Since the short fiction of Fitzgerald is relatively little known these days, it might be effective to deal with the relative qualities — of, for example, plot, characterization, and style — of these works in comparison with those of the novels. One might, for intance, examine the question of whether the somewhat disconnected story line of "Mayday" compares favorably with the advance of events in, say, The Beautiful and Damned. Further, inasmuch as many critics and authors believe that the short story is a more demanding form, in its requirement of absolute compression, it could be well to discuss whether Fitzgerald, in these stories, actually achieves the condensation needed to create a satisfying piece of short fiction.

As to setting, an important element in all of the stories, one might question whether the European setting of "Babylon Revisited" is as well realized as the American settings...