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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. Why does the captain decide not to flog Steelkilt?

2. Who are Pedro and Sebastian in The Town-Ho's Story?

3. What does Melville call the government the Creole soldier established on St. Charles?

4. What does the arrangement of the office allow Bartleby to do with the narrator?

5. How is the narrator punished for sneaking into the church?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What skills are necessary for a scrivener?

3. How does the poet Blandmour feel about poverty in "Poor Man's Pudding"?

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

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

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

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

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

9. Why does Melville believe that American poor suffer more than European poor?

10. What is Nippers's shortcoming as a scrivener?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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 3

Melville is very fond of alliteration, such as " . . . mending rotten rail fences with their own rotten rails . . ." which is an incidence of "incipient idiocy." Find instances of this use of language and evaluate its effectiveness for you as a reader.

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