Challenge 387

Spring’s Promise, Spring’s End

1. In Oonah V. Joslin’s “Spring Song”:

   1. How does the poem differ from traditional forms of the rondeau. In what ways does it follow traditional patterns?
   2. What is the effect of the syntax and alliterations in the first stanza?
   3. “Chaste” may seem to be a surprising pun, but what are the birds doing?

2. Aside from the futuristic technology, to what extent does the action in Phillip Donnelly’s “The Interactive Classroom” differ from practices already current in some places? Is the story absurd or is it merely faintly grotesque?

3. In Daniel VanTassel’s “Walking Papers,” what might the narrator’s motivation be?

4. In Salvatore Buttaci’s “Behold, a Pale Horse”:

   1. Vampires are traditionally slain by conventional weapons, e.g. wooden stakes, sunlight, or an overdose of garlic. What is implied by the use of nuclear weapons?
   2. What present-day conflicts does the story allude to?
   3. How is the story similar to Jeff Hall’s “Fade to Blue”?

5. In Terry Hamel’s “Pit of Sorrows”:

   1. Why is Tyrane saved from the Pit?
   2. What might the setting of the story be; where might it take place?
   3. Tyrane has the last word. What does it imply?
   4. How might the story be written other than as a fantasy?

Responses welcome!

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