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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. What is the rumor about other fish when they encounter the white whale?

2. What is Queequeg's duty while the blubber is stripped from the back of the whale?

3. How does Ishmael recognize newcomers to whaling on the streets of New Bedford?

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

5. What do the plaques in the whaler's chapel remind Ishmael of?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the amusing account of Queequeg and the wheelbarrow?

2. How does Queequeg determine which of them will select the whaling ship they take for their whaling adventure?

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

4. How does the first day of whaling affect Ishmael?

5. Describe the appropriate text Father Maple uses in his sermon to the whalers in New Bedford.

6. Explain the mistaken identity that causes Ahab to order lowering of the boats.

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

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

9. At what point does Ishmael go into a discussion about whales in general.

10. How does Ishmael happen to share a bed with a tattooed headhunter?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay of at least two typed, double-spaced pages on why Ishmael's idea that the whale could never become extinct was just the thing that has almost made the whale disappear. Explain how man's use of natural resources has done a great deal of damage to species and to the planet.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay of at least two typed, double-spaced pages on the mystery of the sea. Begin with the mysterious things about the sea that Melville presents in the novel. Move into the present where there are still many things we do not know about the sea. Explain why the sea is so difficult to understand including its size, its atmospheric pressure, and its eco-systems.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay of at least two typed, double-spaced pages on the beauty of whales in their natural habitat. Include such things as how they jump out of the water, the impressive look of their spouts, the way they utilize their tails, how graceful they are for such large creatures, and modern recordings of whale songs.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 792 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample