Chabon: McSweeney's Mammomth Treasury of Thrilling Tales
Directions: After reading the lecture, answer one of the main questions, which will appear in bold. There are several bold questions--don't answer all of them; just choose one. This question is due no later than Thursday, Apr. 13. Following that will be other questions which you should read and think about--they may help you answer the main question. However, you are not required to answer these questions in writing.
Your responses to other students' answers are due by midnight on Sunday, Apr. 16. In order to get the full 20 points, you MUST respond to at least 2 other people's postings.
This set of discussion questions is worth a possible 20 points. Remember: late answers receive 0 points, so post early :)
We will be using the ETUDES Discussion Board for this class. Click on the link below to get to the ETUDES portal, sign in, and then click on the tab for this class. You will find the "Discussion and Private Messages" link on the left side of the screen:
Chabon, McSweeney's Mammomth Treasury of Thrilling Tales
- Chabon, "The Editor's Notebook," 5
- Gold, "The Tears of Squonk," 31
- Leonard, "How Carlos Webster Changed His Name," 101
- Hornby, "Otherwise Pandemonium," 155
- Offutt, "Chuck's Bucket," 221
- King, "Weaving the Dark," 202
- Eggers, "Up the Mountain," 237
- Ellison, "Goodbye to All That," 354
- Chabon, "The Martian Agent," 447
WARNING! These discussion questions will reveal plot points. If you don't want to know what happens, wait until you have finished the stories to read them.
1. In these stories, do you see the characteristics of contemporary literature that were discussed in Lecture 1, i.e., disillusionment, irony, cynicism about the role of art and literature, a conviction that "truth" is dependent on perspective, and that even "facts" can not be counted on to be real? Give examples.
2. How do these "genre" stories conform to the rules of their genres, or break the rules? Give examples. (For example, is "Chuck's Bucket" a mystery story? A ghost story? A science fiction story? A mad scientist story? etc.)
Gold, "The Tears of Squonk," 31
1. Why is the story set in 1916, and in a small town?
2. Why is it emphasized that Colonel Nash is a man of strong morals?
3. What descriptive details are used to emphasize the helplessness and smallness of the people in the story?
4. What reason does Squonk give for not wanting his real name billed? What is the real reason?
5. On pp. 34-5, the narrator tells us that Nash saw evidence of God in Mary, and he reads a quote about Mary's intelligence as part of his pitch. How is this ironic, in more ways than one?
6. On page 36, a lot is made of the fact that a camera was present to record the events. How does this affect people's memories? What is being said about memory? About "evidence"? We all think that something recorded on a camera is real. What is the author saying about that?
7. How does the death of Mary affect Colonel Nash? What conflict does it cause in his principles? How does it violate them?
8. On page 40, the narrator tells us that the camera, in the darkness, is unable to record any more than "suggestions of some tribal ritual." What does this suggest about Mary's execution? About justice?
9. How does Squonk betray Mary? How is the ballet ironic?
10. What is your initial explanation of Squonk's disappearance? What do you find out later about it?
11. What does Pelkin tell Nash? How does it alter his view of the events in Olson?
12. Why does Nash write his play about the hanging and perform it from then on? Why does it upset him when people question him about it?
13. What issues about memory, history, fact, and fiction does the story raise?
Leonard, "How Carlos Webster Changed His Name," 101
1. Carlos seems like the perfect witness. What clues are we given that Carlos's account of the robbery and murder is unreliable?
2. How does Miller insult Carlos? How does Carlos react?
3. Carlos wonders if Junior's death was at all his fault. In your opinion, was it? Could he have done anything to prevent it?
4. What deal do the courts make with Frank Miller? How does that offend Carlos?
5. How does the experience change Carlos? How is that revealed when he kills the cattle thief?
6. When Carlos is telling his story to the marshals, why does Virgil keep cutting him off? What is the danger that Carlos doesn't see?
7. How does Carlos react to killing the cattle thief?
8. Why does Carlos change his name to Carl?
9. Why is Carl so anxious to get Frank Miller?
10. Why, on page 120, does the narration switch to Faye's voice? What does that suggest about the reliability of the story? About its entertainment value?
11. What do the last few paragraphs suggest about Carlos's motives in going after Frank Miller?
Hornby, "Otherwise Pandemonium," 155
1. How is the mother's choice of song ("Accentuate the Positive") ironic in this story?
2. When the narrator says he doesn't want to tell a Stephen King-type story because "It wouldn't help me right now," what does he mean?
