Chapter 1 - Loomings Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

What is the opening line of Moby-Dick?

• Call me Ishmael.
• It was a dark and stormy night.
• I am born in the year of our Lord.
• Loomings gather on the horizon.

What does Ishmael call his substitute for pistol and ball?

• Reading philosophy and meditating on life
• Working as a country schoolmaster
• Quietly taking to the ship and going to sea
• Walking through Manhattan and visiting the waterfront

In what capacity does Ishmael choose to go to sea?

• As a ship's cook with considerable glory
• As a paying passenger on a merchant vessel
• As a simple sailor before the mast
• As a commodore on the quarter-deck

Which mythological figure does Ishmael reference when discussing humanity's attraction to water?

• Poseidon, who ruled the seas from his underwater palace
• Narcissus, who drowned grasping at his own reflection
• Odysseus, who wandered the seas for ten years
• Icarus, who fell from the sky into the ocean

What does Ishmael attribute his decision to go on a whaling voyage to?

• His desire for wealth and financial independence
• The invisible police officer of the Fates and Providence
• A recommendation from a close friend and fellow sailor
• His extensive experience with merchant sailing vessels

What was Ishmael's occupation before going to sea?

• A whaling ship carpenter in Nantucket
• A university professor of philosophy
• A country schoolmaster who awed his students
• A merchant working at the Manhattan waterfront

What does Ishmael describe as the "universal thump"?

• The rhythmic pounding of waves against the hull of a ship
• The shared experience of being ordered around and serving others
• The heartbeat that connects all living creatures to the ocean
• The sound of whale flukes striking the surface of the water

What image appears at the very end of Chapter 1?

• A massive storm gathering over the Manhattan skyline
• A grand hooded phantom like a snow hill in the air
• The ghost of a drowned sailor rising from the waves
• A white lighthouse beacon cutting through dense fog

Ishmael describes walking through Manhattan and observing crowds of people gathered at the waterfront.

Ishmael meets Captain Ahab for the first time in Chapter 1 at the Manhattan docks.

What does "circumambulate" mean as used in Chapter 1?

• To sail around a landmass by ship
• To walk all the way around something
• To speak in circles without making a point
• To carefully measure the distance of a route

What does "perdition" mean in the sentence "how cheerfully we consign ourselves to perdition"?

• Financial bankruptcy and economic ruin
• Eternal damnation or complete spiritual destruction
• A state of extreme boredom and monotony
• Physical exhaustion from overwork at sea

What does "portentous" mean when Ishmael describes the whale as a "portentous and mysterious monster"?

• Extremely large and physically imposing
• Ominously significant or serving as a prophetic sign
• Beautiful and awe-inspiring in appearance
• Dangerous and likely to cause immediate harm