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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 takes possession as the sole ruler of St. Charles Isle?

2. How does the narrator of "Cock-a-Doodle-Doo?" view locomotives and steamships?

3. What is unusual about the pork at the Coulters' dinner table?

4. What is the first thing Bartleby says he would prefer not to do?

5. What prevents Steelkilt from taking revenge on Radney?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What verb tenses does Melville use in "The Two Temples" to bring immediacy to the story?

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

4. Why does Melville believe that American poor suffer more than European poor?

5. What stylistic devices does Melville use to give the reader the feeling of the rooster's crow in "Cock-a-Doodle-Doo"?

6. What did Steelkilt's followers decide to do upon their release?

7. What does the captain decide to do with Steelkilt and those who followed him in insubordination?

8. In "Rich Man's Crumbs," why is the narrator called a "graceless ragamuffin"?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Melville's elegaic pieces about the Marquis de Grandvin and others make clear the qualities he most admires. In your essay, use examples from these writings to show what qualities Melville thinks make for human greatness.

Essay Topic 2

Melville's use of time, switching back and forth between present and past tenses in the same story, is an unusual method to bring the reader a sense of immediacy. Select a story such as "The Two Temples" to analyze the effectiveness of this technique.

Essay Topic 3

Melville, as a product of his time and place, has opinions that are strongly racist, in the sense of making generalizations about groups of people. For example, "Spaniards are all an odd set; the very word Spaniard has a curious, conspirator, Guy-Fawkish twang to it." or "The 'Gee has a great appetite, but little imagination; a large eyeball, but small insight." or "When a mulatto has a regular European face, look out for him; he is a devil." In your essay, analyze these opinions and others like them.

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