Assignment: Explain what you learned about Melville's biography. Did you notice anything in his life experiences that might influence your understanding of the story?
Assignment: How did the professor in the "Introduction to Melville & Bartleby" video interpret the story? Do you agree or disagree with her?
Assignment: Read it and check out the notes in hyper links. What was the most interesting note you read in the annotated "Bartleby"? Explain why it was interesting to you.
Answer the study questions
1. How does the lawyer's description of himself serve to characterize him? Why is it signi?cant that he is a lawyer? Are his understandings and judgments about Bartleby and himself always sound?
2. Why do you think Turkey, Nippers, and Ginger Nut are introduced to the reader before Bartleby?
3. Describe Bartleby's physical characteristics. How is his physical description a foreshadowing of what happens to him?
4. How does Bartleby's "I would prefer not to" affect the routine of the lawyer and his employees?
5. What is the signi?cance of the subtitle: "A Story of Wall Street"?
6. Who is the protagonist? Whose story is it?
7. Does the lawyer change during the story? Does Bartleby? Who is the antagonist?
8. What motivates Bartleby's behavior? Why do you think Melville withholds the information about the Dead Letter Of?ce until the end of the story? Does this background adequately explain Bartleby?
9. Does Bartleby have any lasting impact on the lawyer?
10. Do you think Melville sympathizes more with Bartleby or with the lawyer?
11. Describe the lawyer's changing attitudes toward Bartleby.
12. Consider how this story could be regarded as a kind of protest with nonnegotiable demands.
13. Discuss the story's humor and how it affects your response to Bartleby.
14. Trace your emotional reaction to Bartleby as he is revealed in the story.