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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 has Hautboy accomplished in "The Fiddler?"

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

3. Why does the narrator of "Jimmy Rose" refuse to change the wallpaper in his parlor?

4. What do the maids work to produce?

5. What emblem does John Gentian refuse to wear?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why is the narrator despondent at the beginning of "The Fiddler"?

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. Why do the peacocks on the wallpaper in the parlor seem to the narrator to represent Jimmy Rose?

10. What is unusual about the bug that emerges from the apple-tree table in the story of that name?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Melville states that Moby Dick operates to do the work of God by killing Radney. A Deus ex Machina (god out of the machine), where an outside source ends the conflict between characters, is a literary device often disparaged. In your essay, consider its effectiveness in this instance and in other Melville short stories where this method is employed.

Essay Topic 2

Melville, as a product of his time and place, has opinions that are strongly racist, in the sense of making generalizations about groups of people. For example, "Spaniards are all an odd set; the very word Spaniard has a curious, conspirator, Guy-Fawkish twang to it." or "The 'Gee has a great appetite, but little imagination; a large eyeball, but small insight." or "When a mulatto has a regular European face, look out for him; he is a devil." In your essay, analyze these opinions and others like them.

Essay Topic 3

Several of the stories in this collection deal with relationships between men and women. Using at least two stories as a basis, evaluate Melville's understanding of the status of women in his society and culture. Did he agree with, condemn, or remain neutral about the rights of women?

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