I know we had an extended deadline, but I couldn’t sleep, so here’s some extra time to answer the questions!

1. The primary struggle of “Miss Ogilvy Finds Herself” revolves around the titular character’s struggle with their gender identity. Although this issue comes with different struggles, we have also discussed a sense of detachment from the physical self with soldiers returning from the home front. What other ways do you see Ogilvy’s struggles paralleling those of a soldier? Is there even a basis of comparison, or are these two issues too different to discuss them together? If that’s your stance, what about war could Ogilvy’s struggle possibly parallel, if there’s anything at all?
2. The entirety of “The New Word” is written like a play, with descriptions mirroring stage directions and a section of dialogue formatted the same way it would be in a script. We have also previously discussed how children entering the war effort were often coerced into it, and at times they simply played their part as they “did their bit”. How does the formatting of the story reflect this idea? Or, do you think the formatting of the story represents something else. If so, what?
3. Reportedly, people believed “The Bowmen” to actually be a non fiction account of a supernatural occurrence out in the trenches. There was even a (false) claim published in a 2001 article in The Sunday Times that claimed a diary of a soldier had been found that proved the existence of the Angels of Mons. Machen himself admitted that the story was based on several reports of rumors that came in from various battlefields. What do you think the real story is? Were the bowmen ever real, or merely fantastical stories and rumors? If you think they did exist, who might they have been?
4. Did you prefer these short stories or the longer format of the novels we’ve read? What ways could a short story format allow for an impactful story about war versus a novel?