Bartleby the Scrivener

Sommer’s World Literature’s Bartleby the Scrivener to go (Melville in 7 minutes) is quite simplistic, regarding quality. However, the host’s informational and storytelling skills, combined with his style, make this video the best of them all. “Hey! Didn’t you just critique another video for being bad in quality!” says the angry reader. Yes, because it was boring, and its quality only hindered it. However, this is different. The host presents the story through Legos, which is quite an attention grabber itself. Though this is widely informal, it does the job extremely well. The host presents each Lego piece with a description and develops a story through those pieces. The visualization stimulation introduced kept me awake, aware, and attentive. More importantly, it kept me interested. The host explains the story well, changing his vocal tones in order to foreshadow and give a feeling of mystery. This noted as he states, “Besides becoming a rather pale young man there is nothing remarkable about him, yet.” The host elaborates on the setting and describes the story using an abundance of imagery. His summary of the story was comprehensible. In a way, it was similar to watching a short film. As a visual learner, I find that favorable. Within this, the host is well balanced. He does not annoy his audience loudly or bore them to death. He finds a perfect mixture of entertainment and information. In the end, I found myself understanding the story to a new degree. I was even compelled to read the story myself. The host is an asset to comprehension, and his direct descriptions and storytelling skills most likely make him favorable for most viewers. As the video finished, I found myself wanting more. I understood the story, but I wanted to understand it more. I guess his only attempts were at summarizing the story. However, I would love to see his elaboration on the underlying themes present in the story.