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For Wednesday: Read Blake's "The Audit" (pp.59-77)



For Wednesday we're going to read a very different 'science fiction' story, this one written in a much more unusual format. As you read, consider some of the following ideas which we can discuss in class:

* Why is it told through journal entries? How do we read a story like this differently than a traditonally-narrated one? Or do we? Do you even notice after awhile? 

* Note that this story has NO dialogue. However, it does...it's just made indistinguishable from the narration (there's a name for this). Why do you think she does this? 

* The idea of an "audit" isn't very far-fetched, and certainly not something that only belongs to the far-flung future. Do you think this is science fiction enough to be considered science fiction?

* Note how the story gives us backstory about this world slowly, and without knocking us over the head wtih it (just like "The Sort"). Do we understand enough about what led to a world where there are audits and people willing to take them?

* Most people would take the money and run, doing wild and extravagant things once freed of the financial burden of 'making it.' Why doesn't the narrator? Why is she so terrified of making a mistake, as she says?

* Why does she enter into a relationship with her agoraphobic neighbor? What brings them together? Is this love, or something else? (and why doesn't she give him a name?) 

* What are some other ideas or issues this story seems to explore besides the slightly sci-fi idea of an 'audit'? You might check out the author's bio to learn why she thought she wrote it. 

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