Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- The story "The Encantadas" is split into a number of different sketches or parts. Could these each be a separate story? Is the whole more than the sum of the parts?
- What if Bartleby was the narrator of "Bartleby the Scrivener"? How would the story be different, narratively and thematically?
- Almost all the main figures in The Piazza Tales are men. Would the stories change if "The Lightning Man" were a woman? If Bennadonna were?
- "Benito Cereno" unfolds very slowly. How does Melville stretch the novella out? Would you lose anything of value if the novella were, say, half as long?
- "The Piazza" is the first story in the collection. Is that important, or thematic? How would the book be changed if "The Piazza" were placed at the end?