Chapter 61 - Stubb Kills a Whale Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

by Herman Melville

Comprehension Quiz: Chapter 61 - Stubb Kills a Whale

Who predicts that a sperm whale will appear after the squid sighting?

  • Ishmael, based on his reading of whaling books
  • Queequeg, based on his whaling experience
  • Starbuck, based on navigational charts
  • Ahab, based on a prophetic dream

What is Ishmael doing when the whale is first spotted?

  • Scrubbing the deck below with the rest of the crew
  • Sleeping in his hammock during his off-watch shift
  • Standing drowsy watch at the foremast-head in a trance
  • Helping Queequeg sharpen harpoons in the bow

What does Melville compare the spouting whale to before the chase?

  • A portly burgher smoking his pipe of a warm afternoon
  • A sleeping giant resting on a bed of coral reefs
  • A warship preparing its cannons for a broadside attack
  • A dark thundercloud rolling across the open horizon

How does Ahab order the crew to approach the whale initially?

  • At full speed with oars and sails deployed at once
  • Silently with paddles only, speaking in whispers only
  • By tacking the Pequod itself toward the whale broadside
  • By sending only Stubb's boat while the others stand watch

What does Stubb do during the pause while the whale is sounding (diving)?

  • He prays silently for a successful hunt at sea
  • He sharpens his lance on a whetstone in the bow
  • He produces his match and calmly lights his pipe
  • He orders the crew to return to the Pequod quickly

Who hurls the harpoon that strikes the whale?

  • Stubb, the second mate who commands the lead boat
  • Queequeg, Starbuck's experienced South Sea harpooneer
  • Daggoo, the tall African harpooneer in Flask's boat
  • Tashtego, the Gay Head Indian serving as Stubb's harpooneer

What happens to Stubb's hands when the harpoon line runs out?

  • They are protected by thick leather gloves he always wears
  • The line passes blisteringly through them because his hand-cloths dropped
  • He wraps them in his jacket to shield against rope friction
  • Nothing—he holds the loggerhead post instead of the rope

Why does Stubb cry "Wet the line! wet the line!"?

  • To make the line heavier so it pulls the whale down
  • To clean the whale blood off the line before coiling it
  • To cool the friction-heated line and prevent it from burning
  • To soften the hemp so it wraps more tightly on the post

What does Stubb compare his careful deep lancing of the whale to?

  • A surgeon probing carefully for a musket ball in a wound
  • Cautiously seeking to feel after some gold watch inside the whale
  • A miner tapping gently along a cave wall for hollow sounds
  • A locksmith delicately picking an ancient and rusted iron lock

What is the whale's "flurry" as described in the chapter?

  • The whale's initial panicked dive after being first spotted
  • A burst of speed as the whale tries to escape the boats
  • The whale's violent death throes after being mortally wounded
  • A spray of water the whale uses to defend against hunters

How does the whale ultimately die?

  • It drowns after being unable to surface for breath at all
  • It bleeds out slowly as the boats tow it back to the ship
  • Its heart bursts, sending clotted red gore into the air
  • Stubb delivers a single final lance blow to the whale's eye

Who announces that the whale is dead?

  • Ishmael, from his position at the oar in the boat
  • Tashtego, the harpooneer who struck the first blow
  • Stubb himself, after checking the whale's spout-hole
  • Daggoo, who says "He's dead, Mr. Stubb"

What does Stubb mean when he says "both pipes smoked out"?

  • Both his pipe and Ahab's pipe have run out of tobacco
  • His tobacco pipe and the whale's spout-hole have both gone out
  • The two harpoon lines have both burned through from friction
  • The smoke from both whaleboats' signal fires has died down

What three sources of smoke does Melville parallel throughout the chapter?

  • The ship's chimney, signal flares, and cooking fires below deck
  • Stubb's pipe, the hemp line on the loggerhead, and the whale's spiracle
  • Ahab's forge, the whale's breath, and gunpowder from the muskets
  • Tashtego's war smoke, burning rope, and the horizon's sea mist

What does Stubb do immediately after the whale dies?

  • He orders the crew to begin cutting the whale at once
  • He withdraws his pipe and scatters the dead ashes over the water
  • He raises a flag to signal the Pequod of the successful kill
  • He carves his initials into the whale's tail as a trophy mark

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