Challenge 529

Have a Hand

1. In Charles C. Cole’s “Final Gifts,” the situation might make a horror story. What makes the story humorous? What comic devices does it employ?

2. In Cristina-Monica Moldoveanu’s “Stripes and Dots,” the narrator keeps a plant as a souvenir of her late father. Does the poem indicate in any way why he asked her forgiveness?

3. In S. E. Sever’s “Kuiper Court”:

   1. What problems of medical ethics does the story explicitly deal with?
   2. The conclusion involves a role reversal. Is it foreshadowed in any way? If not, why might it be surprising without being arbitrary?

4. In Alexandru I. Despina’s “Beyond Lethe”:

   1. The narrator discovers a mysterious machine depicted in a neighbor’s painting. What might the machine be? What might be its function in the story?
   2. What “guilt” does the narrator want to know he is carrying?
   3. What does the last line mean: “Only tomorrow does eternity begin”?

5. In K. C. Gray’s “Fire Park”:

   1. What is the function of Demarco in the story?
   2. What is the secret that Tanika says Phillip is not supposed to reveal?
   3. Does Phillip reveal the secret? If so, does it make any difference in what eventually happens?

Responses welcome!

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