In “Hills Like White Elephants,” “In Another Country,” and “A Simple Enquiry,” how does Hemingway’s “iceberg theory” use unspoken subtext to convey emotional tension, ambiguity, and interpersonal conflict and generate the stories’ core emotional weight?

Compare Manuel Garcia in “The Undefeated” and the Major in “In Another Country” as models of the Hemingway “code hero.” How do their respective arenas, the bullring and the military hospital, provide different stages for performing “grace under pressure,” and to what extent do their experiences support, challenge, or redefine the values associated with this code?

How do the pivotal female characters in “Hills Like White Elephants,” “Ten Indians,” and “A Canary for One” function as foils to male characters, and how do these relationships complicate conventional understandings of masculinity, power, and emotional vulnerability in the collection?

Examine the structural significance of the collection’s opening and closing stories. How does beginning with the public spectacle of “The Undefeated” and concluding with the private psychological landscape of “Now I Lay Me” create a thematic frame for the collection’s exploration of masculinity and trauma?

In what ways does Hemingway use landscapes in “Hills Like White Elephants,” “An Alpine Idyll,” and “Ten Indians” to reflect the internal conflicts and emotional states of his characters?

The bullring and boxing ring are explicit “Arenas of Conflict.” Analyze how more mundane settings, such as the lunchroom in “The Killers” or the train car in “A Canary for One,” also function as contained spaces where characters confront existential threats and perform rigid social codes.

Both “Today Is Friday” and “Banal Story” work to demystify iconic forms of suffering. Compare how Hemingway uses the dramatic play format in the former and the juxtaposition of journalistic prose in the latter to critique the romanticization of death and sacrifice.

Discuss how the concept of professionalism serves as a source of dignity while also shaping characters’ responses to suffering and mortality for characters like Manuel Garcia, Jack Brennan, and the Roman soldiers in “Today Is Friday.”