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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Ishmael decide to do about Queequeg?
(a) to keep his pistol loaded.
(b) to ask for another room.
(c) to convert him to Christianity.
(d) to become his friend.

2. What purpose does the mad Elijah serve in the story?
(a) he explains how to get on board the Pequod.
(b) he prophecies success for the Pequod.
(c) he adds comic relief to the story.
(d) he prophecies disaster for the Pequod.

3. What is the man called who stands on deck and holds the rope that secures Queequeg?
(a) the door post.
(b) the anchor.
(c) the monkey.
(d) the cowboy.

4. Who pilots the Pequod out of the Nantucket harbor?
(a) Bildad.
(b) Peleg.
(c) Ahab.
(d) Starbuck.

5. What does Ishmael say is the saddest thing about any man, no matter how bad he is?
(a) a man who thinks he knows everything.
(b) a man who disobeys orders.
(c) a man who kills for sport.
(d) a man who has lost his valor.

6. What do Ishmael and Stubb discuss about captains and whaling?
(a) whether captains should be harpooners.
(b) whether captains know enough about whales.
(c) whether the captain should take the helm.
(d) whether the captain should go on the boats.

7. Which ship does Ishmael select for him and Queequeg to sign on?
(a) the Titanic.
(b) the Pequod.
(c) the Devil-dam.
(d) the Tit-bit.

8. What is the rumor about other fish when they encounter the white whale?
(a) they rise to the surface.
(b) they swim away in terror.
(c) they kill themselves.
(d) they group to attack the whale.

9. What story about a whale attack compares to the history of the Titanic?
(a) the ship struck an ice berg while chasing a whale.
(b) the ship was sunk on its maiden expedition.
(c) the ship was believed to be unsinkable.
(d) the whale looked like an ice berg.

10. What does Queequeg use to reach his food?
(a) a small lasso.
(b) a long stick.
(c) his long arms.
(d) his harpoon.

11. What type of whale is Moby Dick, the whale they are searching for?
(a) an octavo whale.
(b) a duodecimo whale.
(c) a Greenland whale.
(d) a folio whale.

12. What characteristics does Ishmael assign to Starbuck, the chief mate?
(a) elegance and sophistication.
(b) common sense and intelligence.
(c) impetuousness and anger.
(d) ignorance and brashness.

13. Why does Elijah challenge Ishmael to find the men he saw heading for the Pequod?
(a) they will not board with Captain Ahab.
(b) they are figments of Ishmael's imagination.
(c) they are ghosts and not real men.
(d) they are criminals sabotaging the Pequod.

14. Which harpooner is chosen by Starbuck?
(a) Queequeg.
(b) Tashtego.
(c) Ishmael.
(d) Daggoo.

15. How does Ishmael recognize newcomers to whaling on the streets of New Bedford?
(a) They have on new Macintoshes.
(b) They do not know how to dress.
(c) They are carrying large carpetbags.
(d) They look dazed.

Short Answer Questions

1. What strange thing does Ahab do looking at the head of the captured whale?

2. What early shipboard duty does Ishmael describe?

3. What is Ahab aware of while he stands on the deck of the Pequod?

4. Which crew member does Ishmael single out as having the most responsibility?

5. What is the conversation like at breakfast in the Spouter Inn?

(see the answer keys)

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