Challenge 905

Angel Needed

In David Barber’s Rainbow Warrior:
1. Who is the “you” in the poem? What atittude does the narrator take toward this person, and why?
2. Is the narrator in the poem for or against nuclear meltdowns, pollution, global warming, etc.?
3. Would the narrator want to save endangered African animal species, for example? Or would the narrator shrug off their loss? Or would the narrator actively support poaching, as in ivory smuggling, and oppose conservation?
In Gary Clifton’s Down Time, Readers may question two elements in the narrative:
“Black ops” soldiers are recruited from “death row” in various states of the U.S.A. How easy would it be to keep such an operation secret?
A computer microchip is described as “vital,” but even Johnny Duncan wonders why it is transported through enemy territory under light guard.
Why are these two elements indispensable to the story?
In J. J. Carswell’s Something Far Larger:
1. Does either Olivia or Andrew ever find out what causes the mysterious computer effects?
2. What might theosophy have to do with what Andrew experiences and Olivia later perceives?
3. Why does the final sentence of the story shift the narrative from the present tense to the past perfect?
4. What does the story have in common with the Polybius urban legend?
5. Does the story draw a conclusion or does it overstep BwS’ “Vignettes” guideline?
In Miriam E. Neiberg’s The Wishing Ceremony:
1. The membership of the cult is described in some detail. To what effect? What does the reader learn about these people?
2. Jewish and Christian religious vocabulary overlaps to a large extent, for obvious reasons. At what point or points in the story might readers first suspect that the cult being described is neither Jewish nor Christian?
3. Monotheism and equal justice are among the civilization advances made by Judaism. What civilization advance is made in the parable of Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 22:1-18)?
4. What actual religion or pagan deity might the cult of the “firstborn messenger” represent: Aztec? Moloch? Some other?

Responses welcome!