Chapter 118 - The Quadrant Practice Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
by Herman Melville — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter 118 - The Quadrant
What sea is the Pequod sailing through in Chapter 118?
The Japanese sea, approaching the equatorial Line.
What instrument does Ahab use to calculate latitude?
A quadrant, an astrological-looking instrument with colored glasses for sighting the sun.
At what time of day does Ahab take his solar observation?
High noon, when the sun reaches its precise meridian.
What is the Parsee doing while Ahab observes the sun?
Kneeling beneath Ahab on the ship's deck, staring at the same sun with half-hooded eyes and an expression of earthly passionlessness.
On what surface does Ahab calculate his latitude?
His ivory (whale-bone) leg, writing with a pencil upon it.
What does Ahab ask the sun that it cannot answer?
Where he will be in the future and where Moby Dick is at that moment.
What does Ahab call the quadrant before destroying it?
A "foolish toy" and "babies' plaything of haughty Admirals, and Commodores, and Captains."
According to Ahab, what is the quadrant's fundamental limitation?
It can only tell you where you currently are, not where anything will be tomorrow.
What does Ahab do to the quadrant?
He dashes it to the deck, tramples it with his live and dead feet, and destroys it.
What navigation methods does Ahab vow to use instead of the quadrant?
The level ship's compass and dead-reckoning by log and line.
What two emotions pass over the Parsee's face as Ahab destroys the quadrant?
A sneering triumph (meant for Ahab) and a fatalistic despair (meant for himself).
Where does Starbuck stand as he watches Ahab after the outburst?
Between the knight-heads (vertical timbers at the bow of the ship).
To what does Starbuck compare Ahab's fiery life?
A dense coal fire that burns intensely but eventually wanes to "dumbest dust" and a "little heap of ashes."
What metaphor does Stubb use for Ahab's situation?
A card game: someone has thrust cards into Ahab's hands and he must play them. Stubb says Ahab acts right to live and die in the game.
What does Stubb correct about Starbuck's coal-fire metaphor?
That they would be sea-coal ashes, not common charcoal, maintaining his sardonic humor even in a serious moment.
What does "the season for the Line" refer to?
The optimal time of year for hunting whales near the equator (the Line).
What are the crew staring at while waiting for orders to head to the equator?
The nailed doubloon (the gold coin Ahab nailed to the mast as a reward for whoever first spots Moby Dick).
What does Ahab mean by saying human eyes are "level by nature to this earth's horizon"?
That humans are meant to look straight ahead, not up to heaven. Looking upward (seeking divine knowledge) only scorches and blinds.
What nautical command does Ahab shout after destroying the quadrant?
"To the braces! Up helm!- square in!" ordering the ship to change course.
To what does the narrator compare the ship's three masts as it turns?
The three Horatii (Roman warriors) pirouetting on one sufficient steed.