Chapter 75 - The Right Whale's Head - Contrasted View Practice Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
by Herman Melville — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter 75 - The Right Whale's Head - Contrasted View
What does Ishmael compare the Right Whale's head to at first glance?
A "gigantic galliot-toed shoe" — and an old Dutch voyager compared it to a shoemaker's last.
What comparison is made for the Sperm Whale's head in contrast?
The Sperm Whale's head is compared to a Roman war-chariot, especially its broadly rounded front.
What do the two f-shaped spout-holes make the Right Whale's head resemble from above?
An enormous bass viol, with the spout-holes resembling apertures in a sounding-board.
What is the "crown" or "bonnet" on the Right Whale's head?
A green, barnacled, comb-like incrustation on top of the head, home to live crabs and other organisms.
Who calls the incrustation the "crown" and who calls it the "bonnet"?
Greenlanders call it the "crown"; Southern fishers call it the "bonnet."
How large is the Right Whale's lower lip?
About twenty feet long and five feet deep, yielding approximately 500 gallons of oil.
What nursery tale figure does Ishmael say could lodge inside the whale's head?
The old woman who lived in a shoe, along with all her swarming brood of children.
What does Ishmael compare the interior of the Right Whale's mouth to?
An Indian wigwam (for its shape) and the great Haarlem organ (for the rows of baleen like organ pipes).
What biblical reference does Ishmael make upon entering the whale's mouth?
"Is this the road that Jonah went?" — referencing the biblical story of Jonah being swallowed by a whale.
How many baleen plates does the Right Whale have on each side?
About three hundred on each side, hanging from the upper jaw (the "crown bone").
What shape does Ishmael use to describe the individual baleen plates?
"Scimitar-shaped slats" — scimitars being curved swords, describing the curved shape of baleen.
How does the Right Whale use its baleen to feed?
The hairy fibres on the baleen edges strain water and trap small fish when the whale swims open-mouthed through seas of brit.
What historical names were given to baleen plates by old voyagers?
"Whiskers," "hogs' bristles," and "fins" — all attempts to describe the unfamiliar structures.
What fashion use was made of whalebone (baleen)?
It furnished ladies' busks and corset stiffeners. It was most popular during Queen Anne's time when farthingales were fashionable.
What modern item does Ishmael say is also made from whalebone?
The umbrella — "a tent spread over the same bone" that once supported women's corsets.
What is the whale's tongue like, according to Ishmael?
Very fat and tender, glued to the floor of the mouth like a carpet of "the softest Turkey" rug; it yields about six barrels of oil.
How many external spout-holes does the Right Whale have versus the Sperm Whale?
The Right Whale has two external spout-holes; the Sperm Whale has only one.
What features does the Right Whale lack that the Sperm Whale has?
No great well of sperm (spermaceti), no ivory teeth, and no long slender lower jaw mandible.
How does Ishmael describe the Sperm Whale's expression in death?
Full of "prairie-like placidity" and "speculative indifference as to death" — calm and philosophically detached.
How does Ishmael describe the Right Whale's expression in death?
Showing "an enormous practical resolution in facing death" — determined and enduring rather than serene.
What philosophical labels does Ishmael give the two whales?
The Right Whale is a Stoic; the Sperm Whale is a Platonian, "who might have taken up Spinoza in his latter years."
What is a "galliot-toed shoe"?
A broad, blunt-toed shoe — "galliot" refers to a type of flat-bottomed Dutch cargo vessel, suggesting the shoe's wide, ungainly shape.
What does "spiracles" mean in this chapter?
Breathing holes — the external openings of the whale's blowhole or spout-hole system.
What is a farthingale?
A hooped petticoat or framework used to extend a woman's skirt, popular in the 16th-18th centuries, stiffened with whalebone.
What does it mean that the Sperm Whale "might have taken up Spinoza in his latter years"?
Spinoza was a philosopher who saw God and Nature as one substance. Ishmael suggests the contemplative Sperm Whale might have evolved toward pantheism.