seminar i: a retrospective peter cruciata. bartleby by herman melville i found bartleby, the...
TRANSCRIPT
SEMINAR I: A RETROSPECTIVE
Peter Cruciata
BARTLEBY BY H E R M A N M E LV I L L E
I found Bartleby, the
Scrivener to be
my favorite reading
from Seminar I.
I believe the story says a
lot about
the good and odd
people in New
York.
“I WOULD PREFER NOT TO”
Melville’s story is about a man
in a law office, who one day
decides to stop working,
seemingly for no reason. I see
the good side of New York in
Bartleby’s unnamed boss, who
does his best to help his sickly
looking worker who constantly
repeats “I would prefer not to.”
COMPARISON TO NEW YORK
We later find out Bartleby has
had a difficult life before
becoming a scrivener. I found it
ironic that Bartleby went to Wall
Street after living a difficult life
because working on Wall Street
may be as depressing as his
previous job in a dead letter
office.
A NEW EXPERIENCE
Seeing A Midsummer Night’s
Dream sparked my interest in black
box theaters, where there is little
seating and even less space to
perform. However, Julie Taymor’s
actors made great use of the space
and showed great imagination in
taking advantage of it.
CHANGE IS NOT A BAD THING!I first read A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Freshman year High School. It was
the only Shakespeare play I found amusing as my teacher found. I was skeptical
towards Taymor’s production, however, when I found she made changes, like
adding “rude mechanicals” having a pillow fight. After seeing the play, I believe
it could not be any more perfect or amusing. Taymor’s changes showed great
creativity.
A REALIZATION
Taymor’s production helped me
view New York plays and other
productions in a different way. Her
mesmerizing version of a classic play
was performed in a theater less than
half the size of most popular
Broadway plays. I have gained much
more admiration for off- Broadway
plays in small theaters due to
Taymor’s production.
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
The Met was one of the first
museums we visited. I found
the Hopper to O’Keefe exhibit
particularly interesting. Most
of the paintings, like Edward
Hopper’s House by a Railroad
(top left) and George Bellows’
Dempsey and Firpo, depicted
traditional American scenes,
which I found to be the most
memorable I in the museum.
TOSCA
Tosca is a play by Giacomo Puccini
about two lovers who are torn apart
by the villainous head of police so he
can take the female lover for himself.
The play tragically ends with the
lovers and their antagonist deaths.
“TOSCA” AT LINCOLN CENTER
Viewing Tosca with my Seminar class was
a new experience for me. I had never seen
an opera before Tosca. Tosca’s has been a
famous play since it was first performed in
the early 1900s. I found it very interesting
and would not mind attending another
opera.
CARDIFF EXHIB IT AT THE CLOISTERS
The Cardiff exhibit at
The Cloisters consisted
of forty speakers, each
standing in as one
vocalist in the acapella
“Spem in Alium,” by
Thomas Tallis.
IMPRESSIONS
I found Janet Cardiff’s exhibit
interesting particularly because
the idea itself is different from
most museum exhibits. The
music was interesting as well,
especially when one is positioned
closely to a speaker and tries to
make out what the singer is
saying.
IMPRESSIONS
Janet Cardiff’s exhibit at the
Cloisters changed my
expectations of museums. I
always imagined museum
exhibits as solely involving
paintings. I now include, audio
as well as visual exhibits in my
mind when I think of the
possibillites of a museum
exhibit.
Seminar I has opened my eyes to the
different forms of art that can be found in
New York City,