Question

A story by this author describes “a legion of Bartleby the Scriveners” who no longer act spontaneously because of a device called the “Predictor” that always flashes a light a second [emphasize] (10[1])before (10[3])you press (10[1])a button. The narrator of a story by this author is shocked to find himself in Shinar after tunneling through what he thought was (10[1])the vault of (10[1])heaven. A story by this author (10[2])includes diagrams of an (10[1])air-water boundary to illustrate the principle of least (-5[1])time. Hillalum travels with a caravan up the title (10[1])structure and learns that the universe is shaped like a seal cylinder in this author’s “The Tower of Babylon.” (10[1])This author explored (-5[1])the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis in a story in which Louise Banks (10[1]-5[1])works (10[1])with the aliens (-5[1])Flapper (10[1])and Raspberry to learn the language Heptapod B. (10[2])For 10 points, (10[2])name this Chinese-American science fiction author of (10[1])“Story of Your Life.” (10[2])■END■ (10[2])

ANSWER: Ted Chiang [or Chiang Feng-nan; or Jiāng Fēngnán] (The first story is “What’s Expected of Us.”)
<American Literature>
= Average correct buzz position

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Summary

2024 ACF Nationals2024-04-21Y24100%0%17%96.54

Buzzes

PlayerTeamOpponentBuzz PositionValue
Bryan UgazArizona StateColumbia B3110
Rosa XiaCornell BBerkeley B3210
Swapnil GargBerkeley AGeorgia Tech3210
Matt JacksonChicago AIndiana3210
Nathan ZhangCornell ATexas3410
Wenying WuToronto AYale A5810
Eric GunterNorth Carolina BSouth Carolina6110
Jim FanNorth Carolina APurdue6710
Charles HangWUSTL AStanford6710
David BassJohns HopkinsNorthwestern7110
Aum MundheRutgersPenn79-5
John MarvinChicago BMinnesota A8810
Ben WismathToronto BClaremont Colleges10710
Forrest WeintraubColumbia AWaterloo110-5
Joy AnHarvardVanderbilt12010
Jason HongBrownNYU120-5
Joseph ChambersVirginiaWUSTL B12110
Urbas EkkaMinnesota BChicago C124-5
Fred GarveyTruman StateKentucky12510
Ben SterlingYale BFlorida13310
Michael HundingIllinoisMichigan13310
Asha BasuMcGillChicago D13610
Connor MayersMarylandIowa State13610
Adrian WongOttawaDuke14310
Nermeen RahmanChicago CMinnesota B14710
Andrew HannaPennRutgers14710
Eshan PantNYUBrown14810
Mattias EhatammWaterlooColumbia A14810