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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Billy respond to Claggart's accusation?
(a) He hits him.
(b) He screams obscenities.
(c) He faints.
(d) He stutters.

2. What does Billy cry out a moment before his punishment is carried out?
(a) "God bless Captain Vere!"
(b) "Handsomely done, my lads!"
(c) "Be aware, all ye sinners!"
(d) "Why has thou forsaken me?"

3. Where is John Claggart buried?
(a) The coast of Timon.
(b) The isle of Mann.
(c) England.
(d) At sea.

4. How does Billy die?
(a) He bleeds to death.
(b) He is hung.
(c) He walks the plank.
(d) He is shot.

5. In chapter 16, what does Billy refuse to believe?
(a) That Claggart is behind the mischief that plagues him.
(b) That Lieutenant Ratcliffe is behind the mischief that plagues him.
(c) That the Bellipotent can sink.
(d) That Captain Vere is corrupt.

Short Answer Questions

1. What appears to end in chapter 17?

2. Whom do the officers want to contact?

3. How does Melville characterize sailors in general?

4. What sentence does the court render in chapter 23?

5. Which character stares at Billy with a meditative and melancholy expression in chapter 17?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Billy react to Claggart's accusation?

2. How do the sailors of the Bellipotent honor Billy's memory?

3. How does Melville compare the politics that surround Billy's case with Jesus' trial?

4. Why does Captain Vere feel it necessary to deliver the court's verdict to Billy personally?

5. What misgivings do the surgeon and the other officers have about Billy's impending trial?

6. What explanations are given for the odd nature of Billy's death?

7. How are the events that occur on the Bellipotent distorted on land?

8. How does Captain Vere view Billy before the foretopman is confronted with the accusation of mutiny?

9. Describe the drumhead court that convenes in chapter 21.

10. How does Claggart's expression begin to betray his feelings in chapter 17?

(see the answer keys)

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