Challenge 109

Style Small and Large

Writers are sometimes admonished that “the adjective is the enemy of the noun” and “the adverb is the enemy of the verb.” To the first I say “questionable”; to the second, “not necessarily.”

This question takes a microscope to style, and it does have a “right answer.” At the beginning of Bob Sorensen’s “Call Waiting,” what adverb tells us that Tim Shannon is already headed for tragedy?
This question will sound as stuffy as can be, but it has everything to do with the humor in Greg Hansen’s “Return of the King”: what does the auditory imagery have to do with the story’s conclusion?
Do you think the world economic situation of 2031 is plausible as depicted in Omar Vega’s “Coke Maker”?
Joel Gn’s “Mindfield” is based on the premise of memory transfer. What might the conclusion imply about authentic memories? For that matter, what are “authentic memories”?
Characters are much more than their names. In fact, a name may be an afterthought, the last attribute that a writer gives to a character. In “Banishments,” what devices does Sean Hower use to emphasize differences between the characters’ personalities?