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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What are the two failings the narrator sees in his middle-aged scrivener?
(a) Dishonesty and ambition.
(b) A bad temper and gambling.
(c) Indigestion and messiness.
(d) Ambition and indigestion.

2. What benefit does the narrator get from his indulgence of Bartleby's eccentricities?
(a) Bartleby's friendship.
(b) The approval of his employees.
(c) The approval of his peers.
(d) Self-approval.

3. Of what does the onstage action in the London theater remind the narrator?
(a) The church service he had watched from the bell tower.
(b) His own childhood.
(c) The theater at home on Broadway.
(d) The curmudgeonly landlady at his boarding house.

4. What nicknames does the narrator of Bartleby give his employees?
(a) Turkey, Nippers, and Ginger Nut.
(b) Grandpa, Grumpy, and The Kid.
(c) Chicken, Rooster, and Cluck.
(d) Chompers, Grumpy, and Short Stuff.

5. How much does the uncle in "The Happy Failure" think his invention is worth?
(a) More than silver.
(b) More than a life's work.
(c) More than gold.
(d) More than his house.

6. How is the narrator punished for sneaking into the church?
(a) He is jailed overnight and fined.
(b) He is warned and set free.
(c) He is imprisoned.
(d) He is publicly embarrassed, but pardoned.

7. What did the American ship, the Essex, see in the Encantadas?
(a) An enchanted ship.
(b) A pirate ship.
(c) An English ship.
(d) A ghost ship.

8. Why does the Town-Ho's captain have to put the ship into port?
(a) There has been a mutiny on board.
(b) It has run out of supplies.
(c) Its crewmen are ill with scurvy.
(d) It has sprung a leak.

9. To what sight in the city does Melville compare the islands of the Encantadas?
(a) A pile of leaves.
(b) A pile of rocks.
(c) A pile of cinders.
(d) A pile of trash.

10. What does Steelkilt threaten to do if he is flogged by the captain?
(a) Seek an unnamed revenge.
(b) Tell the admiralty board of review.
(c) Murder the captain.
(d) Jump overboard.

11. What did buccaneers leave on the islands that Melville claims is proof of their better traits?
(a) Planted orchards.
(b) Carved stone furniture.
(c) Planted gardens.
(d) Buried treasure.

12. With what weapon does Radney threaten Steelkilt?
(a) A gun.
(b) A rope.
(c) A knife.
(d) A hammer.

13. What happens to the rooster when the Merrymusk family dies?
(a) The rooster is sold for five hundred dollars.
(b) The rooster dies too.
(c) The rooster crows on the graves.
(d) The rooster goes home with the narrator.

14. Why doesn't the narrator dismiss Bartleby for insubordination?
(a) Bartleby is obviously emotionally upset.
(b) Bartleby is distressed.
(c) Bartleby promises to improve.
(d) Bartleby is calm, showing no emotion.

15. What good qualities does Bartleby have as an employee?
(a) He is amiable and friendly.
(b) He is enthusiastic and energetic.
(c) He is eager to help.
(d) He is hard-working and honest.

Short Answer Questions

1. What office does the narrator of Bartleby hold that no longer exists?

2. Why does the captain fear to shoot Steelkilt for his insubordination?

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

4. What country possessed the Encantadas at the time Melville wrote?

5. How does the narrator get into the London theater presentation?

(see the answer keys)

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