Chapter 2 - The Carpet-Bag Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

Why is Ishmael unable to proceed directly to Nantucket?

• He cannot afford the fare for the packet boat
• The packet boat has already sailed and the next departs Monday
• A storm has made the harbor impassable
• He decides to explore New Bedford first

What classical comparison does Ishmael use to describe Nantucket's relationship to New Bedford?

• Athens and Sparta
• Rome and Constantinople
• Tyre and Carthage
• Troy and Mycenae

Why does Ishmael reject The Crossed Harpoons and The Sword-Fish Inn?

• They are fully booked for the night
• They look too expensive and jolly for his meager budget
• He finds their names ominous and unsettling
• They are located too far from the waterfront

What does Ishmael stumble into when he mistakes it for an inn called "The Trap"?

• A whaling supply warehouse
• A police station
• A Black church with a sermon on darkness
• An abandoned boarding house

Who is Peter Coffin?

• A whaling captain Ishmael hopes to sail with
• The preacher at the Black church
• The innkeeper of The Spouter Inn
• A fellow traveler Ishmael meets on the road

What biblical wind does Melville reference to describe the cold howling around The Spouter Inn?

• Sirocco
• Euroclydon
• Boreas
• Mistral

In Ishmael's meditation on Lazarus and Dives, what satirical detail does he include about Dives?

• Dives burns whale oil to heat his mansion
• Dives refuses to acknowledge Lazarus exists
• Dives only drinks the tepid tears of orphans
• Dives sends his servants to chase Lazarus away

What narrative technique does the chapter's final line use?

• A shift to second-person address
• A shift to first-person plural, including the reader
• An abrupt transition to omniscient narration
• A direct quotation from Scripture

Ishmael enters The Sword-Fish Inn and has a drink before deciding it is too expensive.

Ishmael stumbles over an ash-box in the porch of a building he enters by mistake.

What does Ishmael mean when he says he "sounded" his pocket with "anxious grapnels"?

• He jingled his coins to count them by sound
• He searched the depths of his pockets as if dragging an anchor through water
• He called out to a shopkeeper to ask about prices
• He sewed his pockets shut to protect his money

What is a "copestone" as used in the line "The universe is finished; the copestone is on"?

• A decorative mosaic tile used in ancient temples
• The final stone placed atop a structure, signifying completion
• A paving stone used in cobblestone roads
• A type of millstone used for grinding grain

In context, what is a "packet" when Ishmael says "the little packet for Nantucket had already sailed"?

• A sealed envelope containing travel documents
• A small bundle of supplies for the voyage
• A boat that travels a regular route carrying passengers and mail
• A type of fishing net used in harbor waters