Chapter 94 - A Squeeze of the Hand Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

by Herman Melville

Comprehension Quiz: Chapter 94 - A Squeeze of the Hand

Whose captured whale is being processed at the beginning of Chapter 94?

  • Ahab's
  • Stubb's
  • Starbuck's
  • Flask's

What has happened to the spermaceti by the time the sailors begin working with it?

  • It has evaporated
  • It has cooled and crystallized into lumps
  • It has turned black
  • It has caught fire

What does Ishmael compare the smell of the spermaceti to?

  • Fresh bread
  • Spring violets
  • Sea salt
  • Pine trees

What does Ishmael forget about while squeezing the spermaceti?

  • His family at home
  • The horrible oath (Ahab's vow of vengeance)
  • The whale's name
  • His contract with the ship

What old superstition does Ishmael reference about sperm oil?

  • That it grants immortality
  • That it causes blindness
  • That it allays the heat of anger (Paracelsan superstition)
  • That it reveals the future

What does Ishmael accidentally squeeze instead of the spermaceti globules?

  • Pieces of blubber
  • His co-laborers' hands
  • Rope fibers
  • Chunks of whale bone

According to Ishmael, where should man place his "attainable felicity"?

  • In intellectual pursuits and philosophy
  • In the wife, the heart, the bed, the table, the saddle, the fire-side
  • In revenge against one's enemies
  • In accumulating wealth at sea

What vision does Ishmael describe at the end of the spermaceti passage?

  • Moby Dick rising from the sea
  • Angels in paradise with their hands in jars of spermaceti
  • Ahab standing alone on the quarterdeck
  • A golden whale swimming through clouds

What is "white-horse" in whaling terminology?

  • A type of whale
  • Tough, oil-bearing muscle from the whale's tail
  • A piece of sailing equipment
  • The foam at the bow of the ship

What does Ishmael confess to doing with the plum-pudding?

  • Throwing it overboard
  • Secretly tasting it
  • Selling it at port
  • Using it as bait

What is slobgollion?

  • A type of whale
  • An oozy, stringy residue found in sperm tubs after prolonged squeezing
  • A tool used for cutting blubber
  • A type of rope used on whaling ships

What function do nippers serve on a whaling ship?

  • Cutting whale bone
  • Squeegee-like cleaning of the oily deck
  • Fastening harpoons
  • Tying knots in rigging

Why are toes scarce among veteran blubber-room men?

  • Frostbite from cold ocean water
  • The spademan works barefoot on slippery blubber with razor-sharp tools
  • Sharks bite their feet
  • Infections from whale oil

How does this chapter thematically contrast with Ahab's quest?

  • It shows the crew's fear of Ahab
  • It offers fellowship and domestic contentment as alternatives to obsessive vengeance
  • It demonstrates Ahab's superior whaling skills
  • It reveals the crew planning mutiny

Comprehension Quiz

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