Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A Study Guide for Herman Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener
    A Study Guide for Herman Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener
    A Study Guide for Herman Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener
    Ebook32 pages38 minutes

    A Study Guide for Herman Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener

    By Gale and Cengage

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for Herman Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Short Stories for Students.This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Short Stories for Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateSep 21, 2015
    ISBN9781535819169
    A Study Guide for Herman Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener

    Read more from Gale

    Related to A Study Guide for Herman Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener

    Related ebooks

    Literary Criticism For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Past Perfect

      Nov 16, 2020

      Past Perfect
      3 min read

    • Article

      I Don’t Trust Images: The Millions Interviews Ottessa Moshfegh

      Dec 27, 2018

      My approach to writing was like a little volatile. Sort of like “fuck you," what drove a lot of my creativity—not all the time, but I can identify that. The post I Don’t Trust Images: The Millions Interviews Ottessa Moshfegh appeared first on The Mil

      11 min read

    • Article

      The Time Is Now

      Apr 12, 2023

      Suggested Reading: Write Yourself Out of a Corner: 100 Exercises to Unlock Creativity (Norton, April 2023) by Alice LaPlante The author of the popular The Making of a Story: A Norton Guide to Writing Fiction and Nonfiction (Norton, 2007), Alice LaPla

      2 min read

    • Article

      Melting Pot: Vietnamese Family Settles In New Orleans

      Jul 19, 2021

      “Things We Lost to the Water” transposes Vietnamese refugee tale to New Orleans, where a single mother writes notes to her absent husband.

      2 min read

    • Article

      Gangs of New York

      Feb 23, 2023

      Gangs of New York
      8 min read

    • Article

      Lethal Intrigue

      Mar 15, 2020

      Lethal Intrigue
      12 min read

    • Article

      International Books

      Feb 10, 2020

      How to make a novel seem... novel? Ben Lerner walks a fine line between erudite and esoteric, but what this coming-of-age story lacks in plot and momentum it makes up for in characterisation, imaginative detail and profundity. (I now want to seek out

      4 min read

    • Article

      The World Of Writing

      Aug 6, 2020

      The World Of Writing
      4 min read

    • Article

      A Hundred Years of Norman Mailer

      Jan 31, 2023

      On the occasion of Norman Mailer's 100th birthday, the author's biographer considers his legacy. The post A Hundred Years of Norman Mailer appeared first on The Millions.

      8 min read

    • Article

      The Old Un's Notes

      Feb 8, 2023

      The Old Un's Notes
      4 min read

    • Article

      The American Idea

      Oct 12, 2022

      The American Idea
      5 min read

    • Article

      A Venerable Name Revived

      Feb 2, 2022

      A Venerable Name Revived
      5 min read

    • Article

      Raw And Immersive Tale Of The Civil War

      May 26, 2022

      LATE IN THE SUMMER OF 1641, with Charles I deep in dispute with his Parliament, alarming reports reached Westminster of Catholics amassing arms at Basing House in Hampshire. At this point in time, few expected civil war, but plenty feared an imminent

      5 min read

    • Article

      Hidden Histories

      Nov 25, 2021

      Edgar Mittelholzer was a Guyanese novelist who should be remembered not just for the quality of his writing, but as the earliest recorded writer from the Caribbean to make his living from the profession. I studied Caribbean literature at university,

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Popish Plot

      Aug 4, 2022

      The Popish Plot
      9 min read

    • Article

      Reviews

      May 21, 2019

      Reviews
      9 min read

    • Article

      The Silent Sovereign

      Sep 8, 2022

      The Silent Sovereign
      4 min read

    • Article

      ‘It Was Shocking’: The Author Under Attack For Doubting Shakespeare

      Jun 27, 2023

      “It’s a funny thing,” admits Elizabeth Winkler. “I don’t really like controversy. I don’t seek it out. There are some people that thrive on it and I don’t. I find it upsetting and distressing to see my work and my ideas misrepresented and twisted. It

      8 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for A Study Guide for Herman Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      A Study Guide for Herman Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener - Gale

      1

      Bartleby the Scrivener, A Tale of Wall Street

      Herman Melville

      1853

      Introduction

      Bartleby the Scrivener was written by Herman Melville in 1853 and was first published in Putnam’s Magazine in the November/December issue of that year. The plot involves one man’s difficulty in coping with his employee’s peculiar form of passive resistance. One day, Bartleby the scrivener announces that he would prefer not to follow his employer’s orders or even to be a little reasonable. The resulting tragedy follows from Bartleby’s inability or unwillingness to articulate the reasons for his rebellion and from his employer’s inability to comprehend Bartleby’s reasons for resisting and ultimate unwillingness to accommodate him. The story has been interpreted by critics in numerous ways. Most have viewed it as a work of social criticism dealing with the psychological effects of capitalism as it existed in the 1850s. Others have viewed it as a philosophical meditation on the human condition, or as a religious parable on religion itself. However one interprets its ultimate meaning, the story provides an exploration into such universal issues of the human experience as alienation, passivity, nonconformity, and psychological imprisonment. The story’s enduring appeal largely stems from its well-crafted ambiguity. It is highly admired for its remarkable ability to accommodate multiple

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1