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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What do the Peruvian listeners force the storyteller to do to prove his story is true?
(a) Cross his heart.
(b) Show some evidence.
(c) Swear on the Bible.
(d) Produce another witness.

2. What previous employment had shaped Bartleby?
(a) Working in a dead letter office.
(b) Working as a court reporter.
(c) Working on a locomotive.
(d) Working in a morgue.

3. What did the failure of his invention do for the uncle in "The Happy Failure?"
(a) Made him a good man.
(b) Made him furious.
(c) Made him disappointed.
(d) Made him more determined.

4. What makes Moby Dick an unusual whale?
(a) He is intelligent and communicates with people.
(b) He has supernatural powers.
(c) He is unusually large, white, and vengeful.
(d) He is unusually small, white, and intelligent.

5. What is the main task of the narrator's youngest employee in Bartleby?
(a) Copying.
(b) Cook.
(c) Errand boy.
(d) Legal research.

6. What surprises the narrator when he goes to his office on a Sunday?
(a) Bartleby has stolen his things.
(b) Bartleby has been working on the weekend.
(c) Bartleby has been living there.
(d) Bartleby has invited friends to the office.

7. What action does Steelkilt determine to take after being locked in the hold?
(a) He will apologize.
(b) He will kill the captain.
(c) He will seize the ship.
(d) He will kill Radney.

8. Where does the narrator in The Town-Ho's story tell his tale?
(a) The Cape of Good Hope.
(b) Lima, Peru.
(c) On the deck of the Town-Ho.
(d) On the deck of the Pequod.

9. Why is the narrator not pleased with Bartleby's industriousness?
(a) Bartleby is only occasionally industrious.
(b) Bartleby is not cheerful.
(c) Bartleby is frighteningly mechanical.
(d) Bartleby is relentlessly cheerful.

10. What famous person expressed a good opinion of the narrator of Bartleby?
(a) Andrew Carnegie.
(b) John Jacob Astor.
(c) Theodore Roosevelt.
(d) John D. Rockefeller.

11. What does Melville call the government the Creole soldier established on St. Charles?
(a) A riotocracy.
(b) A monarchy.
(c) A theocracy.
(d) A democracy.

12. How does Bartleby respond to the other employees?
(a) He emulates them.
(b) He resents them.
(c) He ignores them.
(d) He thanks them.

13. What does Bartleby's demeanor show about his eccentricities?
(a) They are involuntary.
(b) They are important.
(c) They are voluntary.
(d) They are unimportant.

14. Why is the narrator of "The Two Temples" not allowed to enter the church?
(a) He looks like a heathen.
(b) He doesn't appear to be a Christian.
(c) He looks poor and doesn't have a bribe.
(d) He is causing a disturbance.

15. What does the narrator's middle-aged employee offer to do for Bartleby?
(a) Teach him manners.
(b) Black his eyes.
(c) Teach him better work habits.
(d) Fire him.

Short Answer Questions

1. With what alliteration does Melville describe the islands?

2. How is the narrator punished for sneaking into the church?

3. What emotion does the narrator of "Cock-a-Doodle-Doo?" say he has never felt since the rooster died?

4. What surprises the narrator of "Cock-a-Doodle-Doo?" about the owner of the rooster?

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

(see the answer keys)

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