Walt Whitman:

"Leaves of Grass@

the structure of the "Song of Myself" (i.e. the cycle of seductions)
the significance of Whitman's images: the ferry in "Brooklyn Ferry"; the star in "Lilac"; the grass in "Song of Myself"; the sea in "Cradle"; etc.
the logical progression of the poems
the relationship between the particular and the universal in Whitman's thought
the relationship of Whitman to Emerson and Thoreau: concept of self-reliance; attitude toward social norms and conventions; attitude toward nature; the concept of the symbolic cycle (seasons; death-rebirth; movement of mind between physical and spiritual

William Cullen Bryant:

"Thanatopsis"

attitude toward nature
death as democratic force
movement away from conventional religious attitudes connection with Emerson: nature as language

"To a Waterfowl"

bird as symbol of immanent spiritual presence -connection with Emerson

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

"The Jewish Cemetery at Newport"

question of proper relationship to tradition
danger of living too much in past

John Greenleaf Whittier:

"Snow-Bound"

question of narrative perspective and reliability
character sketches: father; mother; uncle; aunt; siblings; schoolmaster; the "other" guest
poem as indirect commentary on the transformation of American culture during the 19th century
attitude toward the past

Edgar Allan Poe:

"The Fall of the House of Usher"

symbolism of "doubling"
symbolism of degeneration and decay
attitude toward Europe and the aristocracy
Roderick's guilt or innocence (and the nature of his crime)
Roderick's character and motivations
levels of interpretation: 1) political fable; 2) tale about dangers of retreating into self; 3) moral lesson about need to confess sins

"Ligeia"

Ligeia as anti-Christ in disordered universe
alternative interpretations of narrator's experience

"The Cask of Amontillado"

animosity between rising merchant class and decadent aristocracy
imagery of corruption and moral decay
metaphorical significance of house, dark catacombs
narrator as unrestrained egoist who goes unpunished

"The Tell-Tale Heart"

as parody of Emerson and transcendentalism
as exploration of dangers of egocentrism

Nathaniel Hawthorne:

"Young Goodman Brown"

Brown's character and motivations
attitude toward original sin
implications of separation from the mainstream of life
attitude toward transcendental position
inverted Christian symbolism

"The Birth Mark"

attitude toward science/intellectualism
view of original sin
important symbols: the flower; underground lab; the furnace; etc.

Herman Melville:

"Bartleby the Scrivener"

symbolism and structure
the moral evolution of the narrator and of Bartleby
Bartleby as existential figure in absurd world
important characters and symbols: the office; the wall; the "Tombs"; etc.