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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is Starbuck's disagreement with Ahab's purpose for the trip?
(a) the missed opportunities to capture other whales.
(b) the need to get oil and return to Nantucket quickly.
(c) the futility of vengeance against a whale.
(d) the moral correctness of finding the white whale.

2. How does Queequeg manage to sign on with the Pequod after first being turned down?
(a) demonstrating his skill with the harpoon.
(b) agreeing to convert to Christianity.
(c) giving the owners shrunken heads.
(d) offering to work for less pay.

3. What startles the crew as they prepare to go after a whale?
(a) five men they had not seen before.
(b) a hole in the bottom of each whale boat.
(c) whales completely surrounding the ship.
(d) Captain Ahab without his ivory peg leg.

4. What strange thing does Ahab do looking at the head of the captured whale?
(a) he speaks to it.
(b) he watches it all night long.
(c) he curses it.
(d) he drives a harpoon through it.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Ishmael advise against putting intellectual men on watch?

2. To what does Ishmael attribute the hieroglyphic-like markings on the whale skin?

3. What do the men do for entertainment on board the Pequod?

4. Who are Peleg and Bildad?

5. What characteristics does Ishmael assign to Starbuck, the chief mate?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the curious rumor about other fish and Moby Dick.

2. Explain why Ishmael decides to book himself on a whaling ship.

3. Explain the startling thing that Ishmael learns about his friend, Queequeg.

4. How complicated is the process of harvesting the whale blubber?

5. What is the surprise the men of the Pequod get when they spot their first whale and begin to lower the boats?

6. Explain the importance of Chapters 45 and 46 in understanding the enemy Captain Ahab is up against.

7. What does Ahab want from the first whaling ship they meet in the ocean?

8. What does Ishmael think about paintings and drawings of whales?

9. How do Starbuck and Stubb react to Ahab's stated mission?

10. Why does Ishmael soon lose his astonishment over Queequeg in New Bedford?

(see the answer keys)

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