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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does the narrator get into the London theater presentation?
(a) He finds a ticket on the sidewalk.
(b) He pawns his overcoat to buy a ticket.
(c) He sneaks in a side door.
(d) A stranger gives him a ticket.

2. What is the first thing Bartleby says he would prefer not to do?
(a) Copy a comparison of an original.
(b) Go for coffee.
(c) Originate a copy.
(d) Compare a copy with its original.

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

4. What does the crew decide to do after Steelkilt is flogged?
(a) Murder Radney.
(b) Desert together.
(c) Start a mutiny.
(d) Obey the captain.

5. What emotion does the narrator of "Cock-a-Doodle-Doo?" say he has never felt since the rooster died?
(a) The silly slaphappiness.
(b) The cheerful joys.
(c) The warm contentment.
(d) The doleful dumps.

6. What animal from the islands supplies sailors with food and utensils?
(a) The seal.
(b) The albatross.
(c) The iguana.
(d) The tortoise.

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

8. How does the narrator of "Cock-a-Doodle-Doo?" view locomotives and steamships?
(a) As instruments of destruction.
(b) As uniters of families.
(c) As harbingers of a bright future.
(d) As symbols of human ingenuity.

9. Where do both the captain and Steelkilt go after they separate?
(a) France.
(b) Hawaii.
(c) England.
(d) Tahiti.

10. How does the narrator of "The Two Temples" attend the meeting at the church?
(a) He hides in the bell tower.
(b) He sneaks into the foyer.
(c) He disguises himself as the bell ringer.
(d) He bribes the man who guards the door.

11. What do the crew members do as soon as the Town-Ho reaches port?
(a) They desert the ship.
(b) They call for help.
(c) They give up life on the sea.
(d) They murder the captain.

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

13. What does the crew decide not to do after Steelkilt is flogged?
(a) Start a mutiny.
(b) Obey the captain.
(c) Desert together.
(d) Call out when whales were sighted.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Bartleby respond to the other employees?

2. Whose job is it to normally sweep the deck of a ship?

3. How does the narrator describe the men who work the Erie Canal?

4. What prevents Steelkilt from taking revenge on Radney?

5. What object does the lookout spot that takes Melville's ship to Norfolk Isle?

(see the answer keys)

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