Chapter 122 - Midnight Aloft.- Thunder and Lightning Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
by Herman Melville
Comprehension Quiz: Chapter 122 - Midnight Aloft.- Thunder and Lightning
Where is Tashtego located during Chapter 122?
- In his bunk below deck
- At the helm steering the ship
- On the main-top-sail yard high above the deck
- In the forecastle playing cards with the crew
What task is Tashtego performing during the storm?
- Keeping lookout for whales in the darkness
- Passing new lashings around the yard to secure it
- Furling the sails to reduce wind resistance
- Repairing a broken mast damaged by lightning
What does Tashtego say he wants instead of thunder?
- Silence and calm seas for sleeping
- Rum — he asks to be given a glass of it
- Sunshine so he can see what he is doing
- Relief from his watch so he can go below
What literary device is created when Tashtego shifts from the sublime terror of the storm to asking for rum?
- Foreshadowing — hinting at future events through symbolic language
- Bathos — a sudden descent from the elevated to the commonplace
- Hyperbole — exaggeration for emphasis or dramatic effect
- Irony — a contradiction between expectation and actual outcome
What narrative format does Melville use for Chapter 122?
- First-person narration by Ishmael describing the scene from the deck
- A dramatic or theatrical format with a stage direction and spoken monologue
- An epistolary format presented as a letter from Tashtego to his family
- Third-person omniscient narration with interior thought access
Which mate does Tashtego serve as harpooneer aboard the Pequod?
- Starbuck, the chief mate and moral center of the crew
- Stubb, the easygoing second mate from Cape Cod
- Flask, the pugnacious third mate from Martha's Vineyard
- Ahab, the monomaniacal captain of the Pequod
When Tashtego tells the thunder to "Stop," what rhetorical device is he using?
- Metaphor — comparing thunder to something that can be controlled
- Apostrophe — directly addressing an abstract force as if it can hear and respond
- Alliteration — repeating initial consonant sounds for emphasis
- Personification — attributing human emotions to the thunder
How does Tashtego's response to the storm differ from Captain Ahab's typical response?
- Tashtego is terrified while Ahab remains calm and collected
- Tashtego is pragmatic and dismissive while Ahab responds with metaphysical defiance
- Tashtego prays for deliverance while Ahab curses the gods directly
- Tashtego blames the crew while Ahab accepts personal responsibility
What is the repeated sound "Um, um, um" meant to convey?
- Tashtego chanting a traditional Gay Head prayer for protection
- A combination of complaint, resignation, and the rhythm of physical labor
- Tashtego humming a sea shanty to keep himself awake during the watch
- An imitation of the thunder rumbling across the sky above him
What is Tashtego's ethnic background?
- He is an African who voluntarily joined a whaling ship as a youth
- He is a Portuguese sailor recruited from the Azores
- He is a pureblooded Gay Head Indian from Martha's Vineyard
- He is a Polynesian islander from the South Pacific
Comprehension Quiz
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