View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Captain Delano view the attitude of the black people on board?
(a) The black people seem to Captain Delano to be insubordinate.
(b) The black people seem to Captain Delano to be cheerful and content.
(c) The black people seem to Captain Delano to be cringing and fearful.
(d) The black people seem to Captain Delano to be competent and well-trained.

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

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

4. What mythical character does the narrator say would have failed at his task if the chimney had then been in existence?
(a) Atlas.
(b) Hercules.
(c) Prometheus.
(d) Icharus.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does the lightning rod salesman claim that his rods are superior?

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

3. In "The Piazza," how does the narrator's house look to the inhabitants of the mountain cottage?

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

5. Who finally persuaded the narrator of "I and My Chimney" to knock a few feet off the chimney?

Short Essay Questions

1. What haunts the narrator at the conclusion of "The Piazza"?

2. What foibles does the narrator claim Jack Gentian possesses?

3. In "The Lightning Rod Man," why does the narrator pretend to mistake the salesman for the god Jupiter Tonans?

4. How have the Knights Templar changed, according to Melville's observations, in "The Paradise of Bachelors"?

5. What is Captain Delano's intention in boarding Benito Cereno's ship?

6. What does the narrator of "The Fiddler" first admire about Hautboy?

7. What does the narrator claim shows Jack Gentian's natural gentility?

8. Why does the owner of the paper factory in "The Tartarus of Maids" tell the narrator that all of his workers are called "girls"?

9. What does the narrator of "The Piazza" think when he first sees a single bright spot in the northwestern hills?

10. What is the figurehead on the San Dominick?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 865 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample