God

The catalyst for the story is the poem. The poem is about Nutella's pre-ejaculation and so the fraternity calls Melanie God and pretends to worship her. Why is the story called "God"? What tension does that set up for you as a reader? What kind of assumption(s) do you bring to a story titled "God"?

But yes, the poem. Read it again. What is the poem doing in the story? Benjamin Nugent could have just said the poem existed, described what it was about, and left it at that. But he wrote the poem. How is it as a poem? Is it a good poem?

What is Melanie/God like as a character? What assumptions did you make about her? It's suggested at the end that she was a virgin until she had sex w/ the narrator. Was this a surprise? Or is that a cliche that the "fast" girl turned out to be a virgin?

What is the story about? Who is the protagonist?

What do you think about the nicknames for the frat brothers? Apparently, this is a thing w/ rich white men as came to light in the controversy over Brett Kavanaugh two years ago:

Or maybe this is something that all people do regardless of ethnicity or gender. What do you think?

Why does the narrator taste Melanie's tears at the end? Reread the last three paragraphs again. What happens at the end? Why is this the conclusion?

For your writing this week, try to add lines to the poem like Oprah does on p. 213. If your lines are good enough, they might stand alone as your own poem. Also, I think that a big part of the strength of the story is not about anything that happens in the plot, in fact, what happens is not that dramatic. The strengths are two things: 1) A strong narrative voice and 2) great dialogue. This week, I want you to think about your narrative voice--for whatever genre you're writing in. Also, use dialogue whenever possible.

Reminders:

• Upload drafts on Blackboard at least by 2 pm on Thursday to get credit for this week's group crits. 
• Not everyone is making comments on their group members' drafts. You need to respond to their drafts, preferably by the end of the weekend. Even if you group member turned their draft in late, I urge you to make comments on it. I'll give you credit for it.
• Tomorrow during our regular class time, I'm going to hold a virtual class meeting to discuss the reading, our writing, and anything else we feel like talking about. This is completely optional. 
• As those who have been following the schedule know, we have nothing scheduled after this week until the week of 4/21 where we'll start the play Wunderkammer (download off Blackboard). You can use that time to get caught up on your writing, reading, and blogging. If you're already caught up, awesome! You can use the time to get caught up in your other classes or, even better, recharge. I will be available over the break. Just write me. 

I hope everyone is staying safe.