Challenge 697

Keep the Change

In Shola Balogun’s “To My Son”:
1. What is the meaning of: “And make not barren what is in your mind”?
2. Summarize in one sentence the advice that the poem gives.
In Karin S. Heigl’s “White Dragon,” can you think of an ending — comic or tragic —in which the man does not die of fright?
In Francis Mont’s “Truth Can Hurt”:
1. Reverse the main characters’ genders. How would the story play out?
2. Would it make much difference if John remembered to plug his nose when he doses Anna with “truth” spray?
In Gregg Dotoli’s “Someday, When I’m There”:
1. Is the refrain “You’ll see change” meant to be taken literally or ironically?
2. Do the last two lines of the poem contradict the rest?
In Val Gryphin’s “Gail the Gallant”:
1. Is Gail “gallant”? How does she treat the blind woman and the man at the well?
2. What comic elements are used to depict the male characters?
3. What does Gail achieve simply because she’s female?
4. If the story is intended for girls, will they take away a lesson in female inferiority, equality or superiority? How might boys of the same age feel about it?