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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What was the message of the church meeting the narrator observed?
(a) "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's."
(b) "Repent and be saved."
(c) "Ye are the salt of the earth."
(d) "Hide not your light under a bushel."

2. What is unusual about the pork at the Coulters' dinner table?
(a) It is only fat and gristle.
(b) It is last year's.
(c) It is only hides.
(d) It is not really pork.

3. What does Bartleby's demeanor show about his eccentricities?
(a) They are involuntary.
(b) They are voluntary.
(c) They are important.
(d) They are unimportant.

4. What part of the United States does the narrator of the Town-Ho's story claim is much like the sea?
(a) The Great Lakes region.
(b) The Erie Canal.
(c) Lake Tahoe.
(d) The Mississippi.

5. What does the narrator's middle-aged employee offer to do for Bartleby?
(a) Teach him manners.
(b) Fire him.
(c) Teach him better work habits.
(d) Black his eyes.

6. What country possessed the Encantadas at the time Melville wrote?
(a) Chile.
(b) Peru.
(c) Bolivia.
(d) Colombia.

7. What is Poor Man's Pudding?
(a) Flour, sugar, cinnamon, and milk.
(b) Milk, eggs, and sugar.
(c) Water, salt, and flour.
(d) Rice, milk, and salt.

8. Whose job is it to normally sweep the deck of a ship?
(a) The boys on board.
(b) All members of the work gangs.
(c) The men on watch.
(d) The lowest seaman.

9. What do the crew members do as soon as the Town-Ho reaches port?
(a) They give up life on the sea.
(b) They desert the ship.
(c) They call for help.
(d) They murder the captain.

10. What emotion does the narrator of "Cock-a-Doodle-Doo?" say he has never felt since the rooster died?
(a) The silly slaphappiness.
(b) The doleful dumps.
(c) The warm contentment.
(d) The cheerful joys.

11. What are the two failings the narrator sees in his middle-aged scrivener?
(a) Dishonesty and ambition.
(b) Ambition and indigestion.
(c) A bad temper and gambling.
(d) Indigestion and messiness.

12. Why is the narrator not pleased with Bartleby's industriousness?
(a) Bartleby is relentlessly cheerful.
(b) Bartleby is only occasionally industrious.
(c) Bartleby is not cheerful.
(d) Bartleby is frighteningly mechanical.

13. Who are Pedro and Sebastian in The Town-Ho's Story?
(a) Sailors on the Town-Ho.
(b) Friends of the narrator.
(c) Writers.
(d) Sailors on the Pequod.

14. What is the narrator's condition when he goes to the theater in London?
(a) He is comfortable and among friends.
(b) He is well-fed and relaxed.
(c) He is broke and alone.
(d) He is bored and overfed.

15. What is the first thing Bartleby says he would prefer not to do?
(a) Originate a copy.
(b) Go for coffee.
(c) Compare a copy with its original.
(d) Copy a comparison of an original.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does the captain decide not to flog Steelkilt?

2. What did the failure of his invention do for the uncle in "The Happy Failure?"

3. What does Blandmour believe God does for the poor?

4. What benefit does the narrator get from his indulgence of Bartleby's eccentricities?

5. How much does the uncle in "The Happy Failure" think his invention is worth?

(see the answer keys)

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