Bartleby, the Scrivener

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. List 3-5 situations in which an individual might feel alienated or isolated. Generally, what are some common ways these feelings affect a person?

Teaching Suggestion: Teaching this topic can be a great way to foster empathy and understanding among students, as well as to help them develop their personal writing and reflection skills. After presenting the prompt, it might be helpful to discuss the concepts of alienation and isolation in a broad sense. This could include definitions, examples from literature or history, and a discussion of the potential impacts of these experiences. You might choose to connect to The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka or Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.

• “Understanding Alienation and Social Alienation” from ThoughtCo. provides an overview of Karl Marx’s analysis of alienation within a capitalist society, which is relevant to Melville’s implied critique of capitalism in “Bartleby, the Scrivener.”
• “The Impact of Social Isolation on Mental Health” from Verywell Mind describes the signs and risks of social isolation.

2. What are some examples of situations where individuals are expected to conform to certain rules or norms? What are the potential consequences of nonconformity?

Teaching Suggestion: Helping students understand the potential consequences of nonconformity can help them make informed decisions. It encourages them to think critically about societal norms and rules, and to consider the reasons behind them. Literary connections such as 1984 by George Orwell, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, or “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut may help students see the literary tradition of investigating the types of people who don’t or can’t conform and the consequences of nonconformity.

• “How to Start a Movement”: In this TED Talk, Derek Sivers emphasizes the importance of both leadership and followership in creating social movements. He suggests that the courage to follow and support new ideas is as crucial as the courage to initiate them.
• “The Eternal Challenge of Conformity Pressure”: This Psychology Today article discusses the pervasive nature of conformity pressures in human societies. The article provides insights into why conformity pressures exist, how they function, and how they influence human behavior.

Short Activity

In “Bartleby, the Scrivener,” the protagonist, Bartleby, often responds to requests from his employer with the phrase “I would prefer not to.” In pairs or small groups, discuss situations in which saying “I would prefer not to” might be considered nonconformist or challenging to authority. Share your examples and discuss the potential outcomes of such behavior.

Teaching Suggestion: After the group activity, you might facilitate a class-wide discussion in which each group shares their examples. This will allow students to hear a variety of perspectives and situations and encourage students to discuss the potential outcomes of the noncooperative behavior in each situation. Another option the teacher might choose is to connect to society by discussing real-world examples of people who have said “I would prefer not to” in a metaphorical sense by challenging societal norms or authority. This could include historical figures, activists, or even celebrities.

• In the 19-minute TED Talk “The Danger of a Single Story,” Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie discusses how our understanding of people, cultures, and nations can be dangerously incomplete when we only hear only a single narrative or perspective about them. She shares her own experiences of coming to understand the power of multiple narratives and the danger of allowing one story to represent an entire group of people.
• In the 50-minute video “Activism, Changemakers and Hope for the Future,” Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate, shares her story of standing up for girls’ education in the face of Taliban oppression and discusses her ongoing activism for education and equality.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the story.

Consider a time when you were asked to do something that you didn’t want to do. How did you respond? Did you do it anyway, or did you refuse? If you refused, how did you communicate your refusal? How did the other person react, and what were the consequences of your decision?

Teaching Suggestion: It might be helpful to encourage students to think deeply about their own experiences and feelings. They should consider not just what happened, but how they felt, how they reacted, and what they learned from the experience.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students who would benefit from an additional challenge or who express themselves best through visual art, speaking, or role-playing, consider one of the following options.

• Visual Representation: Visual learners can choose to create a visual representation, such as collage, comic strip, or storyboard, depicting their personal experiences of saying no to a request and the outcome. They can include images, symbols, and captions to convey their story.
• Oral Presentation: Students who benefit from opportunities in verbal communication might choose to give an oral presentation sharing their personal experiences. They can reflect on their actions, describe the response they received, and discuss the consequences of their decision.
• Role-Play: Students who enjoy acting and role-playing can choose to create a skit or dramatic scene portraying their personal experiences of saying no to something. They can demonstrate the dialogue, emotions, and outcomes of the situation.