Choose one of the following questions to answer:

Poe: Analyze the colors used in the rooms and objects in Poe's "Masque of the Red Death." What do they represent? Who do you think is the narrator? (No, it is not Poe)

Hawthorne: In "The Ambitious Guest," Hawthorne is well known for using irony in his stories. Irony is sometimes difficult for readers to extract from stories, but it is fun to find. Identify at least a couple of examples of irony in "The Ambitious Guest." Were they difficult to find? What does the irony do to reinforce a point or make the story interesting?

Melville: Explain the subtitle of "Bartleby the Scrivener": "A Story of Wall Street"? What does Melville imply about the business world? Would those sentiments still be relevant today? Could the story be written today with a modern-day Bartleby, and what might he be like?