Top Man
This fictional mountain in India, described as the fourth-highest peak in the world, is the central destination for the climbing expedition.
What is K3
This lab animal proves the surgery's success by repeatedly beating Charlie in maze races.
Who is Algernon
To prove his absolute mastery over his own body and routine, the 15-year-old protagonist boasts that he can force himself to wake up at this exact early morning hour without relying on an alarm clock.
What is 4:30 am
The setting of this short story.
Gyrich Farms Workers Camp
Dracula is told through letters, diary entries, and newspaper clippings—making it a classic example of this narrative type.
This young, impatient American mountaineer believes in taking risks to be the first person to reach the summit. (First name required)
Who is Martin Osborn
The entire story is formatted as a series of these personal diary entries written by Charlie as his intelligence rises and falls.
What are progress reports.
This Nobel Prize-winning British author, who spent her youth in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), wrote "A Sunrise on the Veld."
Who is Doris Lessing
Set in a 1970s California agricultural worker camp, this author drew from his own childhood to write "El Gordo."
Who is Jaime Cortez
Voldemort to Harry Potter, or Bob Ewell to Atticus: this character type actively opposes the main character's goals.
What is an antagonist?
The turning point of a narrative—the moment of highest tension or drama where the main conflict reaches its ultimate showdown.
What is the climax
Driven by ambitious pressure from his wife, this arrogant lead scientist views Charlie more as a laboratory test subject than as a human being.
Who is Dr. Nemur
The boy's sense of invincibility is shattered when he watches a wounded buck get eaten alive by swarm of these insects.
What are ants
Gordo’s father buys him a shiny new pair of these to wear while training, which Gordo thinks are pretty.
What are boots.
Also known as a Bildungsroman, this genre centers on a young protagonist's journey from youth and innocence to maturity.
What is a coming of age story?
Nace fatally falls while attempting to rescue Osborn near the summit, but Osborn later leaves this piece of equipment at the top to give Nace the credit he earned.
What is an axe?
Charlie discovers that his intelligence gain is only temporary after formulating this scientific rule.
What is the Algernon Gordon effect
Upon inspecting the buck's remains, the boy realizes the animal was already vulnerable before the ants attacked because it had this physical injury.
For their wrestling match, Gordo and Miguelito use this specific item to serve as an improvised ring mat.
What is a mattress.
Whether internal (person vs. self) or external (person vs. other), this central struggle drives every story forward.
What is conflict?
The narrative is told from the perspective of this character, who acts as the expedition's chronicler and neutral observer between Nace and Osborn.
Who is Frank
Before undergoing surgery, Charlie is asked to take this psychological test to assess his personality, but he fails to understand it because he cannot see "pictures" hidden inside the inkblots.
What is the Rorschach test.
The boy uses this term to describe his parents room. It serves as a stand-in for the way he sees the adult world.
What is stuffy.
Gordo’s father buys him his boxing gear and Lucha Libre set from this specific type of discount retail location.
What is a flea market
Whether it's blinding Polyphemus and incurring Poseidon's rage or Athena's council with Zeus to free him from Calypso, this literary term describes the event that disrupts Odysseus's world and sets his long journey in motion.
What is an inciting incident?