Marion

There are certain similarities between this story and "William Wei," connections which I encourage you to make on the blog this week. One way that this story is similar is that it gives us bits and pieces of setting and offers plot in a fragmented way. This means that we have to be pretty engaged readers to know what the story is "about." So what's it about? Also, like "William Wei," this story is pretty clearly about gender roles and the relations between the sexes.

Like I said on an earlier entry, all fiction is about the thing that never happened before. On p. 141 there is a space break and then the last sentence begins, "One afternoon..." What is that space break doing? What are the other space breaks doing?

Early in the story we learn that Marion is 13 and the narrator is 11. In what ways is this story about budding sexuality? In what ways is the story about children who grow up too soon? What is the significance that the children call the adults by their first name? That Bobby, Marion's father, slaps Marrion, not for littering, but for risking their arrest for dealing pot? Or that Jack says, "Don't feel like you have to ask to touch anything" amidst his collections of Manson serial killer photographs and pornography?

Speaking of Charles Manson, how much do you know about him? Like a lot in this story, reference to the Manson family is glancing, i.e. "I knew Beau [Bobby Beausoleil]..." (145). Also, there is reference to filmmaker Roman Polanski who notoriously raped an underage girl and had sex with another. What do you think the point is of linking this fictional story to all this real-world activity? Does it have anything to do w/ the setting or time period? 

What do you think about the conclusion to the story? It's clear that Marion lied about some things, but who is in the wrong? What about the narrator's reaction? What is the tone of the story at that point? Note how she describes her tears on p. 152.

Speaking of lies--a theme in both this story and "Wiliam Wei"--here is a useful activity for any budding fiction writer. You can do this as one of your blog entries this week if you want: It's called two truths and a lie. The goal is to fool people into choosing one of the truths as your lie. Here are mine:

1. One night in Lincoln, NE, I had drinks with famous cartoonist Ed "Big Daddy" Roth.
2. I got knocked unconscious by skinheads at a punk rock show in college.
3. When I was learning to drive, I drove my mother's car through the front window of an administration building at a community college.

Which is the lie and what makes it a lie?

Also for this week as you work on your writing, I'd like you think about incorporating danger into your plots--even if your plots are poetry. Danger doesn't have to be a dramatic thing w/ a man w/ a knife or a group of killers in Columbia. As people noted last week, it seems dangerous when William takes the five-hour trip to visit a woman he barely knows. And there is something scary and dangerous about this household in "Marion" that echoes the Manson family, the permissiveness of it. Although we're frightened about catching the Coronovirus, the danger that we feel is much subtler like when we go into a store and there's no rubbing alcohol or ground beef left. 

One final note on the blog. Starting next week, you'll be required to make at least four entries, at least two of them in response to your classmates. It's very important that you not only make these entries but that you read all of your classmates'. This is a huge part of what used to be class participation so you need to be active here for the remainder of the term. Remember: This is now worth 20% of your final grade. 

Finally don't forget to upload your midterm Collection to Blackboard by the end of the day on Thurs, 3/19. If you can't meet that deadline or have technical difficulties, please contact me.  

For those who need extra support w/ technology, check out this: https://www.qcc.cuny.edu/oet/AcademicContinuity-Students.html

Be safe.