August 24    Introduction

August 29    Begin 'Benito Cereno'

August 31    'Benito Cereno'

September 5 'The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids'

September 7  again

September 12 'Bartleby the Scrivener'

September 14  again--first log entry due

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additional links:
slaver diagram
slavery--legal time-line

Log Entry #1

At the end of "Benito Cereno" we are told "Seeing all was over, he uttered no sound and could not be forced to. His aspect seemed to say, since I cannot do deeds, I will not speak words." 1. Find two examples of Babo's speech from this story, type those examples out and describe what sort of a person Babo appears to be, given how he talks. Similarly, at the end of "Bartleby," the scrivener is called "the silent man." 2. How are these two types of silence different from one another, and how are they the same? 3. In contemporary politics, silence is often described as shameful. We are urged to speak out and speak up. Given Melville's use of silence, how might silence itself be political?