Challenge 742

You Are What You Reat

1. In James Krehbiel’s Pure in Their Own Eyes:

   1. Who, exactly, is “pure in their own eyes”?
   2. What would a juror at Daniel’s trial actually know about the facts of the case? How might the trial proceed?
   3. The story names a real religious sect and quotes from its writings. Is that narrative strategy necessary? What purpose does it serve? Does it overstep Bewildering Stories’ guideline on stereotyping?

2. In David Henson’s “The Greatest Artist of the 22nd Century”:

   1. January can turn off his sensory inputs at will. When and why does he do so?
   2. What does the story say about ambition in an artist?
   3. How does this story illustrate Bewildering Stories’ definition of strereotyping and its effects?

3. In Ljubo Popovich’s “Heart of Cygnus”:

   1. How did Grace come by her name? What is the origin of her child’s name?
   2. Why might the reader suspect that Lieutenant Everett will not return?
   3. Scenes of desolation and fertility alternate. To what effect?
   4. How are Grace’s various emotional and physical states depicted? Does the reader ever actually see what she looks like?

4. In Anna O’Brien’s “The Data Eaters”:

   1. What is Agent Clarke’s state of mind when she first meets the family in the farmhouse? What is her attitude toward Jameson?
   2. The “CFU” is obviously a narrative device, not a literal one. What is the significance of its use having been abandoned?
   3. Who else besides Agent Clarke is named? Is the little girl’s name ever mentioned?
   4. What name, other than Jameson’s, does Clarke cite four times? When? Why is it used as an expletive rather than taken literally?

5. In John Grey’s “To Earth From the Planet of the One Percent”:

   1. Can the rich exist without the poor, and vice-versa?
   2. The “one percent” are the one percent of what? Does “Earth” have any economic relevance to the planet depicted in the poem? Does it have any social relevance other than as an invidious comparison?
   3. “Rich” and “poor” are relative, not absolute measures. For example: What is an ancient scholar really telling us when he says he reads by candlelight?

Responses welcome!

Copyright © December 11, 2017 by Bewildering Stories
What is a Bewildering Stories Challenge?