Chapter 35 - The Mast-Head Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

Who does Ishmael identify as the earliest mast-head standers in history?

• The builders of Babel
• The ancient Egyptians
• The Nantucket whalers
• The Greek philosophers

What is the "Phaedon" that Ishmael references when warning ship-owners?

• A type of whale ship
• Plato's dialogue on the immortality of the soul
• A navigation manual
• A Greek mythological figure

What does Captain Sleet's crow's-nest most closely resemble in shape?

• A church pulpit
• A large barrel or pipe
• A sentry box
• A ship's cabin

What item does Ishmael accuse Captain Sleet of ignoring in his narrative?

• His telescope
• A case-bottle of spirits
• His rifle
• A warm blanket

How often are lookouts relieved at the mast-head on a whale ship?

• Every hour
• Every two hours
• Every four hours
• Every six hours

What poet does Ishmael parody when describing the romantic young men who go to sea?

• William Wordsworth
• Percy Bysshe Shelley
• Lord Byron
• John Keats

What does Ishmael say happens to the dreaming Platonist's identity at the mast-head?

• It becomes sharper and more focused
• It dissolves and merges with the ocean and nature
• It is replaced by a desire for profit
• It transforms into fear of the sea

What are the "Descartian vortices" Ishmael mentions at the chapter's end?

• Dangerous whirlpools in the ocean
• Descartes' theory of swirling matter filling the universe
• A type of wind pattern at sea
• Psychological states described by Descartes

Ishmael stops to chat with Queequeg while climbing the rigging to the mast-head.

Captain Sleet fires his rifle at a whale from the crow's-nest during the chapter.

What does "expatiate" mean as used in "let us in some measure expatiate here"?

• To travel abroad
• To speak or write at great length
• To breathe deeply
• To examine physically

In the phrase "everything resolves you into languor," what does "languor" mean?

• A state of dreamy, relaxed inactivity
• A feeling of seasickness
• A condition of intense alertness
• A type of tropical disease

What does "monitions" mean in "Nor are these monitions at all unneeded"?

• Financial donations
• Warnings or cautionary advice
• Military formations
• Physical demonstrations