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Quiz about Moby Dick Trivia
Quiz about Moby Dick Trivia

Moby Dick Trivia Trivia Quiz

I've done quizzes on 'Melville sans Moby' and Whales and Whaling. Now I'm ready to take on the White Whale himself!

A multiple-choice quiz by tjoebigham. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
tjoebigham
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
33,351
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
25
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
15 / 25
Plays
1583
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 122 (15/25), Guest 67 (23/25), Guest 174 (20/25).
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Question 1 of 25
1. ""_____
_____
_____."
What three words form the opening sentence of Moby Dick, perhaps the most famous of all?

Answer: (Three Words NO PUNCTUATION)

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Question 2 of 25
2. Where does Ishmael's harpooner friend Queequeg come from? Hint


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Question 3 of 25
3. What little wooden idol does Queequeg worship? Hint


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Question 4 of 25
4. What American president does Ishmael compare Queequeg to? Hint


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Question 5 of 25
5. What is the pulpit of the Seaman's Bethel shaped like in the book? Hint


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Question 6 of 25
6. Who are the owners of the 'Pequod'? Hint


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Question 7 of 25
7. Where does the 'Pequod' sail from? Hint


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Question 8 of 25
8. Besides Starbuck, who are the other two mates? Hint


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Question 9 of 25
9. Who are Queequeg's fellow harpooners? Hint


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Question 10 of 25
10. What other characters are black besides Dagoo? Hint


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Question 11 of 25
11. What is the first ship the 'Pequod' meets? Hint


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Question 12 of 25
12. Which leg of Ahab's was lost to Moby? Hint


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Question 13 of 25
13. What reward does Ahab offer for he who first sights the White Whale? Hint


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Question 14 of 25
14. Who does Queequeg rescue from the head of a sperm whale? Hint


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Question 15 of 25
15. What does Stubb discover in the bowels of a killed whale? Hint


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Question 16 of 25
16. What was the French whaler the 'Pequod' visited?

Answer: (think Orson Welles)

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Question 17 of 25
17. What unusual part of a whale's anatomy is hauled up on the 'Pequod'? Hint


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Question 18 of 25
18. Where does the 'Samuel Enderby' come from? Hint


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Question 19 of 25
19. What does Queequeg have the ship's carpenter make for him? Hint


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Question 20 of 25
20. What does Ahab temper his new harpoon with? Hint


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Question 21 of 25
21. Which whaleship is looking for its captain's lost son? Hint


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Question 22 of 25
22. What do Ahab and the crew see during a storm? Hint


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Question 23 of 25
23. Who first sees Moby Dick? Hint


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Question 24 of 25
24. After Moby Dick destroys the 'Pequod' and kills Ahab and the rest of the crew, what saves Ishmael? Hint


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Question 25 of 25
25. What was the ship that rescued Ishmael? Hint





Most Recent Scores
Today : Guest 122: 15/25
Nov 30 2024 : Guest 67: 23/25
Nov 28 2024 : Guest 174: 20/25
Nov 26 2024 : Guest 73: 0/25
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Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. ""_____ _____ _____." What three words form the opening sentence of Moby Dick, perhaps the most famous of all?

Answer: Call me Ishmael

 Ishmael, of course, being the narrator of the tale and named after the outcast son of Abraham's servant Hagar.
2. Where does Ishmael's harpooner friend Queequeg come from?

Answer: Kokovoko

 Though Melville's first book 'Typee' was about the Marquesas, he had Queequeg come from the fictional isle of Kokovoko, which is '...not down on any map. True places never are.'
3. What little wooden idol does Queequeg worship?

Answer: Yojo

 'Omoo' was Melville's second book, Hector Hugh 'Saki' Munro created Srendi Vashtar(a ferret) and Loki is the Norse god of evil(ever read the Marvel Comics about Thor?)
4. What American president does Ishmael compare Queequeg to?

Answer: Washington

 'Queequeg was George Washington cannibalistically developed.' Frederic Ledebur, who played him in the John Huston version, most resembled Melville's description.
5. What is the pulpit of the Seaman's Bethel shaped like in the book?

Answer: a ship's prow

 The Seaman's Bethel does exist in New Bedford today, as it did in Melville's time, and the ship's-prow pulpit there was inspired by Huston's film.
6. Who are the owners of the 'Pequod'?

Answer: Bildad and Peleg

 'Mack and Meyer' was a live-action comedy series back in the 60s; the other two are movie directing teams: Cooper and Schoedsack did 'King Kong', Powell and Pressburger did 'The Red Shoes'.
7. Where does the 'Pequod' sail from?

