Genre
Sci-fi short stories
Setting and Context
Set in the context of wild imagination and fantasy
Narrator and Point of View
First-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Enlightening, heartening, sanguine, hopeful
Protagonist and Antagonist
The central character is Rowan.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is in the short story 'Daughter', in which the introduction of technology disrupts traditional farming methods.
Climax
The climax is in the story 'Challenging', in which a woman and three men with different sexual orientations live under the same roof. For instance, one is homosexual; the other is bisexual, while the third is heterosexual. Astonishingly, these four people live in harmony despite having different sexual orientations.
Foreshadowing
The fate of the technology students in the 'Dull Drum' is foreshadowed by society's ignorance about advancement.
Understatement
The power of the alien society in the story 'A Meeting of Minds' is understated. When the aliens finally discover life, they exterminate it upon detection.
Allusions
The stories allude to the fantasy of imagination.
Imagery
Hearing imagery is depicted when the author describes Rowan’s steps as he climbs up the stairs. The author writes, “Today, however, she was in a fair command of herself and merely stamped up the stairs into the tower. A faint rumble of noisy thoughts tossed around the floor of the station for a few minutes, but the computer and analogue men ignored the depressing effects with the gratitude of those saved from the greater disaster."
Paradox
The main paradox is in the story 'Dull Drums', in which the people with computing skills and programming are on the lowest ladder of society. The reader expects such individuals to be superior, rich and influential, but the contrary is the reality.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
The alien society is personified as having the ability to destroy a new life.
