MD3PAD 7-9

[Toby G Levy]

Pages 7-9:

        On page 7 the children are given names: the sister is Tenebrae.
The word tenbrae is latin for "shadows." It is the name of a Catholic
religious ceremony. The Twins are named Pitt and Pliny. Pitt was named
for British statesman William Pitt and for his son also William Pitt who
was Prime Minister of England at the time of this first scene of the
novel. Pliny was named after the ancient Roman naturalist Pliny the
Elder and his statesman son Pliny the Younger.

        The twins bring a tray of baked goods and a coffee machine into
the room. The coffee is for the storyteller, to keep him more alert
while he is spinning his yarns. The twins request that the next story be
about America, and Wicks immediately starts recalling the end of the
journey that produced the Mason-Dixon line. It was twenty years ago that
it happened. Wicks describes the line as eight yards wide. It was
commissioned to separate two "proprietorships" and was "nullified by the
War for Independence."

vocabulary word #1: Devoirs - duties or responsibilities.

"Each day among his Devoirs is a visit, however brief, to Mason's
grave."

vw #2: syncope - shortening a word by dropping a letter or syllable

"...spending an intermission among the eventless corridors of Syncope..."

        The twins goad Wicks into revealing that his grandfather pays
him a monthly stipend with the understanding that he is to stay away
from England.

        an Uncle Ives, wandering through the room, asks what were the
"crimes" that Wicks committed to cause this to happen. Wicks confessed
that he anonymously posted leaflets revealing illegal activities
committed by people in power.  He was arrested and put in the Tower of
London.

Toby