"Femme" is an apt description of the depiction of Madame White Snake and all her incarnations. It refers to a woman who is dangerously attractive, and lures men to their downfall with her sexual attractiveness. In both incarnations of Madame White snake, the authors depict her as bewitchingly beautiful. Toyoo, her human lover in "Lust of the White Serpant" cannot shake the image of her beauty from his mind and dreams of her, and finds himself "disturbed and agitated" by her "ethereal beauty". In "Eternal Prisoner," Madame White Snake's bewitching beauty follows her lover Hsu into his dreams, and the next morning "he was so distracted that he could not concentrate on doing business." Both of these stories align negative connotations with her beauty, suggesting that her sexuality is the cause of their distraction. In addition to distracting sexuality, the irregular characterization of Madame White Snake might be another trait her character has in common with the archetypical noir femme fatale. In her essay analyzing the noir film from a feminist perspective, Christine Gledhill writes "Not only is the hero frequently not sure whether the woman is honest or a deceiver, but the heroine's characterisation is itself fractured so that it is not evident to the audience whether she fills the [femme fatale] stereotype or not".

Question: "Who is the her in "Toyoo, her human lover"?"

OPTIONS:
- no
- yes

Answer: "Eternal prisoner"

Response: no

(CNN) -- Horror-meister, Stephen King calls George Pelecanos "perhaps the greatest living American crime writer." His stories are set in Pelecanos' hometown of Washington, D.C., but this is not the side of the U.S. capitol that you see portrayed on TV with white marble monuments, lawyers and lobbyists. Pelecanos is more interested in working families struggling to get by, the racial tensions in its ethnic neighborhoods and the low-lifes on the edges. His crime-writing peers call Pelecanos the "undisputed poet" of Washington's gritty side. The best-selling and award-winning author is out this week with his 17th and latest novel, "The Cut." It's the first in a new series featuring Iraq war veteran and private investigator Spero Lucas. When he's not working for a Washington defense attorney, Lucas recovers stolen property for a 40% cut. Now, a high-profile crime boss hires Lucas to find out who's been stealing from him, and it could turn out to be Lucas' biggest payday or an untimely end. While Pelecanos made his bones in the noir tradition, there's a definite "Western" feel to "The Cut." The new novel takes place in a morally gray and often violent world. It's peppered with pitch-perfect dialogue and captures the sights, sounds and taste of Washington in rich detail. In short, Pelecanos reads like the real deal. Pelecanos knows a thing or two about capturing the authenticity of urban America with an ethnically and socially diverse cast. In addition to his success as a novelist, Pelecanos is a producer and writer for HBO's New Orleans-set, "Treme." He was previously a producer and Emmy-nominated writer on the hit series "The Wire" and the miniseries "The Pacific." Read an excerpt from "The Cut" CNN recently spoke to Pelecanos about his new novel. The following is an edited transcript. CNN: Tell me more about your new character, Spero Lucas.

Question: "In what type of world does "The Cut" take place?"

OPTIONS:
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- yes

Answer: "undisputed"

Response: no

Rakal, her first officer, was staring pensively at his panel. He was what this was all about. She watched his graceful fingers ending in thick black claws tap out calculations on the panel. His pointed ears swiveled back and forth, catching every sound from the bridge, while his long tail swished to the rhythm of his thoughts. Only those of the Arrallin Insurrection inner team knew he was no common 'beta furry'. His silken fur, which would be tawny golden and striped with jet black bands, was dyed perfectly to a pure black, and his mane trimmed and thinned as to be indistinguishable from the rest of his coat. His eyes had been treated and darkened to a rich purple to disguise the brilliant golden yellow color that would mark him as an Alpha Arrallin, and leader of his hive. Right now, he looked like an overgrown wolf who'd learned touch-typing. The scout ship re-emerged from the hole - a brilliant speck emerging from a sphere of velvety blackness. It's hail crackled across the comm, and Tara spun to retake her seat at the helm. "Launch the second probe. Won't Central be crushed to learn that another gateway has yielded little more than a class F planet and a white dwarf system. Level 1 and 2 staffers should prepare to be briefed and move out. This sounds like it's the one." The distinctive whuffle of pleasure rippled through the betas on the bridge, and Rakal let loose a small growl, as if to caution his charges against false hope. They'd scouted twenty-seven gates so far, and none had turned up anything worth the Insurrection's time. Tara would not let giddy hopes drag them onto a rock that would spell the end for the project, and the Arrallin species.

Question: "What was the mission all about?"

OPTIONS:
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Answer: "To find nebula cells for their energy source"

Response: no

At the conference room table was White House Deputy Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten. Bolten watched the exchanges and, after what he called "a quiet moment,"suggested that the Vice President get in touch with the President and confirm the engage order. Bolten told us he wanted to make sure the President was told that the Vice President had executed the order. He said he had not heard any prior discussion on the subject with the President. The Vice President was logged calling the President at 10:18 for a twominute conversation that obtained the confirmation. On Air Force One, the President's press secretary was taking notes; Ari Fleischer recorded that at 10:20, the President told him that he had authorized a shootdown of aircraft if necessary. Minutes went by and word arrived of an aircraft down in Pennsylvania. Those in the shelter wondered if the aircraft had been shot down pursuant to this authorization. At approximately 10:30, the shelter started receiving reports of another hijacked plane, this time only 5 to 10 miles out. Believing they had only a minute or two, the Vice President again communicated the authorization to "engage or "take out" the aircraft. At 10:33, Hadley told the air threat conference call: "I need to get word to Dick Myers that our reports are there's an inbound aircraft flying low 5 miles out. The Vice President's guidance was we need to take them out." Once again, there was no immediate information about the fate of the inbound aircraft. In the apt description of one witness, "It drops below the radar screen and it's just continually hovering in your imagination; you don't know where it is or what happens to it." Eventually, the shelter received word that the alleged hijacker 5 miles away had been a medevac helicopter. Transmission of the Authorization from the White House to the Pilots The NMCC learned of United 93's hijacking at about 10:03. At this time the FAA had no contact with the military at the level of national command. The NMCC learned about United 93 from the White House.

Question: "Approximately how much time passed between when The Vice President was logged calling the President, and when the shelter first received reports of another hijacked plane?"

OPTIONS:
- no
- yes

Answer: "10 minutes"

Response:
yes