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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. After the first whaling experience, what does Ishmael decide to do?

2. How does Ishmael introduce the story of Moby Dick?

3. What apology does Ishmael make about whalers?

4. What type of whale are the men of the Pequod looking for?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What does Ahab do to disturb the crew during the night?

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

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

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

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

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

9. Explain the function of the "monkey" on board a whaling ship.

10. How does Ishmael inform the reader about the process of whale hunting?

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 the hard life of whalers. Mention the three year expeditions required to fill the ship with valuable whale oil. Discuss the weather conditions that make the trip more dangerous. Detail the need to go out in small boats to get near enough to the whales to harpoon them.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay of at least two typed, double-spaced pages on the character of Pip. Describe his position on the Pequod. Detail the reason for his jumping twice out of the whaling boat. Explain how fear left him insane. Finally, explain his usefulness to the plot of MOBY DICK.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay of at least two typed, double-spaced pages on understanding other cultures. Begin with Ishmael's initial fear of Queequeg. Note how Queequeg did not seem so strange after Ishmael sees many other ethnic people on the streets of New Bedford. Discuss how Queequeg begins to see Ishmael as his brother. Finish with how religious prejudice like Bildad's tends to resist inter-cultural understanding.

(see the answer keys)

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