40 pages • 1 hour read
Bartleby, the Scrivener
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During Reading
Reading Questions & Paired Texts
Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.
Reading Check
1. Who is the narrator of the story?
2. How does the narrator meet Bartleby?
3. What is unusual about Bartleby’s behavior and attitude toward work?
4. Who are Turkey and Nippers, and how do they respond to Bartleby?
5. What does the narrator learn about Bartleby when he stops by the office on a Sunday?
6. How does the narrator solve the problem of Bartleby’s refusal to leave his office?
7. What finally happens to Bartleby?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How does Bartleby’s behavior affect the dynamics of the narrator’s workplace?
2. Why does the narrator not fire Bartleby?
3. What is the significance of the “rumor” about Bartleby’s past that the narrator shares at the end of the story?
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Reading Questions Answer Key
Page numbers refer to this online edition of the story.
Reading Check
1. The narrator is a lawyer who operates his law office on Wall Street. (Pages 1-2)
2. The narrator hires Bartleby as a scrivener, or clerk, when his law practice gets busier. (Page 6)
3. Bartleby persistently refuses to perform tasks requested of him, often responding with the phrase “I would prefer not to.” (Various pages)
4. Turkey and Nippers are the other scriveners in the office. They become increasingly irritated and hostile toward Bartleby as he refuses to do any work. (Various pages)
5. He learns that Bartleby has no home and is living in the office. (Pages 12-13)
6. The narrator moves his office to another location, leaving Bartleby behind. (Pages 23-24)
7. Bartleby is arrested for vagrancy and goes to prison, where he refuses to eat and starves to death. (Pages 26-29)
Short Answer
1. Bartleby’s behavior unsettles the narrator and the other scriveners. The narrator wants to be kind, but Turkey and Nippers become angry and don’t understand why their boss won’t fire Bartleby. Other people who visit the office find Bartleby’s behavior baffling as well, increasing pressure on the narrator to get rid of him. (Various pages)
2. The narrator knows that Bartleby is harmless and alone in the world. He is moved by pity to be kind to Bartleby and try to help him. He also likes to imagine himself as a more generous person than other employers, who might treat Bartleby badly. (Various pages)
3. The rumor is that Bartleby previously worked at the Dead Letter Office but was let go when the administration changed. Reviewing so many letters addressed to dead people may have damaged Bartleby’s psyche. Melville may also be pointing out that losing one’s job in a capitalist society can lead to a downward spiral of poverty, homelessness, and death. (Page 29)
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