Servants of the Map--Possible Journal Topics

Possible Journal Topics
• In “ The Mysteries of Ubiquitin” one of the characters connects two elements that break large dead things into smaller bits so new things can be made. Look at this idea in the context of the rest of the book. Where else does the concept appear? How does Barrett use this idea in exploring the relationship of the past to the present?

• In an interview, Andrea Barrett addressed the disparities and similarities between fiction and science. Scientific questions are very precise and very directed. A scientist poses problems that can be answered if one works hard enough. In contrast, writers pose question after question and none of them get answered…in both areas [science and fiction] there is that sense of pushing at boundaries, of trying to discover new ways of looking at things. What are some of the question that Barrett poses in these stories? What new ways does she look at things?