How close are we to this reality? This kind of question is really the heart of dystopian work.

This takes me back to high school english class from sophomore year – studying root words.

Neuro – brain
Mancer? – unsure

With no previous knowledge or context, I am still able to break apart the text enough to make it make sense for me. The illustration above also helps out in understanding the deeper meaning.

While this is obvious, how does this opener guide us into a sense that what is coming could be met with some anxiety? Some caution?

Here, in a word vs. a paragraph or two is immediate “arrival” into the story space.

Twilight Zone meets New Kid.

Barry Deutsch uses this technique quite a bit in his work, HOW MIRKA GOT HER SWORD.

This technique is used by Jerry Craft in the Newbery Award Winning, NEW KID where one of the students wears a “red hat” (a veiled allusion to a cultural icon of the past few years).

The project continues to this day: https://www.foxfire.org/covid-19-oral-history-project-2/