Chapter 56 - Of the Less Erroneous Pictures of Whales and the True Pictures of Whaling Scenes Practice Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
by Herman Melville — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter 56 - Of the Less Erroneous Pictures of Whales and the True Pictures of Whaling Scenes
How many published outlines of the great Sperm Whale does Ishmael recognize?
Four: by Colnett, Huggins, Frederick Cuvier, and Beale.
Which artist does Ishmael consider to have the best Sperm Whale drawings?
Beale. Ishmael says "by great odds, Beale's is the best."
What criticism does Ishmael make of J. Ross Browne's Sperm Whale drawings?
They are pretty correct in contour but wretchedly engraved, though Ishmael notes this is not Browne's fault.
Who provides the best outline pictures of the Right Whale, according to Ishmael?
Scoresby, though they are drawn on too small a scale.
Who painted the two large French engravings that Ishmael considers the finest whale art?
Garnery (Ambroise Louis Garneray).
What two types of whales do Garnery's two engravings respectively depict?
The first depicts an attack on the Sperm Whale; the second depicts an attack on the Right Whale.
In Garnery's first engraving, what is the Sperm Whale doing?
It has just risen from the ocean depths beneath the boat, bearing the wreck of the stoven planks high on its back.
How does Ishmael describe the Right Whale in Garnery's second engraving?
It rolls its black weedy bulk in the sea "like some mossy rock-slide from the Patagonian cliffs."
What comparison does Ishmael make between Garnery's whale art and famous European paintings?
He compares them to the battle paintings at Versailles, saying they are "not wholly unworthy of a place in that gallery."
Why does Ishmael say the French excel at whale art despite less whaling experience?
He attributes it to "the natural aptitude of the French for seizing the picturesqueness of things."
What does Ishmael say English and American whale draughtsmen are content with?
Presenting "the mechanical outline of things, such as the vacant profile of the whale."
What humorous suggestion does Ishmael make about Scoresby's Arctic snow crystals?
That Scoresby should have procured a sworn affidavit for every crystal, taken before a Greenland Justice of the Peace.
Who subscribes himself "H. Durand" and what does he contribute?
An artist who created two other notable French engravings: one a quiet Pacific noon scene and one an action whaling scene.
What does the first H. Durand engraving depict?
A quiet noon scene in the Pacific: a French whaler anchored inshore, lazily taking on water, with drooping sails and palm leaves.
What literary device is central to this chapter?
Ekphrasis—vivid verbal description of visual artworks.
What simile does Ishmael use for the Right Whale's jets?
"Erect, full, and black like soot; so that from so abounding a smoke in the chimney, you would think there must be a brave supper cooking in the great bowels below."
What theme about representation does this chapter explore?
That capturing the spirit and lived experience of whaling is more important than anatomical accuracy, reflecting the novel's broader theme about the limits of knowledge.
What does Ishmael compare sketching a whale's vacant profile to?
"Sketching the profile of a pyramid."
What self-deprecating admission does Ishmael make about Garnery's first engraving?
He says serious anatomical fault might be found with the whale, but "for the life of me, I could not draw so good a one."
What creatures are described pecking at the Right Whale's back in Garnery's second engraving?
Sea fowls, pecking at small crabs, shellfish, and other sea creatures the Right Whale carries on its back.