Challenge 859

Megalos’ Mania

In Natan Dubovitsky’s Near Zero, Chapter 22: What constitutes the humor in Yegor’s story about his marriage, apartment life and, in fact, his very existence?
In Baishampayan Seal’s Questions That Stay:
1. How does the poet seem to feel about “the Almighty”? Reverent? Respectful? Indifferent? Contemptuous?
2. What response does the poet expect from the hungry animals that Ada fed?
In Bill Kowaleski’s Miles Reaches the Breaking Point:
1. In what way is the scenario humorous? How might it become tragic?
2. What emotional reactions do Miles, Maria and Darrell have in common, and what are they reacting to?
3. Miles Martin has been misrepresenting himself to Maria Schoenbrun. In what way has Jason Wise been doing the same to him?
In Tom Hooker’s A Case of Petit Mal:
1. Does Pete time-travel physically or does he have visions of the future?
2. In what way is the red cape, at the end, humorous? In what way is it, at the same time, culturally significant?
3. The boy who saves Pete is black. What does his appearance imply about all the other characters? If his color weren’t mentioned, might all the characters in the story be black or some other color?
In Mickey J. Corrigan’s Trigger Warnings:
1. In Change the System:
  1. What “trigger” in chapter 3 activates Springfield’s selective rejection of material in her university courses? Why does she feel justified in undertaking her negative action plan?
  2. Does Springfield imply that her rejections ought to apply to everyone or to herself alone?
  3. How does Springfield react to Professor Ivaniloff’s refusal to submit to her demands? What visual image does she form of him? Has she had similar images of anyone else so far?
  4. In Professor Ivaniloff’s place, how would you have responded to Springfield’s demands?
  5. Why does Springfield not ask what “teacup” means? How would you expect her to react if she asked Professor Ivaniloff to explain it?
2. In Baby Steps: How does Springfield justify her academic rebellion? How does it fit into her upbringing? Whom does Springfield resemble more: her father or her mother?
3. In The Good Doctor:
  1. What is the dramatic function of the unattended entrance to Dr. Louder’s office suite?
  2. How does Springfield respond emotionally to Dr. Louder’s waiting room?
  3. Why might Dr. Louder immediately address Springfield by her first name rather than as “Ms. Andrisson”?
  4. What attracts Springfield both emotionally and physically to Dr. Louder?