Challenge 531

Funny in the Dark

In Richard A. Conine’s “Raft,” what kinds of mental or emotional disorders might Chip Corrigan acquire in his interaction with space aliens and “Captain Computer”?
In Charles C. Cole’s “Speed Hating,” must readers be familiar with the practice of “speed dating” in order to understand the setting of the story?
In Frances Gow’s “The Warren Street Kid,” to what extent does the plot resemble that of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray? In what ways does it differ? What other works of literature does it resemble?
David Barber’s “From the Lucy Poems” is based on what poem of Wordsworth’s? In what way do the poems differ?
In James Bright’s “Pyrrhic Victory,” part 1, what would be the effect of omitting the synopsis and the initial part of the exposition and starting with the combat scene?
In Lisa Khlif’s “The Man From Kerala,” how does the absence of character names affect the tone of the story?