View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What has happened to some of the crew of The Delight?
(a) they mutinied against the captain.
(b) Moby Dick killed five of them.
(c) Moby Dick ate one of them.
(d) they became afraid and turned the ship to run away.

2. Why does Ishmael linger on the Biblical story of Jonah?
(a) because it explains a lot about whales.
(b) because he does not believe the Biblical account.
(c) because he remembers sermons about Jonah.
(d) because some crewmen doubt the story.

3. What does Fedallah's dream depict about hearses?
(a) Ahab will never ride in a hearse.
(b) Ahab will see one not made with human hands.
(c) Ahab will ride in a wooden hearse.
(d) Ahab will be saved by a hearse.

4. What occurs on the Pequod that sends Starbuck to see the captain?
(a) the rum ration has run out.
(b) someone is stealing from the crew's lockers.
(c) Moby Dick is sighted off the starboard side.
(d) there is a leak in one of the casks of whale oil.

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

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

7. What happens to Queequeg while he helps locate the oil leak?
(a) he slips on the oil and cracks open his head.
(b) he becomes ill and almost dies.
(c) he falls into a cask of sperm whale oil.
(d) he gets into a fight with Tashtego.

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

9. What does Ahab discover the next morning after the storm?
(a) the ship is going in the wrong direction.
(b) the ship is dead in the water.
(c) the ship has come aground.
(d) the crew are all asleep after fighting the storm.

10. How does Ahab react to the intrusion by Starbuck?
(a) he flies into a rage and threatens the carpenter.
(b) he does not understand what Starbuck tells him.
(c) he becomes concerned about the loss of oil.
(d) he raises a pistol as though to shoot Starbuck.

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

12. What is the crew of The Delight about to do as the Pequod comes alongside?
(a) repair the masts.
(b) lower the sails.
(c) bury one of their men.
(d) man the whale boats.

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

14. What is the change in Stubb?
(a) he becomes a cheerleader for the crew.
(b) he no longer jokes and laughs.
(c) he walks with a faster pace.
(d) he becomes more of a clown.

15. Ironically, what is hanging from the taffrail of the Pequod?
(a) a harpoon.
(b) a coffin.
(c) an American flag.
(d) a life buoy.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Ishmael recount about the Samuel Enderby that occurs many years later?

2. What does Ahab contemplate concerning the man who carves his peg leg and builds coffins?

3. What does Pip do when a whale is harpooned?

4. What do Ahab and the captain of the Samuel Enderby have in common?

5. What happens that is uncharacteristic of Ahab?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 709 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample