Chapter 58 - Brit Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

by Herman Melville

Comprehension Quiz: Chapter 58 - Brit

What is brit, as described in Chapter 58?

  • A type of barnacle that clings to the hull of whaling ships
  • A minute, yellow substance that serves as food for Right Whales
  • A species of small fish hunted by Sperm Whales at depth
  • A yellow seaweed found only near the Crozet Islands

To what does Ishmael compare the leagues of brit on the ocean surface?

  • Endless dunes of yellow desert sand stretching to the horizon
  • Boundless fields of ripe and golden wheat across the countryside
  • A vast carpet of autumn leaves floating on still water
  • Rivers of molten gold pouring across the open sea

Why are the Right Whales "secure from the attack" of the Pequod?

  • The Right Whales are too large for the Pequod's harpoons to penetrate
  • The Pequod is a Sperm Whaler and does not hunt Right Whales
  • Captain Ahab has forbidden all whale hunting except for Moby Dick
  • The crew is too far from land to process Right Whale blubber

What does Ishmael call the baleen plates inside the Right Whale's mouth?

  • A natural sieve of bone and cartilage strips
  • A wondrous Venetian blind made of fringing fibres
  • A great ivory comb that strains the ocean water
  • A curtain of bristled teeth unique to the species

What do the Right Whales resemble when seen motionless from the mastheads?

  • Enormous dark clouds resting on the water's surface
  • Lifeless masses of rock rather than living creatures
  • Overturned whaleboats scattered across the yellow sea
  • Sleeping sea turtles drifting with the ocean current

What challenge does Ishmael pose to the theory that all land animals have sea counterparts?

  • He notes that no sea creature matches the loyalty of the horse
  • He asks where the ocean provides a fish with the sagacious kindness of a dog
  • He argues that birds have no true equivalent in the ocean depths
  • He points out that no marine animal displays the cunning of a fox

What biblical event does Ishmael say has never truly ended?

  • The parting of the Red Sea, since the waters remain divided
  • Noah's Flood, since two-thirds of the world is still covered by water
  • The plagues of Egypt, since the sea remains blood-red at sunset
  • The Tower of Babel, since sailors speak many languages at sea

What is the story of Korah used to illustrate in this chapter?

  • That divine punishment once came from the sea but now comes from the land
  • That the earth swallowing people seemed miraculous, but the sea does it daily
  • That ancient sailors feared the land more than the ocean depths
  • That biblical miracles prove humanity once had power over the sea

To what animal does Ishmael compare the sea when it destroys its own creatures?

  • A wolf that turns on its own weakened pack members
  • A savage tigress that overlays (crushes) her own cubs in the jungle
  • A mother bear that abandons her young in a harsh winter
  • A venomous serpent that strikes blindly at everything nearby

What does the phrase "universal cannibalism of the sea" refer to?

  • The practice of stranded sailors resorting to eating one another
  • The fact that all sea creatures prey upon each other in eternal war
  • The way the ocean slowly erodes and consumes coastlines worldwide
  • The ancient myth that the sea god devoured his own children

What is the "insular Tahiti" that Ishmael describes in the human soul?

  • A deep reservoir of courage that emerges only during crisis
  • A small island of peace and joy encompassed by the horrors of life
  • A memory of childhood innocence that fades with experience at sea
  • A spiritual destination that every sailor hopes to reach someday

What warning does Ishmael give at the chapter's close?

  • Beware the calm sea, for it hides the greatest storms beneath
  • Push not off from that isle, thou canst never return
  • Trust not the whale that swims peacefully, for it may yet attack
  • Sail always within sight of land, lest the sea claim you

What does the chapter suggest about humanity's relationship with the sea over time?

  • Humans have gradually conquered the sea through technology and science
  • Humans have lost their sense of the sea's full awfulness through familiarity
  • Humans have developed a spiritual bond with the ocean through centuries of sailing
  • Humans have learned to coexist peacefully with all marine creatures

How does the structure of Chapter 58 progress thematically?

  • From philosophical abstraction to concrete whale-hunting action scenes
  • From naturalistic observation of whales feeding to a metaphysical allegory about the human soul
  • From a debate among crew members to a solitary meditation by Ahab
  • From a description of a storm at sea to a calm reflection on dry land

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