This Poison Heart

Identify and analyze at least two cultural references that Briseis or another character makes. How do these cultural references provide additional insights into the characters?

Many of the names of Bayron’s characters have mythological origins. Choose at least two such characters and research the underlying mythology that Bayron references. What do the names’ origins suggest about the characters? How does the text either adhere to or deviate from those mythological origins?

Using Professor Kent’s advice to consider the motivations and biases of the storyteller, choose an incident in the novel and analyze its underlying implications. What does the event indicate about Bayron’s own motivations in writing This Poison Heart?

What level of importance does the novel place on the concept of genealogy to the creation of a family? Analyze at least three examples from the text to support your analysis.

What effect does Bayron create by omitting any language related to sexual orientation in a novel that contains many LGTBQ+ characters?

What literary techniques does Bayron use to address the influence of racism on the world without explicitly mentioning this issue in the novel? What effect is created by choosing to omit more overt discussions of racism?

Analyze Briseis’s explorations of the Colchis house and how they mirror her internal growth as she learns to accept her powers more fully.

Consider Briseis’s offer to pay Professor Kent and Alec’s assertion that history is for everyone (295). Does the novel make an argument about who should have access to knowledge? How does that issue differ from who does have access to knowledge?