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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. Where was Captain Cook supposed to have been cannibalized?

2. What is the benefit of the low reproductive rates of the Typees?

3. What kind of coconuts do the natives prefer?

4. Where are there other similar Stonehenge-like sites?

5. How does Kory-Kory reassure Tommo?

Short Essay Questions

1. What technology of Tommo's impresses the Typees?

2. What kinds of animal life does Tommo find on the island with the Typees?

3. What does Tommo say about the Typees as swimmers?

4. Describe the mausoleum Tommo sees.

5. How is the men's company different from the women's company for Tommo?

6. What does Tommo say about relations between Typee husbands and wives?

7. How does Tommo describe the difference between men's work and women's work?

8. Describe Tommo's relationship with the women of Typee.

9. Describe the Stonehenge-like site Tommo sees.

10. Who is Moa Artua, and how is he treated?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How would you describe "Typee" as an allegory? What allegorical or moral meaning does "Typee" have? What is it an allegory for? What do its plot, its development, and its ultimate resolution teach us? Is there a clear moral to the book? Do you think the book's moral is clear, intentionally vague, or accidentally vague?

Essay Topic 2

How does the idea of the taboo apply to "Typee"? What characters or things are taboo, and what does the taboo mean in each case? Are taboos violated? Are exceptions made? What is Tommo's relationship with the Typee taboos? Is he initiated into any of them or is he kept apart from them?

Essay Topic 3

Write a review of "Typee". What did the book set out to do, how did it set out to do it, and did it fulfill the promises it laid out in the opening chapters? How would you characterize the essence of this book? Melville's personality? Melville's literary interests and talents?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 837 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample