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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why had Jimmy Rose never married?
(a) He ws unattractive.
(b) He was too shy.
(c) He loved all women equally.
(d) He didn't like women.

2. Why does the narrator of "I and My Chimney" identify with his chimney?
(a) They are both. the center of attention.
(b) They are both tall and handsome.
(c) They are both an annoyance to the household.
(d) They are both obese old smokers.

3. To what did Captain Delano attribute Benito Cereno's ineffectiveness as captain?
(a) Foolhardy disregard for good advice.
(b) Cruelty, harshness, and unkindness.
(c) Youth, sickness, and gentility.
(d) Ignorance, pride, and stubbornness.

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

5. How was John Marr wounded?
(a) Whaling.
(b) Fighting with pirates.
(c) Fighting in the War of 1812.
(d) Falling from a ship's rigging.

6. What impresses the narrator about the mill?
(a) The cheerfulness of the workers.
(b) The gigantic press machine.
(c) The efficiency of the operation.
(d) The clean air and water.

7. What does Melville hope to do for the Marquis de Grandvin?
(a) Make him happy.
(b) Make him rich.
(c) Make him immortal.
(d) Make him famous.

8. What is the temperature at the mill?
(a) Cold.
(b) Oppressively hot.
(c) Hot.
(d) Warm.

9. How does Captain Delano evaluate Benito Cereno's condition when he first meets him?
(a) Captain Delano evalutes Benito Cereno as dictatorial.
(b) Captain Delano evaluates Benito Cereno as weak and ineffectual.
(c) Captain Delano evalutes Benito Cereno as cruel.
(d) Captain Delano perceives Benito Cereno to be physically and mentally disabled.

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

11. What does the narrator decide to give the apple-tree table when he first discovers it?
(a) A happier book.
(b) A warm environment.
(c) Kind attention.
(d) A place of honor.

12. Who is Atufal?
(a) A leader of the slaves.
(b) A complaining woman among the slaves.
(c) Babo's best friend.
(d) A chained slave.

13. Why does John Gentian take "liberties with etiquette"?
(a) He is unlearned.
(b) He is concerned with larger issues.
(c) He is rude and thoughtless.
(d) He is straightforward and impulsive.

14. On what holiday does John Gentian converse with passers-by?
(a) Thanksgiving.
(b) Christmas.
(c) The Fourth of July.
(d) Easter.

15. What first attracts the narrator of "The Piazza" to a building far in the mountains?
(a) A rainbow ends there.
(b) It's exactly ninety degrees ahead of his piazza.
(c) The windows shine like gold.
(d) A river runs through it.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why is it hard to see the mill when coming upon it?

2. What effect does the Marquis de Grandvin have on those around him?

3. What sort of feet did the apple-tree table have?

4. What rumor pursues Daniel Orme into his life on shore?

5. What is the attitude of the bachelors in the Temple toward pain and trouble?

(see the answer keys)

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