Answer: Nantucket

 True, New Bedford became the prime whaling port of the world, but Nantucket was first! Actually, Melville went whaling on a ship from Fairhaven, my hometown!
8. Besides Starbuck, who are the other two mates?

Answer: Stubb and Flask

 You should know what the third wrong answer refers to, Hecht and MacArthur are best known for 'The Front Page', and the middle two are from Wouk's 'Caine Mutiny.'( Whether Queeg got his name from Queequeg, I don't know!)
9. Who are Queequeg's fellow harpooners?

Answer: Dagoo and Tashtego

 Dagoo, the giant African, and Tashtego, the Gay Head Indian from Martha's Vineyaard.
10. What other characters are black besides Dagoo?

Answer: Pip and the cook

 Ignore the wrong answers! The cook delivers a comic sermon to sharks trying to eat a killed whale. Pip is not to be confused with his white counterpart in Dickens' 'Great Expectations.'
11. What is the first ship the 'Pequod' meets?

Answer: Albatross

 Named after the bird of ill fortune, it is the first of many bad omens for the 'Pequod'.
12. Which leg of Ahab's was lost to Moby?

Answer: never specified

 Though in most illustrations and the movie versions, Ahab's missing left leg rests on a stump carved from a whale's jawbone, Melville never identified which leg was the missing one.
13. What reward does Ahab offer for he who first sights the White Whale?

Answer: a gold doubloon

 Ahab only has a son! He nails the doubloon to the main mast.
14. Who does Queequeg rescue from the head of a sperm whale?

Answer: Tashtego

 When the sperm whale's head is hauled on board, Tashtego slips and falls in and Queequeg saves him. Earlier in the book, he saved a man who taunted him on the ferry to Nantucket.
15. What does Stubb discover in the bowels of a killed whale?

Answer: ambergris

 Ambergris is a fragrant substance formed in the intestines of ailing whales that was an important ingredient of perfumes of the time.
16. What was the French whaler the 'Pequod' visited?

Answer: Rosebud

 It was actually the French 'Bouton-de-Rose' and an ironically stinking one for its name!
17. What unusual part of a whale's anatomy is hauled up on the 'Pequod'?

Answer: its penis

 In the chapter 'The Cassock', the foreskin from a sperm whale's penis is worn by the mincer, who cuts up chunks of blubber for the try-works. '...what a candidate for an archbishoprick...were this mincer!' A phallic pun echoed in the book's title!
18. Where does the 'Samuel Enderby' come from?

Answer: England

 The English captain was played in Huston's film by James Robertson Justice who co-starred with Gregory Peck(Ahab) in 'Captain Horatio Hornblower'.
19. What does Queequeg have the ship's carpenter make for him?

Answer: his coffin

 Thinking he will die soon, Queequeg has the carpenter build a {coffin;} at the book's end it will have an ironic use indeed!
20. What does Ahab temper his new harpoon with?

Answer: blood

 Specifically, the blood of the harpooneers. And Ahab howls over it, 'Ego non baptizo te in nomine patris, sed in nomine diaboli!'( I baptize thee not in the name of the Father, but in the name of the devil!)
21. Which whaleship is looking for its captain's lost son?

Answer: the Rachel

 Of course the 'Rachel' will be seen again...and the 'Fidele' is the Mississippi steamboat from Melville's later 'Confidence Man'!
22. What do Ahab and the crew see during a storm?

Answer: St. Elmo's Fire

 The crew is terrified by St. Elmo's Fire or the 'corposants'(static electricity, really), viewing it as an evil omen.
23. Who first sees Moby Dick?

Answer: Ahab

 Tashtego says he spotted Moby first, but Ahab claims the coin for himself.
24. After Moby Dick destroys the 'Pequod' and kills Ahab and the rest of the crew, what saves Ishmael?

Answer: Queequeg's coffin

 The coffin was turned into a lifebuoy, lucky for Ishmael!
25. What was the ship that rescued Ishmael?

Answer: Rachel

 Still looking for the captain's son, the 'Rachel' '...only found another orphan.' Ishmael.
Source: Author tjoebigham

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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Referenced Topics
Movies   Literature   General   World   English   Vocabulary   England   Wild Birds   French Language   Names   English People   Maps   The Color Black   Sharks   Washington   Herman Melville   Great Expectations   George Washington   French: Famous & Historical   White  

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