Where can I get Bartleby? http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11231 This is a website where you can get it as a free eBook. I can email you the PDF if you email me first. You can Google it and find a million versions online. If you do not have online or eBook access, you can check out a copy with me.
Herman Melville
Melville Biography Timeline 1819 b. New York 1830 family bankrupt 1832-3 family falls apart; H.M. drops out of school 1839 1st voyage at sea
Timeline cont. 1841-1848 experiences at sea=37 books about it At first popular reading & commercial success 1841-1844 on ships Acushnet and Lucy Ann 1844 Published the travel narrative, Typee 1847 Marries Elizabeth Shaw; Publishes another travel narrative: Omoo But wants to change writing, wants meaning; wants to rebel, write banned books 1849 Mardi and Redburn—failures critically and financially
Timeline cont. 1850 White Jacket; develops friendship with Nathaniel Hawthorne Returns to “popular fiction” but hates it Melville to Hawthorne (while working on Moby Dick): “Dollars damn me. [What I feel] most moved to write, that is banned—it will not pay. Yet altogether, write the other way I cannot. So the product is a final hash, all my books are botches.”
Timeline cont. 1851 Moby Dick Topic: 800 pages about guy trying to find whale and get back at it Not as much of failure as Mardi, but not successful; received little notice Wants to write novels written at two different levels Said to Hawthorne: “secret motto that few would discern” Said about Hawthorne’s books: “are superficially calculated to deceive—egregiously deceived, the superficial skimmer of books”
Timeline cont. 1852-1867 Pierre, Israel Potter, trip to Europe, edits Hawthorne’s works, The Confidence Man Moderate success, but the public wants sensational literature like his previous travel narratives. 1867 abandons fiction Magazine writing to make $ Publishes short stories in Europe (including “Bartleby”) Emotionally wrung out from failures, careful of issues of offensiveness, still trying out technique of writing for two audiences at once .
1866-1886 Job in Custom House (government job); sons die (suicide) Timeline cont. 1866-1886 Job in Custom House (government job); sons die (suicide) 1886 Inheritance 1891 H.M. dies 1920 H.M. rediscovered as an author
Clear your desk except for a writing utensil!
When you are done with the quiz, place your writing utensil on the floor!
Bartleby, the Scrivener By Herman Melville
Basic Plot The lawyer’s business grows, so he hires a new copier. Bartleby does good work as a copier. Bartleby refuses to proofread and would prefer to work by himself. Eventually, Bartleby refuses to copy. Then he refuses to leave. The narrator discovers Bartleby is living in his office. He moves offices. New owner has Bartleby arrested for loitering. Bartleby dies in prison.
Characters Narrator (lawyer) Turkey Nippers Ginger Nut Bartleby
Author’s Choice What part do the setting and the subtitle ("A Story of Wall Street") play in the story? Why does the narrator so frequently mention walls, screens, windows, and views? Why do you think the author not give any character a real name? What commentary might Melville be making about office life?
What is up with Bartleby?
What’s up with Bartleby? Article Bartleby Bartleby is depressed Bartleby is a con artist Bartleby represents Melville’s professional life
What is up with Bartleby? Accountable Talk
What is up with Bartleby? Keep up with Accountable Talk expectations. Be respectful. Stay on topic. Cite evidence. You may add theories to the discussion as long as you have evidence to back it up. Theories such as “Bartleby was in love with the brick wall” do not qualify.