AnswersEnglish 11 ASymbols in Moby-Dick

Symbols in Moby-Dick Answers

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Read the excerpt from the beginning of Chapter 5 of Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott."What in the world are you going to do now, Jo?" asked Meg one snowyafternoon, as her sister came tramping through the hall, in rubberboots, old sack, and hood, with a broom in one hand and a shovel in theother."Going out for exercise," answered Jo with a mischievous twinkle in hereyes."I should think two long walks this morning would have been enough!It's cold and dull out, and I advise you to stay warm and dry by thefire, as I do," said Meg with a shiver."Never take advice! Can't keep still all day, and not being apussycat, I don't like to doze by the fire. I like adventures, and I'mgoing to find some."Which best explains why Alcott begins the chapter with one character asking another character a question?

A
to develop one character in more detail than another
B
to help the reader visualize the characters’ appearances
C
to stimulate the reader’s desire to understand a character’s motives
D
to establish the setting for the characters’ conversation.
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Read the excerpt from Chapter 28 of Moby-Dick.It was one of those less lowering, but still grey and gloomy enough mornings of the transition, when with a fair wind the ship was rushing through the water with a vindictive sort of leaping and melancholy rapidity, that as I mounted to the deck at the call of the forenoon watch, so soon as I leveled my glance towards the taffrail, foreboding shivers ran over me. Reality outran apprehension; Captain Ahab stood upon his quarter-deck.Which of the novel’s themes is best developed in this excerpt from Chapter 28 of Moby Dick?

A
a person’s ability to outsmart fate
B
a person’s harmony with nature
C
a person’s control over nature
D
a person’s inability to alter fate
3

Which best explains how Melville uses his description of Ahab in Chapter 28 of Moby-Dick to comment on the nature of people?

A
Through Ahab, Melville symbolizes how guilt can take over a person’s life.
B
Through Ahab, Melville symbolizes how obsession can take over a person’s life.
C
Through Ahab, Melville symbolizes how inaction can ruin a person’s life.
D
Through Ahab, Melville symbolizes how isolation can ruin a person’s life.
4

Which best explains why Melville refers to Captain Ahab as “supreme lord and dictator” in the first paragraph of Chapter 28 of Moby-Dick?

A
to show that Captain Ahab trusts his crew to make decisions for him
B
to show that Captain Ahab distributes power equally among his crew
C
to show that Captain Ahab is the only decision maker on board the ship
D
to show that Captain Ahab is the only person allowed to work on deck
5

Which best explains the purpose of the first two paragraphs of Chapter 28 of Moby-Dick?

A
They provide background information on the tasks required of the crew on a whaling ship.
B
They explain Ahab’s inner motivation for sequestering himself inside his cabin.
C
They lead the reader into a description of the novel’s main character, Ahab.
D
They give the reader a detailed description of the crew’s ship, the Pequod.
6

Which best describes another comparison that Melville could have used to symbolize the rigid and unalterable character of Ahab in Chapter 28 of Moby-Dick?

A
an uninhabited island
B
a full moon
C
a stone monument
D
a forest fire
7

Read the excerpt from the beginning of Chapter 1 of Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson.SQUIRE TRELAWNEY, Dr. Livesey, and the rest of these gentlemen havingasked me to write down the whole particulars about Treasure Island, fromthe beginning to the end, keeping nothing back but the bearings of theisland, and that only because there is still treasure not yet lifted, Itake up my pen in the year of grace and go back to the time whenmy father kept the Admiral Benbow inn and the brown old seaman with thesabre cut first took up his lodging under our roof.Which best explains why the narrator mentions the gentleman’s names in the opening sentence?

A
to establish credibility, suggesting many want to hear his tale
B
to foreshadow the story’s ending, as personalities are revealed
C
to give background information on his father’s occupation
D
to help the reader visualize the inhabitants of the inn
8

Read the excerpt from Chapter 28 of Moby-Dick.It resembled that perpendicular seam sometimes made in the straight, lofty trunk of a great tree, when the upper lightning tearingly darts down it, and without wrenching a single twig, peels and grooves out the bark from top to bottom, ere running off into the soil, leaving the tree still greenly alive, but branded.Melville’s description of Ahab’s scar in this excerpt best develops which theme in the novel?

A
the ability of humans to let go of past wounds
B
the harmony that exists between humans and nature
C
the ruling of a person’s present by their past wounds
D
the destructive power of technologies
9

Read the excerpt from Chapter 28 of Moby-Dick.Nor a word he spoke; nor did his officers say aught to him; though by all their minutest gestures and expressions, they plainly showed the uneasy, if not painful, consciousness of being under a troubled master-eye.Which best describes the theme Melville develops in this excerpt?

A
the effectiveness of a leader who sets himself apart from others
B
the importance of obeying a leader under all circumstances
C
the inherent danger of a leader who exhibits signs of distress
D
the problems associated with inexperienced leaders
10

Read the excerpt from the beginning of Chapter 1 of Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson.SQUIRE TRELAWNEY, Dr. Livesey, and the rest of these gentlemen havingasked me to write down the whole particulars about Treasure Island, fromthe beginning to the end, keeping nothing back but the bearings of theisland, and that only because there is still treasure not yet lifted, Itake up my pen in the year of grace and go back to the time whenmy father kept the Admiral Benbow inn and the brown old seaman with thesabre cut first took up his lodging under our roof.Which best explains Stevenson’s reason for beginning the chapter with this paragraph?

A
Stevenson creates confusion in the reader with a narrator who explains that he is writing a story because he has been asked to do so by several other characters.
B
Stevenson creates interest in the reader with mention of still undiscovered treasure and the arrival of a mysterious character in the narrator’s life.
C
Stevenson creates unease in the reader with a detailed account of the problem the main character has to overcome to reach a solution.
D
Stevenson creates a clear visual picture in the reader’s head with a strong description of the story’s setting without giving its actual location.

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Symbols in Moby-Dick Answers — English 11 A