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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 effect does the Marquis de Grandvin have on those around him?
(a) His presence is enriching.
(b) His presence is embarrassing.
(c) His presence is irritating.
(d) His presence is confusing.

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

3. What emblem does John Gentian refuse to wear?
(a) Any emblem of wealth.
(b) Any Revolutionary War emblem.
(c) Any Civil War emblem.
(d) Any American flag.

4. How does the narrator of "The Apple-Tree Table" feel as his wife and daughters become more frightened?
(a) He feels more frightened than they.
(b) He feels braver.
(c) He feels numb.
(d) He feels worse.

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What first alarms the narrator about the apple-tree table?

3. Why was Bannadonna excused for the homicide he committed?

4. What did Jimmy Rose have to offer the rich after he lost his fortune?

5. How does Captain Delano view the attitude of the black people on board?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the figurehead on the San Dominick?

2. Why does the narrator of "The Lightning Rod Man" compare the salesman to a worm?

3. What does Jimmy Rose retain after he has lost his fortune?

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

5. What does the chimney in "I and My Chimney" provide for the narrator on the second landing?

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

7. What seems odd about Benito Cereno's ship when Captain Delano first sees it?

8. What does Melville say is the difference between boarding a strange ship and entering a strange house?

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

10. What does the bug in the apple-tree table teach the narrator's daughter, Julia?

(see the answer keys)

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