard has a curious, conspirator, Guy-Fawkish twang to it." or "The 'Gee has a great appetite, but little imagination; a large eyeball, but small insight." or "When a mulatto has a regular European face, look out for him; he is a devil." In your essay, analyze these opinions and others like them.

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