21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World

Mini Task 1

Name: ________________________________________ Date: _____________

Section: ______________________________________ Score: ____________

Test I. ANNOTATION. Do a line by line analysis of the given poem through writing
annotations after the lines. You may use colored pens, highlighters, etc. Identify the SENSE
(connotation, denotation, imagery and figures of speech), SOUND, and STRUCTURE (form and
tone).

The God Who Loves You

BY CARL DENNIS

It must be troubling for the god who loves you

To ponder how much happier you’d be today

Had you been able to glimpse your many futures.

It must be painful for him to watch you on Friday evenings

Driving home from the office, content with your week—

Three fine houses sold to deserving families—

Knowing as he does exactly what would have happened

Had you gone to your second choice for college,

Knowing the roommate you’d have been allotted

Whose ardent opinions on painting and music

Would have kindled in you a lifelong passion.

A life thirty points above the life you’re living

On any scale of satisfaction. And every point

A thorn in the side of the god who loves you.

You don’t want that, a large-souled man like you

Who tries to withhold from your wife the day’s disappointments

So she can save her empathy for the children.

And would you want this god to compare your wife

With the woman you were destined to meet on the other campus?

It hurts you to think of him ranking the conversation

You’d have enjoyed over there higher in insight

Than the conversation you’re used to.

And think how this loving god would feel

Knowing that the man next in line for your wife

Would have pleased her more than you ever will

Even on your best days, when you really try.

Can you sleep at night believing a god like that

Is pacing his cloudy bedroom, harassed by alternatives

You’re spared by ignorance? The difference between what is

And what could have been will remain alive for him

Even after you cease existing, after you catch a chill

Running out in the snow for the morning paper,

Losing eleven years that the god who loves you

Will feel compelled to imagine scene by scene

Unless you come to the rescue by imagining him

No wiser than you are, no god at all, only a friend

No closer than the actual friend you made at college,

The one you haven’t written in months. Sit down tonight

And write him about the life you can talk about

With a claim to authority, the life you’ve witnessed,

Which for all you know is the life you’ve chosen.

Weight Criteria (x 4) Score

The text is extensively annotated. The annotations demonstrate a comprehensive
and thoughtful reading. The margin notes show that the reader has proficiently
5 analyzed the text, made insightful connections and drawn valid conclusions.
Notations are balanced and show deep reading and thinking. All of the text is
addressed.
The text is adequately annotated. The annotations demonstrate that the reader
understands the text beyond the literal level. The margin notes show that the
4 reader has analyzed the text, made some connections and drawn some
conclusions. Notations are balanced and show some deep reading and thinking.
Most to all of the text is addressed.
The text is annotated. The annotations are basic and consist mainly of plot driven
questions or literal ideas. Annotations indicate a basic understanding of the text.
3 The reader has been able to make one or two connections, but has been unable to
use the text to draw valid conclusions. Notations are unbalanced and only half of
the text is addressed.
The text is underlined in a few places. Notes are illogical and not balanced. Only
2 one quarter of text has been glossed. Insufficient length and depth in comments
1 Significant parts of the text are completely unmarked. Limited underlined texts
only.
TOTAL
Test II. Short Critical Essay. Choose only 4-5 questions which would total 20 points. Answer
CLEARLY and CONCISELY. Only the first 4-5 answers are to be read and rated by the
teacher.
 1. Who speaks in the poem? Who is referred to as “him” throughout the poem? To whom is the
poem addressed? (2.5 pts)
2. Describe the mood and how this had been achieved by the poem’s diction or choice of words.
(2.5 pts)
3. What image of god is being depicted in the poem? What human attributes of the god are
mentioned in the poem? (2.5)
4. Explain the following lines taken from the selection. (5 pts)
“The difference between what is
And what could have been will remain alive for him
Even after you cease existing”
5. How might all the disturbing thoughts of the god be resolved according to the poem? (5 pts)
6. Interpret the last lines. What does the poem say about choices? (5 pts)
7. Do you think the poem is blasphemous? Why or why not? (5 pts)
8. What is the significance of the writing of the letter at the end of the poem? (5 pts)
9. Do you think people have the free will to make choices, or are they fated to live out a predestined
life? Why or why not? (5 pts)
10. How is the poem similar with or different from Vinda Karandikar’s The Wheel? (5 pts)

Criteria Percentage

Clarity of ideas 50%

Conciseness 30%

Usage/ Grammar 20%

TOTAL 100%

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