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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. What surprises the narrator when he goes to his office on a Sunday?

2. Who are Pedro and Sebastian in The Town-Ho's Story?

3. What do the other employees think of Bartleby's refusals?

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

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. What does Steelkilt demand to prevent a mutiny?

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

6. What does the narrator say happens to one in command who discovers a subordinate who is "significantly his superior"?

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

8. What skills are necessary for a scrivener?

9. What superstition do sailors have about the tortoises in "The Encantadas"?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Setting is particularly important in Melville's stories. Select a story in which the setting is critical, such as the confinement of shipboard or the home as a center for domestic disputes. Analyze the use and power of the setting in the story you chose.

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, 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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