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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who wrote the book lying on the apple-tree table?
(a) Faust.
(b) Hawthorne.
(c) Melville.
(d) Cotton Mather.

2. What does the narrator in "The Fiddler" do with his manuscripts?
(a) Tears them up.
(b) Pays to have them printed.
(c) Sends them to publishers.
(d) Reads them to strangers.

3. How does Captain Delano view the attitude of the black people on board?
(a) The black people seem to Captain Delano to be cheerful and content.
(b) The black people seem to Captain Delano to be insubordinate.
(c) The black people seem to Captain Delano to be cringing and fearful.
(d) The black people seem to Captain Delano to be competent and well-trained.

4. What does Benito Cereno say has happened to his partner, Alexandro Aranda?
(a) He was murdered.
(b) He fell overboard.
(c) He died of fever.
(d) He left the ship at the last port.

5. To what did Captain Delano attribute the ship's being so long becalmed?
(a) Misdirection.
(b) Unusual weather.
(c) Poor seamanship.
(d) Bad luck.

6. What contributes to the narrator's thoughts about the apple-tree table being supernatural?
(a) The table is old.
(b) The table is inscribed with signs and symbols.
(c) The table is Satanic-looking.
(d) The table is unusually beautiful.

7. How was John Marr wounded?
(a) Fighting in the War of 1812.
(b) Falling from a ship's rigging.
(c) Fighting with pirates.
(d) Whaling.

8. What is the temperature at the mill?
(a) Warm.
(b) Oppressively hot.
(c) Cold.
(d) Hot.

9. What does the narrator in "The Fiddler" aspire to become?
(a) Famous.
(b) Brilliant.
(c) Happy.
(d) Rich.

10. Where do "'Gees" come from?
(a) Brazil.
(b) Fogo.
(c) Portugal.
(d) Africa.

11. What does the narrator's wife think of his apprehension about the apple-tree table?
(a) She thinks he is drunk.
(b) She thinks he is trying to frighten her.
(c) She thinks he is crazy.
(d) She thinks he is making it up.

12. What indicates to Captain Delano that the strange ship may be in trouble?
(a) The ship seems uncertain of its direction.
(b) The ship flies no flag.
(c) The ship is bound for an uninhabited island.
(d) The ship is giving a distress signal.

13. What first attracts the narrator of "The Piazza" to a building far in the mountains?
(a) The windows shine like gold.
(b) A river runs through it.
(c) A rainbow ends there.
(d) It's exactly ninety degrees ahead of his piazza.

14. Why was Bannadonna excused for the homicide he committed?
(a) It was accidental.
(b) It was justifiable.
(c) It was done in self-defense.
(d) It was caused by esthetic passion.

15. What is unusual about the strange ship's figurehead?
(a) It is obviously from Castile.
(b) It is covered in canvas wrapping.
(c) It is a plain, unmarked beak.
(d) It is beautifully carved.

Short Answer Questions

1. What surprises Captain Delano when he first sees Benito Cereno's ship?

2. In "The Piazza," how does the narrator's house look to the inhabitants of the mountain cottage?

3. What do the maids work to produce?

4. Why does the narrator of "The Piazza" believe the soil is richer around the cottage that he finds?

5. How does the narrator of "The Apple-Tree Table" feel as his wife and daughters become more frightened?

(see the answer keys)

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