Sunday, November 12, 2006

Weekly Brain Teaser - This week: Herman Melville

Most people know that Herman Melville was the author of "Moby-Dick" (often spelled as two separate words) but there was a lot more to the man than this. See if you can answer these questions about Herman Melville and his work.

(Compliments of Xreferplus)

  • Questions:
    1. In which American city was Herman Melville born?
    2. What was the name of the captain in "Moby-Dick" who led the voyage to kill the white sperm whale?
    3. Was Melville's "Billy Budd" published before or after his death?
    4. What is the opening sentence of "Moby-Dick"?
    5. Name one of the five novels which Melville published before "Moby-Dick".
    6. To which English port did Melville sail in 1839?
    7. Where did Melville work from 1866 to 1885?
    8. Which British composer wrote an opera, first performed in 1951, called "Billy Budd" which was based on Melville's book of the same title?
    9. Herman Melville dedicated his "Moby-Dick" to which other writer?
    10. Which islands are the setting for Melville's novel "Typee"?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you know the Philadelphia connection between Melville and the book "Where the Wild Things Are"?
http://www.rosenbach.org/home/home.html

Logue Librarians said...

Nice website! Let's see. Philadelphia connection. Sendak & Melville in the same location. That would be the Rosenbach Gallery, right?