Chapter 88 - Schools and Schoolmasters Practice Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
by Herman Melville — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter 88 - Schools and Schoolmasters
What are the two types of whale schools described in Chapter 88?
Harem schools (composed almost entirely of females led by a single dominant male) and all-male schools (consisting only of young vigorous bulls called Forty-barrel-bulls).
What is the dominant male of a harem school called?
The schoolmaster, a title derived from the whaling term "school" for the harem group.
How does Ishmael describe the schoolmaster whale metaphorically?
As a "luxurious Ottoman," a "Bashaw" (pasha), and a "Grand Turk" who enjoys all the solaces of a harem.
How large are female sperm whales compared to males?
Female whales are only about one-third the bulk of an average-sized male.
How does the schoolmaster respond when a young male approaches one of his females?
He assails the intruder with "prodigious fury" and chases him away to protect the sanctity of his harem.
What biblical figure does Melville compare the schoolmaster to?
Solomon, described as "pious Solomon devoutly worshipping among his thousand concubines."
Why do fishermen rarely chase Grand Turk schoolmasters?
Because they are "too lavish of their strength" and therefore yield little oil (their "unctuousness is small").
What happens to the schoolmaster as he ages?
He forswears and disbands the harem, becomes a solitary whale, and wanders alone "saying his prayers, and warning each young Leviathan from his amorous errors."
To whom does Ishmael compare the solitary aged whale?
Daniel Boone, the frontiersman who sought only the companionship of Nature herself.
What are Forty-barrel-bulls?
Young male Sperm Whales that travel in all-male schools, named for their approximate oil yield.
How does Ishmael characterize the Forty-barrel-bull schools?
As "full of fight, fun, and wickedness" and compared to riotous college students at Yale or Harvard.
What do the Forty-barrel-bulls do when they reach three-fourths of full size?
They break up from the all-male school and separately go about in quest of harems of their own.
How do harem schools migrate throughout the year?
They follow temperate waters seasonally, spending summer in Northern seas, lounging at the Equator, then heading to Oriental waters for their cool season.
What happens when a male from an all-male school is struck by whalers?
All his comrades immediately quit him and flee.
What happens when a female from a harem school is struck?
Her companions swim around her with every token of concern, sometimes lingering so long that they themselves fall prey to the hunters.
Who is Vidocq and why is he mentioned in this chapter?
Eugène François Vidocq was a famous French criminal turned detective. Melville suggests the whale’s title "schoolmaster" may allude to Vidocq’s scandalous early career as a country schoolmaster.
What does "embonpoint" mean in the context of the female whales?
Plumpness or stoutness. Ishmael says the female whales, despite being relatively delicate, are "hereditarily entitled to embonpoint."
How do male whales fight over females?
They fence with their long lower jaws, sometimes locking them together like elk antlers, resulting in "furrowed heads, broken teeth, scolloped fins" and dislocated mouths.
What satirical point does Melville make about the schoolmaster’s title?
That after "going to school himself" (leading a harem), the aged whale goes abroad teaching not what he learned there but "the folly of it"—an ironic reversal of the educational metaphor.
What is the approximate size Ishmael gives for female sperm whales?
"Not to exceed half a dozen yards round the waist" (about 18 feet in circumference).