Chapter 43 - Hark! Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

by Herman Melville

Comprehension Quiz: Chapter 43 - Hark!

What time of day does Chapter 43 take place?

  • The morning watch at dawn
  • The middle-watch under moonlight
  • The afternoon dog watch
  • The first watch at sunset

What are the sailors doing when Archy hears the noise?

  • Scrubbing the deck
  • Passing buckets to fill the scuttle-butt
  • Repairing the sails
  • Lowering the whale boats

Why are the sailors careful not to speak or rustle their feet?

  • They are afraid of waking Captain Ahab
  • They are standing on the hallowed quarter-deck
  • They are trying to listen for whales
  • They are hiding from a storm

What is Cabaco's nationality or ethnic background?

  • He is a Native American
  • He is a Cholo (mixed Indigenous and Spanish descent)
  • He is a Polynesian islander
  • He is an Englishman

What does Archy first describe hearing from under the hatches?

  • Footsteps pacing back and forth
  • A cough
  • Voices speaking in a foreign language
  • Hammering and banging sounds

How does Cabaco explain the sounds Archy hears?

  • He says it is rats in the hold
  • He says it is the three soaked biscuits Archy ate turning over inside him
  • He says it is the wind blowing through the hatches
  • He says it is the ship's timbers creaking

What joke does Cabaco make to mock Archy's sharp hearing?

  • That Archy once heard a whale breathing from a hundred leagues away
  • That Archy heard the hum of an old Quakeress's knitting-needles fifty miles at sea
  • That Archy could hear fish swimming beneath the hull
  • That Archy mistook his own heartbeat for drums

What does Archy suspect about the sounds from the after-hold?

  • That the ship is haunted by a ghost
  • That a whale is trapped beneath the hull
  • That someone is hiding there who has not been seen on deck
  • That cargo has shifted and is about to damage the ship

What nickname does Archy use to refer to Captain Ahab?

  • The Old Man
  • Our old Mogul
  • The Commodore
  • King Ahab

Which two officers does Archy say he overheard discussing the hidden presence?

  • Ahab and Starbuck
  • Stubb and Flask
  • Starbuck and Stubb
  • Flask and Queequeg

What is the scuttle-butt that the crew is refilling?

  • A cannon mounted at the stern
  • A cask of drinking water near the taffrail
  • A storage locker for navigation tools
  • A lifeboat secured to the deck

What is the primary literary device used in Chapter 43?

  • Allegory
  • Foreshadowing
  • Flashback
  • Irony

Who are the hidden people actually making the sounds Archy hears?

  • Escaped prisoners from Nantucket
  • Fedallah and Ahab's secret boat crew
  • Rival whalers who snuck aboard
  • Stowaways fleeing debt collectors

What is Cabaco's final line in the chapter?

  • "Grin away; we'll see what turns up."
  • "Cough be damned! Pass along that return bucket."
  • "Tish! the bucket!"
  • "Aye, you are the chap, ain't ye?"

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