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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What has the uncle in "The Happy Failure" invented?
(a) A device for purifying water.
(b) A device for building dams.
(c) A device for diverting rivers.
(d) A device for draining swamps.

2. How long has the uncle in "The Happy Failure" worked on his invention?
(a) Ten years.
(b) All year.
(c) All month.
(d) Three months.

3. Why does the captain fear to shoot Steelkilt for his insubordination?
(a) It would be unfair.
(b) It would lead to a admiralty investigation.
(c) It would spark a mutiny.
(d) It would justify Radney's dishonorable actions.

4. What was the message of the church meeting the narrator observed?
(a) "Hide not your light under a bushel."
(b) "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's."
(c) "Ye are the salt of the earth."
(d) "Repent and be saved."

5. What does the arrangement of the office allow Bartleby to do with the narrator?
(a) Neither see him nor hear him.
(b) Both see and hear him.
(c) See him but not hear him.
(d) Hear him but not see him.

Short Answer Questions

1. What do Steelkilt and his men demand in return for obeying orders?

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

3. Why does the captain decide not to flog Steelkilt?

4. How does the narrator of "The Two Temples" attend the meeting at the church?

5. What did the American ship, the Essex, see in the Encantadas?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the accuracy of copy verified by scriveners?

2. What stylistic devices does Melville use to give the reader the feeling of the rooster's crow in "Cock-a-Doodle-Doo"?

3. How does the narrator respond the first time Bartleby answers a request with, "I would prefer not to"?

4. In "The Happy Failure," what is the uncle's great invention?

5. What does the narrator say happens to one in command who discovers a subordinate who is "significantly his superior"?

6. Why did the two remaining followers of Steelkilt each hope to be the first out of the hold?

7. What did Steelkilt's followers decide to do upon their release?

8. What verb tenses does Melville use in "The Two Temples" to bring immediacy to the story?

9. What skills are necessary for a scrivener?

10. In "Rich Man's Crumbs," why is the narrator called a "graceless ragamuffin"?

(see the answer keys)

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