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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the narrator's middle-aged employee offer to do for Bartleby?

2. Why doesn't the narrator dismiss Bartleby for insubordination?

3. What do the Peruvian listeners force the storyteller to do to prove his story is true?

4. How does Merrymusk convince the narrator that he is a rich man?

5. What benefit does the narrator get from his indulgence of Bartleby's eccentricities?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are Turkey's shortcomings as a scrivener?

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

3. Why does the narrator say that pity turns into repulsion?

4. What does the author of "Poor Man's Pudding" and "Rich Man's Crumbs" pray that Heaven will save him from?

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

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

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

8. What superstition do sailors have about the tortoises in "The Encantadas"?

9. Why is the direct route for an ocean voyage not always the fastest or best, according to Melville in "The Encantadas"?

10. What words does the narrator use to describe Bartleby when he first meets him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

A recurring theme in Melville's stories is the difference between appearance and reality. Choose a character such as Claggart, who appears to have only sterling qualities but is evil in his heart or a setting such as the mountain home in "The Piazza," which seems at first to be like a fairyland, to analyze the point Melville is making.

Essay Topic 2

Melville frequently reveals the character of a narrator through the narrator's observations and reactions to another character. "Bartleby the Scrivener" and "Benito Cereno" are examples of this technique. Select one of the stories in which the narrator reveals himself. Discuss how the character is revealed and the effectiveness of this technique for you as a reader.

Essay Topic 3

One recurring theme in Melville's stories is the fate of an innocent man in the grip of malice he does not comprehend. Compare two such protagonists, such as Steelkilt and Billy Budd.

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