Castle Dreams

Eight Spot Quiz No

Fill in the blanks:

• The setting of the story is Castle ___________.

• The master of this strange, enchanted castle is Lord _______.

• The magical doorways in the castle, leading to other worlds, are called ________.

• The opening scene in this story takes place in the _______ Hall.

• In the opening chapter, four characters are playing bridge. They are ________, ________, ________, and ________.

• In the game of contract bridge, partners sometimes signal the strength or weakness of their hands by means of bidding conventions. One of these is known as the ________ convention.

• In contract bridge, a contract in which no suit is specified is known as a ________ contract.

• Lord Peter Thaxton, a minor character in this story, was elevated to the peerage (got his title) because he was instrumental in solving the ________ Castle murders.

• Jousting tournaments are usually fought with a long, spearlike medieval weapon known as a ________.

• Adults who read fantasy novels are thought by some psychologists to be in a phase of arrested adolescent ________.

True or False?

• The characters in this book are lifelike and convincing. ___

• Gene likes action and adventure. ___

• Snowclaw is a very good bridge player for a nonhuman. ___

• Flinging-toads are specially bred for competition. ___

• Castle Perilous has exactly 143,999 magical doorways. ___

• The average commercial tuna boat is 40 feet from stem to stem. ___

• The chief export of Tierra del Fuego[7] is hemp. ___

• Linda is an adept sorceress. ___

• Osmirik is a bit on the anal-retentive side. ___

• The price of this book is outrageous for a cheesy paperback. ___

Essay Questions (Keep your answer under 500 words.)

• Discuss some of the methods the author employs to make a totally fantastic tale believable. Does he succeed? If not, where does he go wrong? Relate all of this to what Aristotle says about verisimilitude in his Poetics.

• The chapters featuring the person walking across the featureless plane — what is all that about? Is it fair for an author to be so vague and sketchy and keep the reader in suspense? Discuss ways of dealing with this problem.

• Discuss the possible meaning of the epigraph of this book. (The epigraph is the poem-fragment quoted just before the text of the book begins.) Relate it to the story, then comment on how well-read and erudite the author must be.

For Group Discussion

• Explore the possible animal-rights issues involved in the concept of a “toad-fling.”

• Is bridge an elitist game?

• Have significant contributions to Western culture been made by non-Italians?