Provides background on nineteenth-century American author Herman Melville's life and analyzes several of his novels, short stories, and works of poetry, including "Moby-Dick," "Bartleby the Scrivener," "Billy Budd," and "Clarel.".

Examining Typee and Omoo -- Examining Mardi and a voyage thither, Redburn : his first voyage, and White-Jacket -- Examining Moby Dick -- Examining Pierre, Bartleby the scrivener, Israel Potter and Benito Cereno -- Examining The paradise of bachelors and the tartarus of maids -- Examining The lightning-rod man, The belltower, and The confidence man -- Examining Melville, the poet -- Examining Timoleon and John Marr and other stories -- Examining Billy Budd.