THE ARM OF THE STARFISH Readers Guide: Research

• Read Robert Frost’s poem, Two Tramps in Mud Time. Think about the speaker of the poem and of Joshua. How do they compare or differ?
• Adam finds a vast difference in the street view of Madrid from the beautiful aerial landscape from the plane. Look up your town or a place you recently visited as an aerial view.
• Listen to the Tallis Canon
• Look up El Greco’s St. Andrew and St. Francis painting. Do these two important biblical figures have any symbolic relation to Arm of the Starfish characters?
• Look up Picasso’s Harlequins. Take a look at the various paintings and pick a few that remind you of Joshua. What do you think the Harlequin represents? How does it relate or symbolize Joshua?
• Listen to Respighi’s “The Birds”
• Watch The Third Man
• Listen to “Arkansas Traveller” and “Come unto these Yellow Sands.”
• Fireflies: Look up the science behind the firefly’s light. Why do you think L’Engle uses this specific detail in the novel? Is it important that Poly is the one to share this with Adam? pg, 173- 174, pg 241
• Look up Jeronimos Monastery. Discuss the images and findings.
• When Macrina comforts Poly, Poly sayd that Canon Tallis describes the dolphin not as Anthropomorphic but Anagogical. Research allegory in the Middle Ages.
• Medical and scientific research can pose a host of moral and ethical dilemmas. Research some famous cases, like Tuskegee Syphilis Study or B. F. Skinner’s box, and issues like placebo-based trials, euthenasia, and confirmation bias.