View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Benito Cereno say has happened to his partner, Alexandro Aranda?
(a) He died of fever.
(b) He was murdered.
(c) He left the ship at the last port.
(d) He fell overboard.

2. What does the narrator's wife think of his apprehension about the apple-tree table?
(a) She thinks he is crazy.
(b) She thinks he is drunk.
(c) She thinks he is trying to frighten her.
(d) She thinks he is making it up.

3. What first alarms the narrator about the apple-tree table?
(a) A mysterious odor.
(b) A ticking sound.
(c) A steady drip.
(d) A sense of pervading evil.

4. Why does the lightning rod salesman claim that his rods are superior?
(a) They're made of magnesium.
(b) They're made of steel.
(c) They're made of copper.
(d) They're made of iron.

5. Who lives in the cottage that the narrator of "The Piazza" finds in the mountains?
(a) An orphaned brother and sister.
(b) A lonely widow.
(c) No one.
(d) A newlywed husband and wife.

6. Why was Bannadonna excused for the homicide he committed?
(a) It was caused by esthetic passion.
(b) It was done in self-defense.
(c) It was justifiable.
(d) It was accidental.

7. Where do "'Gees" come from?
(a) Portugal.
(b) Fogo.
(c) Brazil.
(d) Africa.

8. What surprises Captain Delano when he first sees Benito Cereno's ship?
(a) The ship is in ill repair.
(b) The ship doesn't fly the flag of any nation.
(c) The ship is giving a distress signal.
(d) The ship is bound for an uninhabited island.

9. What causes Captain Delano to suspect Benito Cereno is an impostor?
(a) His weakness in command.
(b) His bad manners.
(c) His confusion.
(d) His ignorance of seamanship.

10. Why does the narrator of "Jimmy Rose" refuse to change the wallpaper in his parlor?
(a) It reminds him of his childhood.
(b) It reminds him of Jimmy Rose.
(c) It reminds him of better days.
(d) It reminds him or a rose garden.

11. What contributes to the narrator's thoughts about the apple-tree table being supernatural?
(a) The table is unusually beautiful.
(b) The table is old.
(c) The table is Satanic-looking.
(d) The table is inscribed with signs and symbols.

12. How does Melville describe Captain Delano's personality?
(a) Pessimistic and unhappy.
(b) Autocratic and dictatorial.
(c) Trusting and benevolent.
(d) Mistrustful and suspicious.

13. Whose cause does the Marquis de Grandvin champion?
(a) Freedom fighters.
(b) The French.
(c) Women.
(d) Animals.

14. Who wrote the book lying on the apple-tree table?
(a) Cotton Mather.
(b) Melville.
(c) Faust.
(d) Hawthorne.

15. What god does the narrator in "The Lightning Rod Man" think the salesman resembles?
(a) Jupiter.
(b) Poseidon.
(c) Zeus.
(d) Apollo.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the narrator in "The Fiddler" aspire to become?

2. What habit of the bachelors in the Temple does the narrator wish to introduce in his own country?

3. Why is the strange ship low on provisions?

4. How does the lightning rod salesman feel about thunderstorms?

5. What does Melville hope to do for the Marquis de Grandvin?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 501 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample