Chapter 55 - Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

by Herman Melville

Comprehension Quiz: Chapter 55 - Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales

What is the main purpose of Chapter 55 of Moby-Dick?

To describe Ahab’s obsession with Moby Dick in visual terms
To survey and critique inaccurate depictions of whales throughout history
To explain the scientific classification of different whale species
To compare Eastern and Western religious symbolism of whales

According to Ishmael, where is the most ancient extant portrait of a whale found?

In an Egyptian tomb along the Nile River
In the cavern-pagoda of Elephanta in India
In a Greek temple dedicated to Poseidon
In a Roman mosaic in Pompeii

What is wrong with the Hindoo whale sculpture, according to Ishmael?

It shows the whale with legs instead of fins
Its tail tapers like an anaconda rather than showing broad flukes
It depicts the whale as far too small
It gives the whale a human-like face and expression

Which two European painters does Ishmael critique for their depictions of the Perseus and Andromeda scene?

Rembrandt and Vermeer
Guido Reni and Hogarth
Michelangelo and Da Vinci
Rubens and Titian

What does Ishmael compare Hogarth’s whale’s open mouth to?

A cave entrance in the cliffs of Dover
The Traitors’ Gate leading from the Thames into the Tower
The jaws of a giant crocodile on the Nile
A cathedral archway during a storm at sea

How does Ishmael describe Frederick Cuvier’s illustration of a Sperm Whale?

As a magnificent achievement in whale portraiture
As not a Sperm Whale but a squash
As impressively detailed but slightly too large
As a poor imitation of Lacépède’s earlier drawings

What analogy does Ishmael use for drawing a whale from a stranded specimen?

Painting a bird from a pile of feathers
Drawing a wrecked ship to represent a vessel under sail
Sculpting a horse from its horseshoes alone
Sketching a person from their shadow on the wall

What comparison does Ishmael make between the whale’s skeleton and the living whale?

A caterpillar to a butterfly that emerges from it
An insect to the chrysalis that envelopes it
A seed to the full-grown tree it will become
An egg to the bird that will someday hatch

What surprising fact does Ishmael reveal about the whale’s side fin?

It contains no bones at all, being made entirely of cartilage
Its bones match the human hand minus the thumb, with four fingers
It can rotate 360 degrees to help the whale change direction
It is vestigial and serves no functional purpose in swimming

What joke does Stubb make about the whale’s hidden finger bones?

That the whale must have trouble counting to ten
That the whale can never truly handle us without mittens
That the whale shakes hands with the ocean every morning
That whales must have once been land creatures with proper hands

What does Ishmael say about Goldsmith’s whale illustration in Animated Nature?

It is the most accurate whale drawing of its century
The whale looks much like an amputated sow
It captures the whale’s majesty despite minor proportion errors
The whale is drawn upside down with its fins reversed

According to Ishmael, what is the ONLY way to get a tolerable idea of the whale’s living contour?

Studying whale skeletons in a natural history museum
Examining the most careful scientific illustrations available
Going on a whaling voyage yourself to see whales alive at sea
Reading detailed written descriptions by experienced whalemen

What philosophical conclusion does Ishmael reach about representing the whale?

That modern science will eventually produce an accurate whale portrait
That the whale is the one creature which must remain unpainted to the last
That only whalemen should be permitted to paint whale portraits
That photographs will someday solve the problem of whale representation

Comprehension Quiz

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