Chapter 78 - Cistern and Buckets Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

by Herman Melville

Comprehension Quiz: Chapter 78 - Cistern and Buckets

What is the "Tun" that Tashtego climbs onto at the beginning of Chapter 78?

  • A large wooden barrel mounted on the ship's deck for storing whale oil during processing
  • The hoisted sperm whale's head, which contains a reservoir of valuable spermaceti
  • A special platform constructed on the mainyard-arm for observing whale pods at a distance
  • The blubber-stripping station at the ship's stern where the crew processes whale fat

What simile does Ishmael use to describe Tashtego searching for the right spot to break into the whale's head?

  • A miner tapping the rock face of a cave wall, listening for the echo of a hollow chamber
  • A treasure-hunter in some old house, sounding the walls to find where the gold is masoned in
  • A carpenter testing the planks of an aging ship, seeking any sign of hidden dry rot
  • A physician pressing his ear to a patient's chest, listening carefully for the heartbeat

What does the bucket look like when it surfaces full of spermaceti?

  • Dark and viscous, dripping thick black oil like tar from a freshly opened barrel
  • All bubbling like a dairy-maid's pail of new milk, white and frothy with fresh spermaceti
  • Clear and shimmering like a glass vessel filled to the brim with golden lamp oil
  • Coated in a greasy yellow film, its contents steaming and giving off a pungent sulfur smell

Approximately how many buckets of spermaceti are drawn up before Tashtego falls into the whale's head?

  • About twenty or thirty buckets, barely scratching the surface of the whale's reserves
  • About eighty or ninety buckets, after the crew has been working for some time
  • Over two hundred buckets, completely emptying the whale's head of all its contents
  • Only five or six buckets, meaning the accident happens almost immediately after work begins

Who is the first crew member to respond when Tashtego falls into the whale's head?

  • Stubb, the second mate, who immediately begins shouting orders to the panicking crew
  • Queequeg, who grabs his boarding-sword and prepares to dive into the whale's head
  • Daggoo, who shouts "Man overboard!" and is hoisted up to the top of the head to help
  • Starbuck, the first mate, who orders the crew to cut the head free and let it sink

What critical failure occurs while Daggoo is on top of the whale's head trying to rescue Tashtego?

  • The whip rope snaps from the weight of the bucket, cutting off Daggoo's only means of reaching Tashtego
  • One of the two enormous hooks suspending the head tears out, causing the head to swing violently
  • The whale's head splits open from the internal pressure, spilling spermaceti across the deck
  • A sudden gale-force wind knocks Daggoo off the head and into the ocean alongside the ship

What does Ishmael compare the whale's head falling into the sea to?

  • A great boulder tumbling from a mountain cliff into the valley floor far below
  • Niagara's Table-Rock dropping into the whirlpool, with a thunder-boom and massive splash
  • An avalanche of ice crashing from a glacier into the freezing arctic waters beneath
  • A cathedral's stone tower collapsing during an earthquake, sending debris in every direction

How does Queequeg extract Tashtego from inside the sinking whale's head?

  • He pries open the top of the head and reaches down through the original bucket-hole to grab Tashtego's arms
  • He cuts a hole near the bottom with his sword, thrusts his arm in, and pulls Tashtego out headfirst
  • He ties a rope around the head and signals the crew to haul it back to the surface with the winch
  • He forces open the whale's jaw from below and swims up through the mouth cavity to reach Tashtego

Why does Queequeg turn Tashtego around inside the whale's head before pulling him out?

  • Tashtego is wedged sideways and must be rotated to fit through the opening Queequeg has cut
  • He first grabs a leg, but knowing that is not the proper way, he flips Tashtego for a headfirst extraction
  • The sword hole is too small for Tashtego's shoulders, so he must be pulled out feet-first instead
  • Tashtego is unconscious and facing the wrong direction to breathe once brought to the surface

What extended metaphor does Ishmael use to describe Queequeg's rescue of Tashtego?

  • A military extraction behind enemy lines, with Queequeg as the courageous commando soldier
  • Childbirth and midwifery, calling it a "delivery" and praising Queequeg's skill in "obstetrics"
  • A deep-sea pearl diver retrieving treasure from a dangerous underwater cave formation
  • The biblical story of Jonah being expelled from the whale's belly after three days inside

Why does the whale's head sink even though spermaceti is lighter than seawater?

  • The iron hooks still attached to the head add enough weight to drag the entire mass downward
  • The case had been nearly emptied of spermaceti, leaving the dense tendinous wall, which is heavier than seawater
  • The whale's jaw bones and teeth act as ballast, pulling the head down despite the buoyant oil
  • The strong ocean current creates a downward pull that overcomes the natural buoyancy of the head

What does Ishmael say about midwifery at the end of the rescue scene?

  • That it is the most dangerous profession aboard a whaling vessel in the nineteenth century
  • That it should be taught in the same course with fencing and boxing, riding and rowing
  • That only trained physicians should attempt the kind of rescue Queequeg performed on Tashtego
  • That the whalers' wives at home are more skilled in emergencies than the sailors themselves

Who is the Ohio honey-hunter Ishmael mentions at the end of the chapter?

  • A famous historical figure who survived being trapped in a beehive and wrote about the experience
  • A man who fell into a hollow tree full of honey and died embalmed, paralleling Tashtego's near-death
  • A legendary frontiersman known for trading honey with Native American communities in Ohio
  • An acquaintance of Ishmael's who told him the story of Tashtego's fall before the voyage began

What does Ishmael mean by asking "How many have likewise fallen into Plato's honey head, and sweetly perished there?"

  • How many sailors have drowned in whale spermaceti during similar harvesting accidents at sea
  • How many people have been fatally seduced by sweet, intoxicating philosophical ideas or systems of thought
  • How many ancient Greek philosophers died in poverty after devoting their lives to impractical ideas
  • How many beekeepers throughout history have died from allergic reactions to excessive bee stings

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