3. The narrator says he isn't going to tell you "all that Holden Caulfield kind of crap" about himself. What does he tell you about himself, and how does he reveal it?
4. How does the narrator draw your attention to the way he's telling the story, as well as the story itself?
5. The narrator says, "School life is all about anticipation." Is that what all life is about, no matter what age you are?
6. Why doesn't the narrator want to tell his mother about what's coming? Why does he want to talk to the guy at the video store? Why does he want to talk to Martha? Why does he say it's the most selfish thing he's ever done in his life?
7. How does knowing the future change the narrator's attitude about life?
8. Why aren't we told what happens in the Time of the Static?
Offutt, "Chuck's Bucket," 221
1. Why does the story begin with the narrator's failures? Why mention, in paragraph 2, the physics grad student who'd gone on a rampage?
2. Why is it important that Chuck likes to study chance, and that he's studied it with the greats in 3 different fields?
3. Why is the narrator writing a genre story? Why bring "reality" (i.e., Michael Chabon and the all-genre issue of McSweeney's) into it?
4. What is Chuck's theory about the narrator's ghost? Why does the narrator agree to try the time machine?
5. What are the narrator's sensations when he goes into the bucket? What do he and Chuck discover about the nature of time and reality?
6. Why does the narrator give so many different versions of the future he may experience? How is this related to the experiments with chance that Chuck is doing at the beginning of the story?
7. What was the effect of the knowledge the narrator gained by travelling into the future?
8. What happened to Chuck?
King, "Weaving the Dark," 202
1. Why begin a genre story with an abstract statement? How does this idea relate to the events of the story?
2. Why does Suze take risks?
3. What are the obstacles she faces now? Why don't her usual coping mechanisms work?
4. Why doesn't Suze like Courtney?
5. How is weaving symbolic in the story?
6. Why does Suze want to spin her next piece in black, with almost invisible color blended in?
7. How does finding out about the night-time digging become a test for Suze? What is she testing? Why?
8. What risk does Suze take at the end of the story? Why does she choose that "solution"?
Eggers, "Up the Mountain Coming Down Slowly," 237
1. How does Eggers create an atmosphere of tension and conflict in the first few paragraphs of the story?
2. In her conversation with the stenographer (p. 238), Rita says she could never witness a death: "To witness a death! Rita could never do it. Even if they made her sit there, behind the partition, she would close her eyes." How is this ironic, considering the events that occur later in the story? What other examples of irony are there in the story?
3. Why is there so much emphasis on Godwill's name?
4. What things about Tanzania does Rita fail to understand?
5. What are Rita's various reasons for being in Tanzania? For climbing Kilimanjaro?
6. How does Rita feel about the children she fostered and considered adopting? Why did she allow them to be taken from her? Does the trip change her feelings about that?
7. Why, despite her pain, does Rita decide to continue to the top of the mountain?
8. What is the significance of her dream about the executions of the children?
9. How does Rita feels about the deaths of the porters? Why?
10. How does she feel about her climb when it is finished? Why does she sign her name in the book at the end?
11. Read Hemingway's famous short story, "The Snows of Kilimanajaro." How was Eggers's story influenced by this story?
Ellison, "Goodbye to All That," 354
1. How do we know "The Core of Unquenchable Perfection" is going to be ironic in some way?
2. Why did Ellison choose the epigraph he did? Who is Daniel Manus Pinkwater?
3. Why so many names for "the place at the center of it all"?
4. Does Colman like travelling? Why does he travel so insatiably?
5. When he reaches the end of his journey, what does he find?
6. Why does Ellison make the "employees" famous baseball players?
7. Is Colman dead or alive at the end of the story?
8. What's the significance of the title of the story?
Chabon, "The Martian Agent," 447
1. Is this story science fiction? a western? some other genre?
2. How does the epigraph relate to the story?
3. What is the significance of the brothers' names?
4. How does Chabon alter history in this story?
5. How does Jefferson Drake's reading affect his decisions in this story?
6. Why make a point of the fact that Frank lies? Does he really lie? Why?
7. Why does Jeff kill the soldiers?
8. Sir Thomas says, "We're all liars, Franklin. We lie, and then we wait and hope for time and hard work and the will of God to make us honest men" (475). What does he mean?