1. Authors often select names for their characters that serve artistic purposes. Saturnalia is filled with unusual names. There are Mr. Rudd, Mr. Speke, Mr. Baggot, Madam Phipp, and Mr. Hogwood. Analyze how the author uses names to emphasize certain personal characteristics and traits.

2. Fleischman loves music, and he often attains a music-like quality in his writing. Saturnalia has been called fugue-like. What similarities can you find between a fugue and the novel?

3. The author uses a snow storm to illustrate how humans can make mistakes as they feel their way through the snow storm of life. Mr. Trulliber mistakes a stone sundial for a boy in the snow, while missing the real boy entirely. Things are rarely what they seem in this novel. What other examples of misunderstandings and errors can you find, and what do they illustrate?

4. Saturnalia is...