Great Short Works of Herman Melville Test | Mid-Book Test - Hard

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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. Who is the worst enemy of the narrator of "Cock-a-Doodle-Doo?"

2. What does the narrator's middle-aged employee offer to do for Bartleby?

3. What animal does Melville claim is not at home at sea, on land, or in the air?

4. Why does the narrator of "Cock-a-Doodle-Doo?" call the rooster Signor Beneventano?

5. What does the crew decide not to do after Steelkilt is flogged?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do the sailors in "The Encantadas" do with tortoises?

2. Why does the narrator continue to accept Bartleby's refusals?

3. What does the author of "Poor Man's Pudding" and "Rich Man's Crumbs" pray that Heaven will save him from?

4. How is the accuracy of copy verified by scriveners?

5. What is Nippers's shortcoming as a scrivener?

6. Why did the first seven of Steelkilt's men come out of their imprisonment?

7. Why is the direct route for an ocean voyage not always the fastest or best, according to Melville in "The Encantadas"?

8. Why does Melville refer to Oberlus as "a creature whom it is religion to detest?"

9. Why does Melville come to believe that some buccaneers on the isle of Albermarle must have been gentlemen?

10. Why did the two remaining followers of Steelkilt each hope to be the first out of the hold?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Melville's purposes in writing are both artistic and moralistic. Select a story in which you see his purpose as basically one or the other, and give examples from the story in your essay that support your thesis.

Essay Topic 2

Melville often uses a distinctive double negative in description. For example, Captain Delano is described as "undistrustful." Later, he is said to be "not unbewildered," and "not uninfluenced." What is to be gained by using these terms instead of "trusting," "bewildered," and "influenced"? Is there a difference between being undistrustful and trusting? If so, what is it? Find other examples of this peculiarity and analyze its use.

Essay Topic 3

Melville employs a wide variety of stylistic techniques in his writing, including a poetic use of repetition. In "I and My Chimney," for example, he writes of " . . . a mysterious door, entering to a mysterious closet; and here I keep mysterious cordials of a choice, mysterious flavor." In your essay, analyze this and other examples of artful repetition you find in these stories.

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