View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Stubb instruct Daggoo to do for him?

2. What is the man called who stands on deck and holds the rope that secures Queequeg?

3. What early shipboard duty does Ishmael describe?

4. What is the rumor about other fish when they encounter the white whale?

5. How does Ishmael describe the whales he sees in the ocean?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the importance of Chapters 45 and 46 in understanding the enemy Captain Ahab is up against.

2. Detail the problems of holding a whale overnight tied to the side of the ship.

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

4. Explain the startling thing that Ishmael learns about his friend, Queequeg.

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

6. Describe the appropriate text Father Maple uses in his sermon to the whalers in New Bedford.

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

8. Explain the mistaken identity that causes Ahab to order lowering of the boats.

9. What behavior of whales works to the advantage of whaling ships looking for them?

10. Why does Ishmael soon lose his astonishment over Queequeg in New Bedford?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay of at least two typed, double-spaced pages on Melville as a novelist. Mention the parts of Moby Dick that you found the most interesting. Discuss also some of the drier parts of the novel that tend to interrupt the flow of the story. Give your opinion about his use of language to paint a picture of life on a whaling ship.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay of at least two typed, double-spaced pages on the possible homoerotic overtones in the relationship between Queequeg and Ishmael. Express your opinion as to how you view this relationship. Take into consideration the culture from which Queequeg comes. Do a quick survey of Melville's life to justify your conclusion.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay of at least two typed, double-spaced pages on why Ishmael's idea that the whale could never become extinct was just the thing that has almost made the whale disappear. Explain how man's use of natural resources has done a great deal of damage to species and to the planet.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 749 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample