Chapter 24 - The Advocate Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

What is Ishmael's primary purpose in this chapter?

• To describe the dangers of whale hunting
• To defend the whaling profession against its critics
• To explain how whaling ships are navigated
• To introduce new crew members aboard the Pequod

According to Ishmael, why does the world refuse to honor whalemen?

• Because whaling pays poorly compared to other trades
• Because whaling is considered a butchering, unclean business
• Because whalemen are uneducated and illiterate
• Because whaling ships are dangerously outdated

What comparison does Ishmael draw between whalemen and soldiers?

• Both professions require years of formal training
• Soldiers are paid better but whalemen are braver
• Soldiers are honored despite bloody battlefields, while whalemen are scorned for similar uncleanliness
• Whalemen and soldiers both serve under strict military discipline

Which historical figure does Ishmael credit with writing the first narrative of a whaling voyage?

• Edmund Burke
• Captain Cook
• Alfred the Great
• Job

What role does Ishmael claim whale ships played in the history of Australia?

• They transported the first convicts to the penal colony
• They were the first to map the Australian coastline
• They saved early settlers from starvation and were the true founders of the colony
• They established the first trade routes between Australia and England

How does Ishmael connect whaling to the liberation of South American countries?

• Whalemen supplied weapons to revolutionary armies
• Whalemen broke through Spain's trade restrictions on Pacific colonies, eventually leading to independence movements
• Whale oil funded the revolutions in Peru, Chile, and Bolivia
• Whalemen transported revolutionary leaders across the Atlantic

What famous closing metaphor does Ishmael use to describe whaling's importance to his own life?

• A whale-ship was his church and his cathedral
• A whale-ship was his mother and his father
• A whale-ship was his Yale College and his Harvard
• A whale-ship was his sword and his shield

What constellation does Ishmael cite as heavenly proof of whaling's dignity?

• Orion
• Cetus
• Pisces
• Aquarius

Which of these claims does Ishmael actually make in this chapter?

Which of these historical claims does Ishmael make in this chapter?

What does 'puissant' mean as used in: 'How comes all this, if there be not something puissant in whaling?'

• Unpleasant or foul-smelling
• Having great power or influence
• Financially profitable
• Morally questionable

What does 'carrion' mean as used in: 'what disordered slippery decks of a whale-ship are comparable to the unspeakable carrion of those battle-fields'?

• Heavy cargo loaded onto ships
• The decaying flesh of dead bodies
• Muddy or waterlogged ground
• Weapons and military equipment

What does 'ferreting' mean as used in: 'the whale-ship has been the pioneer in ferreting out the remotest and least known parts of the earth'?

• Accidentally stumbling upon
• Persistently searching out and discovering
• Quickly passing through without stopping
• Mapping and charting for future reference