Chapter 24 - The Advocate Practice Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
by Herman Melville — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter 24 - The Advocate
What is the main purpose of Chapter 24, "The Advocate"?
Ishmael mounts a rhetorical defense of the whaling profession, arguing it deserves the same respect as military service and other honored pursuits.
What does Ishmael call the common perception of whaling among landsmen?
An "unpoetical and disreputable pursuit."
How does Ishmael counter the charge that whaling is butchery?
He admits whalemen are butchers but argues that military commanders, whom the world delights to honor, are "butchers of the bloodiest badge."
What practical product does Ishmael cite as proof the world unconsciously honors whalemen?
Whale oil used in lamps and candles — the world's tapers and lamps "burn, as before so many shrines, to our glory."
What economic statistics does Ishmael cite about the American whaling fleet?
Over 700 vessels, 18,000 men, consuming ,000,000 yearly, ships worth ,000,000, importing ,000,000 annually.
Which European monarchs does Ishmael mention as supporters of whaling?
The Dutch under De Witt (who appointed whaling admirals) and Louis XVI of France (who financed whaling ships from Dunkirk).
How much did Britain pay in bounties to whalemen between 1750 and 1788?
Upwards of £1,000,000.
What role does Ishmael claim whale ships played in global exploration?
Whale ships were pioneers in exploring the most remote seas and archipelagoes, preceding Cook and Vancouver and showing naval vessels the way.
How does Ishmael connect whaling to the liberation of South American countries?
He argues that whalemen broke through Spanish colonial trade restrictions on the Pacific coast, eventually contributing to the liberation of Peru, Chile, and Bolivia from Spain.
What role does Ishmael attribute to the whale-ship in the colonization of Australia?
He calls the whale-ship "the true mother" of Australia's colony, noting that early settlers were saved from starvation by provisions from whale ships.
Which biblical figure does Ishmael credit with writing the first account of Leviathan?
Job.
Who does Ishmael say composed the first narrative of a whaling voyage?
Alfred the Great, who recorded the words of Other (Ohthere), a Norwegian whale-hunter.
Which British statesman does Ishmael cite as having praised whaling in Parliament?
Edmund Burke.
How does Ishmael connect Benjamin Franklin to the whaling tradition?
Franklin's grandmother was Mary Morrel (later Mary Folger), one of the old settlers of Nantucket and ancestress to a long line of harpooneers.
What legal fact does Ishmael cite to argue that whaling is "imperial"?
By old English statutory law, the whale is declared "a royal fish."
What constellation does Ishmael invoke as heavenly proof of whaling's dignity?
Cetus, a constellation in the southern sky.
What is the famous closing metaphor of Chapter 24?
"A whale-ship was my Yale College and my Harvard" — equating practical whaling experience with the finest formal education.
What rhetorical structure does the final section of the chapter use?
A call-and-response or debate format, in which an imaginary interlocutor raises objections and Ishmael refutes each one.
What metaphor does Ishmael use to describe whaling's far-reaching historical consequences?
He compares whaling to an "Egyptian mother, who bore offspring themselves pregnant from her womb."
What is the significance of the chapter title "The Advocate"?
It casts Ishmael in the role of a legal advocate or defense attorney, systematically arguing a case for whaling's respectability before the court of public opinion.