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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 does Starbuck contemplate when he finds Ahab asleep?
(a) scaring the captain.
(b) waking the captain.
(c) murdering the captain.
(d) locking up the captain.

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

3. What foreshadows what is likely to happen to Ahab and Fedallah?
(a) a story Fedallah tells while on Ahab's boat.
(b) a story Ahab remembers about Moby Dick.
(c) a dream Ahab has while waiting out the night.
(d) a dream Fedallah has while on Ahab's boat.

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

5. What further detailed information does Ishmael record about the whale?
(a) he discusses the birth process of whales.
(b) he details migratory habits of whales.
(c) he talks about the breeding grounds of whales.
(d) he discusses the measurement of the whale.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Why does Starbuck send Stubb to report the storm damage to Captain Ahab?

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

4. What is the news from The Rachel as it nears the Pequod?

5. Given the irony of the coffin turned life buoy, what is the feeling of foreshadowing?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What happens to Fedallah when Moby Dick is harpooned for the first time?

3. Explain why the Pequod sails in the wrong direction.

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

5. What is Ishmael trying to ascertain as he ponders fossil remains of whales he has read about?

6. What is happening to Queequeg's coffin?

7. How is Ahab killed?

8. Why does Ahab change his attitude toward the leaking casks of whale oil?

9. Describe Ishmael's arguments against the man who doubts the Bible.

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

(see the answer keys)

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