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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. Why does Coulter come home for lunch?
(a) To enjoy a hot meal.
(b) To get exercise from the walk.
(c) To please his wife.
(d) To rest a little while.

2. What does Blandmour believe God does for the poor?
(a) God gives the poor very little help.
(b) God gives the poor everything they need for free.
(c) God charges the rich to care for the poor.
(d) God gives the poor the challenges they need.

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

4. What is Poor Man's Pudding?
(a) Milk, eggs, and sugar.
(b) Water, salt, and flour.
(c) Rice, milk, and salt.
(d) Flour, sugar, cinnamon, and milk.

5. What do the other employees think of Bartleby's refusals?
(a) They think Bartleby should be promoted.
(b) They think Bartleby should be fired.
(c) They think Bartleby should be forgiven.
(d) They think Bartleby should be excused.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What prevents Steelkilt from taking revenge on Radney?

3. Why does the narrator of "Cock-a-Doodle-Doo?" call the rooster Signor Beneventano?

4. How does the narrator accommodate the weakness of his oldest scrivener?

5. How does Melville describe pelicans?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Melville come to believe that some buccaneers on the isle of Albermarle must have been gentlemen?

2. Why does the narrator continue to accept Bartleby's refusals?

3. What does the captain decide to do with Steelkilt and those who followed him in insubordination?

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

5. Why does Melville refer to Oberlus as "a creature whom it is religion to detest?"

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

7. What purpose does the circle of listeners serve in "The Town-Ho's Story"?

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

9. What do the sailors in "The Encantadas" do with tortoises?

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

(see the answer keys)

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