Dark Romanticism: American Gothic — Test Answers

Which best explains why Melville begins Chapter 41 of Moby-Dick with a detailed description of the White Whale?

Read the excerpt from Chapter 41 of Moby-Dick , by Herman Melville. All that most maddens and torments; all that stirs up the lees of things; all truth with malice in it; all that cracks the sinews and cakes the brain; all the subtle demonisms of life and thought; all evil, to crazy Ahab, were visibly personified, and made practically assailable in Moby Dick. Which of the following statements best describes the effect of narration on the story?

Read this excerpt from chapter 41 of Moby-Dick . And, when running into more sufferable latitudes, the ship, with mild stun'sails spread, floated across the tranquil tropics, and, to all appearances, the old man's delirium seemed left behind him with the Cape Horn swells, and he came forth from his dark den into the blessed light and air; even then, when he bore that firm, collected front, however pale, and issued his calm orders once again; and his mates thanked God the direful madness was now gone; even then, Ahab, in his hidden self, raved on. Which words from the excerpt best convey the mood?

Read this excerpt from chapter 41 of Moby-Dick using comprehension strategies. If such a furious trope may stand, his special lunacy stormed his general sanity, and carried it, and turned all its concentred cannon upon its own mad mark; so that far from having lost his strength, Ahab, to that one end, did now possess a thousand fold more potency than ever he had sanely brought to bear upon any one reasonable object. What is the meaning of this excerpt?

Read the excerpt from Chapter 41 of Moby-Dick . The White Whale swam before him as the monomaniac incarnation of all those malicious agencies which some deep men feel eating in them, till they are left living on with half a heart and half a lung. What theme of the novel does this excerpt best address?