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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What happens to the two men who turn on Steelkilt and come out of the locked scuttle?
(a) they receive pardons.
(b) they are hanged.
(c) they are flogged.
(d) they walk the plank.

2. What does Ishmael think is more remarkable than the whale's size and color?
(a) its memory.
(b) its ability to destroy a large ship.
(c) its ability to stay for days under water.
(d) its intelligence and cunning.

3. Which boat from the Pequod is the first to harpoon a whale?
(a) Flask's.
(b) Starbuck's.
(c) Ahab's.
(d) Stubb's.

4. What habit of whales do the whaling ships use to find their prey?
(a) the way they head south in the winter.
(b) the way they spout when finding schools of fish.
(c) they way they always go to the same place to spawn.
(d) the way they follow certain routes to new feeding areas.

5. Why does Elijah challenge Ishmael to find the men he saw heading for the Pequod?
(a) they are criminals sabotaging the Pequod.
(b) they are figments of Ishmael's imagination.
(c) they are ghosts and not real men.
(d) they will not board with Captain Ahab.

Short Answer Questions

1. What do Ishmael and Stubb discuss about captains and whaling?

2. Who is the High Chief or king of the island of Kokovoko?

3. What characteristics does Ishmael assign to Starbuck, the chief mate?

4. Which ship does Ishmael select for him and Queequeg to sign on?

5. How does Queequeg manage to sign on with the Pequod after first being turned down?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the function of the "monkey" on board a whaling ship.

2. Why is the story of Radney and Steelkilt important to the story?

3. How does Ishmael happen to share a bed with a tattooed headhunter?

4. How complicated is the process of harvesting the whale blubber?

5. How does the first day of whaling affect Ishmael?

6. What is the surprise the men of the Pequod get when they spot their first whale and begin to lower the boats?

7. What does Ahab want from the first whaling ship they meet in the ocean?

8. Describe how Ishmael becomes uneasy about Captain Ahab.

9. Explain why Ishmael decides to book himself on a whaling ship.

10. What does Ahab do to disturb the crew during the night?

(see the answer keys)

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