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For Monday: Dickey, "Look at the Moon" (pp.177-201)



REMEMBER: we moved the Story #1 assignment back to Friday. So instead of doing that, we're going to start talking more about fantasy stories, and we'll start by reading one of the fantasy selections in our book, "Look at the Moon." This might give you some ideas about where to take a story in a more fantasy direction, even though this is NOT traditional fantasy.

Here are some ideas to consider as you read:

* Why do you think they labeled this story as 'fantasy' and not 'horror'? What might be the similarities between the two genres?

* Like so many of our stories, this one is primarily about a relationship. What is the chief conflict in this relationship? How does the story try to resolve it?

* One of the most important lines of this story comes right at the beginning, where the Lou says, "I want a God I don't have to fear, and I don't want to fear the people who love Him, either" (178). How is this concept both literal and symbolic in the story?

* Why does Orion let Lou and Holly go after the 'incident'? What was he trying to do to them...or was this simply, as he says, a way to implicate them in the murder? 

* As the story goes on, Holly learns to renew her faith, since he claims to understand the difference between love and fear. What does Lou find, since they don't embrace Holly's brand of faith? 

* Why does Lou go back to find Orion at the end of the story? What kind of closure does she get? Do we find the same conclusion? 

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