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

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the mood on the Pequod?

2. What happens to Queequeg while he helps locate the oil leak?

3. What does Queequeg see in the Spanish doubloon?

4. What does Ahab finally admit?

5. What is the next whaling ship the Pequod meets during the search for Moby Dick?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain how Stubb uses his sense of humor to trick a French whaling ship into leaving a dead whale.

2. What is the problem with maritime laws pertaining to whaling?

3. Describe the madness of Ahab that loses his humanity.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay of at least two typed, double-spaced pages comparing the character Bildad in MOBY DICK to the Bildad in the book of Job who God said darkened counsel without knowledge. Point out dialog of Bildad that shows his limited understanding of the real world.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay of at least two typed, double-spaced pages on religion in Melville's novel, MOBY DICK. Begin with the sermon in the Whaleman's Chapel. Mention Queequeg's devotion to his Yojo. Go to the argument Ishmael has with the man from Sar Harbor. Conclude with the religious parallels to the names Melville chose for his characters.

(see the answer keys)

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