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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is Ahab thinking about as he looks out to sea?
(a) the fall in Nantucket.
(b) whether whales have families.
(c) vacationing in Italy.
(d) home, family, and growing older.

2. How is Ahab's mental condition best described by this point?
(a) finally sane.
(b) much more optimistic.
(c) truly morbid.
(d) cheerful with expectation.

3. What does Ishmael believe about the survival of whales as a species?
(a) that they will never become extinct.
(b) that they will be killed off.
(c) that they will overpopulate the oceans and seas.
(d) that they will evolve into smaller creatures.

4. What is the next whaling ship the Pequod meets during the search for Moby Dick?
(a) The Barbara Ellen.
(b) The Nantucket.
(c) The Bounty.
(d) The Delight.

5. How does Stubb convince the French ship to leave?
(a) by letting them smell the rotting flesh of the whale.
(b) by showing them the Pequod's mark on the whale.
(c) by convincing them the dead whale will make them sick.
(d) by telling them where to find live whales.

6. Why is the captain of The Rachel appealing for help from the Pequod?
(a) he wants two ships to surround Moby Dick.
(b) his ship is taking on water from Moby Dick's damage.
(c) his 12-year-old son is on the boat hauled away by Moby Dick.
(d) one of his crewmen has fallen overboard near Moby Dick.

7. What makes Ahab return quickly to the Pequod from the Samuel Enderby?
(a) he learns the direction Moby Dick is traveling.
(b) he begins to feel ill.
(c) he has a fight with the other captain.
(d) he wants to beat the other captain to Moby Dick.

8. To what complaint does Ahab admit?
(a) never being able to sleep.
(b) phantom pain from his missing leg.
(c) the fear of losing both legs.
(d) mental instability at times.

9. What does Ishmael recount about the Samuel Enderby that occurs many years later?
(a) he has a fine social evening on board the ship.
(b) he learns how the Samuel Enderby ran aground.
(c) he meets a sailor who remembers Captain Ahab.
(d) he hears that Moby Dick sank the ship.

10. What do they find in the corpse of the blind and crippled whale?
(a) an unborn whale.
(b) a harpoon and cord and a stone lance.
(c) the remains of a man.
(d) timbers from a whaling boat.

11. What happens to Ahab's hat as he perches atop the mast?
(a) he throwns it in the ocean as bait.
(b) a sea hawk steals it.
(c) it becomes misshapen in the mist.
(d) it blows off and falls into the ocean.

12. What happens that is uncharacteristic of Ahab?
(a) he agrees with Starbuck.
(b) he pats Pip on the back.
(c) he smiles.
(d) he sheds a tear.

13. What is the carpenter ordered to do with Queequeg's coffin?
(a) turn it into an oil cask.
(b) dismantle it for fire wood.
(c) use it to patch up Ahab's boat.
(d) turn it into a life buoy.

14. What does Ishmael say the head of the sperm whale contains?
(a) hard bone used as a battering ram.
(b) soft tissue that contains no oil.
(c) a gigantic brain.
(d) the largest and the most pure quantity of sperm whale oil.

15. What is the mood on the Pequod?
(a) grim and somber.
(b) excited and tense.
(c) high with anticipation.
(d) light and cheerful.

Short Answer Questions

1. What has the need for revenge done to Ahab's heart?

2. Ironically, what is hanging from the taffrail of the Pequod?

3. What does Ishmael say the head of a sperm whale resembles?

4. How did the watch on the mast of The Rachel know that Moby Dick had probably been harpooned.

5. Where is Ahab on the morning of a clear day as they continue the search for Moby Dick?

(see the answer keys)

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