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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. While Starbuck is talking, what is Ahab thinking?
(a) what his family is doing back home.
(b) why Starbuck talks so much.
(c) where they will find Moby Dick.
(d) why he must kill Moby Dick.

2. Given the irony of the coffin turned life buoy, what is the feeling of foreshadowing?
(a) that death is just a part of life.
(b) that Ahab will die before Moby Dick is spotted.
(c) that there will be death and only one survivor.
(d) that the White Whale will never be found.

3. What does Pip do when a whale is harpooned?
(a) he hides in the bottom of the boat.
(b) he starts to cry.
(c) he hits the whale with his oar.
(d) he jumps into the ocean.

4. Why does the crew on the ship see Stubb's and Flask's boats coming fast toward them?
(a) they are running from Moby Dick.
(b) they are being chased by pirates.
(c) they are being pulled by a harpooned whale.
(d) they are caught in a rip tide.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Ahab react to the intrusion by Starbuck?

2. Where does Ishmael say the brain of the sperm whale lies?

3. How does Ishmael classify the oiling of the bottom of a boat?

4. Besides the whales in the oceans, what else does Ishmael include in his discussion?

5. Why does Ishmael linger on the Biblical story of Jonah?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the encounter with the Bachelor irritate Ahab?

2. What is the evidence that there is still a vestige of humanity left in Ahab?

3. What conundrum does Ishmael pose about the whale's biological system?

4. What is occupying the mind of the captain of the Rachel?

5. What ironic thought does Ahab have while looking at Queequeg's coffin?

6. After killing the sperm whale, why does Ahab want them to capture and kill the less valuable Right Whale?

7. What contest occurs between the Pequod and a German whaling ship?

8. What is the ominous message from the whaling ship Delight?

9. What is the secret that Ishmael lets slip about why Ahab stayed in his cabin so long at the beginning of the trip?

10. What is foreshadowed by a dream on Ahab's whaling boat?

(see the answer keys)

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