The Town-Ho's story is presented as an atomic work of fiction, yet it was intended to be included as a Chapter in the author's magnificent novel Moby Dick. Does the story function independently? Or does it lose much of its meaning by presentation alone?

Bartleby the Scrivener is one of the most-famous stories in the English language. What aspects of the story do you think give the narrative such a wide and enduring appeal?

Stories such as Cock-A-Doodle-Doo! and I and My Chimney feature many obviously sexual symbols. Other stories have more subtle sexual images, such as Billy Budd's spilled soup scene. How do sexualized symbols function within these narratives to construct multiple layers of meaning?

Melville published some of the stories collected in a work entitled The Piazza Tales. Of the stories included, The Piazza, Bartleby the Scrivener, Benito Cereno, The Lightning-Rod Man...