2.20.08 | Agee• Business• Challenge of representation• “Globular”• Group meeting• HW– Keep reading – Goal is to be done by next

Wednesday.

The Fortune Project.

• 1936• Walker Evans and James Agee were

commissioned to do an article for Fortune Magazine on the condition of white sharecroppers in the rural south.

• “a photographic and verbal record of the daily living and environment of an average white family of tenant farmers."

Agee’s problem

• The article was never published and the project was in some ways the ruin of Agee’s career.

• He labored over the text, finally cobbling together Famous Men, which obviously doesn’t work as a magazine article and seriously stretches the boundaries of book forms [Is it a novel? Documentary? Photo-journalism?].

• The book represents Agee’s confrontation with representation as much as anything else. – “[the subject] cannot be seriously

looked at without intensifying itself toward a centre which is beyond what I, or anyone else, is capable of writing of: the whole problem and nature of existence”

• He goes over many of the difficulties in his project in his introduction. What are some?

“That these I will write of are human beings, living in this world, innocent of such twistings as these which are taking place over their heads…” [12-13]

How will he approach this problem?

“Let me say, then, how I would wish this account might be constructed.

I might suggest, its structure be globularglobular: or should be eighteen or twenty intersected spheres, the interlockings of bubbles on the face of a stream; one of these globes is each of you.

The heart, nerve, center of each of these, is an individual human life.” [101 in mine.]

Globular?

• From what you have read, how is Agee taking this globular approach?

• What demands does his style make on us as readers?

• Do you like/dislike this approach?

How does this relate to our course goals?

• Globular writing, globular reading. – Agee’s approach asks us to read in a particular

way. This is not the linear, plot-driven narrative we might be used to.

– But isn’t every text somewhat globular? Even straightforward narratives can be called an interlocking of diverse spheres.

– Agee, then, is highlighting an aspect of our reading process, our meaning-making process, we might not have considered.

So, Let’s take Agee’s advice

• We are going to take a ‘globular’ approach to his book, highlighting the relationship between intersecting spheres.

• So what are the spheres?– While the various spheres can be articulated on all

sorts of levels, we are going to work Macro to Micro to see how particular discussion ‘bubbles’ interrelated.

Week project: Globular, Wiki-style Reading Resource– Instead of the usual GoPost, the class will create an online

globular resource for Famous Men. – Each group will have one “bubble” for which they will become

experts and then produce a wikipedia-style explanation page. [due Monday]

– On Monday and Tuesday, each group will introduce its page to the class in a 5-7 minute presentation.

– Wednesday groups will break up into new groups. New groups will have one expert from every bubbule. These new groups will be charged with figuring out the relationships between the bubbles.

– Thursday we will return to the larger class to discuss these interconnections. Group evaluations will occur.

– For Friday, you will take your knowledge of how the globules fit together and develop the wiki pages. Everyone will need to make one post that suppliments some already existing page.

Bubbles• Public/Private

Talk in your group and decide on your top three choices.

Each group will select one of these bubble discussions. This bubble will be your reading focus. Read FOR this topic. Make note of the contexts in which it comes up, what is said in this bubble, how it is said, what is the effect, what is at stake.

The writing connection.• Stakes

– Every piece of literature has more than one set of stakes, corresponding to the various discussions the text can be entered into. • Literary history, Identity politics, Theories of representation, etc. • The Scarlet Letter for example has stake both for the genre of the novel and

allegory as well as discussions about Puritan history, gender politics, social construction of meaning, irony as a literary device, etc.

• The stakes always depend on what conversation you are entering into. – Your writing has stakes too and these are closely aligned but not

synonymous with those of the author. • Ex. – Hawthorne had his reputation at stake in a still largely Puritan

community. You have a grade at stake. • Ex. – most of us don’t care much about the hypocrisies of Puritan society,

although the hypocrisies of our contemporary society, might be another story. • The Globules selected should represent conversations for which

there are stakes. Part of what we are doing by focusing on them is to construct the conversation around the text and, hopefully, find what it has to contribute.

Reading Group Roles.

• First task today is assigning roles for our group work

• These roles are not limitations as much as responsibilities, meaning, you are not limited to doing ONLY your assigned role, but are responsible for making sure your job is accomplished.

• Everyone is a discussant on top of their other role.

Roles1. Discussion facilitator2. Devil’s Advocate,

Contrapunto3. Scribe, notetaker4. Researcher, quotefinder5. Spokesperson6. Task master• If you have fewer than 6 in

your group, decide on which of these roles your group can do without.

Discussion Facilitator

– Keep discussion moving by asking questions. – Periodically summarize statements, discussion.• “ok, so you are saying, this… , right?”

– Ask questions.– Make sure everyone can participate.– Try to make it so that all points can be heard.

Devil’s Advocate

– Be contrary to be contrary. It is your job to make sure that the other side is addressed.

– Even if you don’t agree, try to think of counter arguments, ways to complicate what seems obvious.

– Its your job to go against the flow! Its your job to resist groupthink!

– That said, concede when necessary.

Spokesperson

– On occasions when your group needs to be represented publicly, you are the representative.

– There will be a presentation on Monday, you are the principal speaker.

– When the group wants to ask a question or if I ask for a report, you are the person I am asking.

Scribe

– Your job is to take thorough enough notes for your group that everyone else can concentrate on their tasks.

– If writing needs to be done, you are the one to do it.

– Your group will decide if notes will be distributed, it is your job to share what you write down.

Researcher

– If something needs to be looked up, you are the one to do it.

– Discussion can sometimes come to a halt as people look for passages to support a point. You can help discussion by looking up the supporting passages while discussion continues to flow.

– You are also to make sure that points are supported by solid textual evidence. Where missing, please supply.

Task Master

– Make sure everyone knows what their job is and has a chance to do it.

– Check all the formalities: page numbers appear with quotations, due dates are followed, postings look right, etc.

– Be kind but insistent. Just tell them its your job.

Next…• After everyone picks a role, you need to decide on

three areas of concentration within your larger topics. Bubbles within Bubbles.

• These should be the three things that are essential to understanding the role of your bubble in the text.– Ex. Race/Class/Gender is easily divided into race, class,

gender. • Divide up who is going to work on what subgroup.

There should be no more than two people assigned to each. These subgroups will be responsible for posting an explanation of how their subtopic fits into the larger topic and the work as a whole on the GoPost wiki.

Finally, for today…• The general statement.– As a group, come up with a general introduction to

your topic. This should do the following:• Define the topic• Suggest in what ways this topic is important to the project of

the text• Explain how the three subtopics are essential• Allude to what might be the stakes of Agee’s contribution to

your topic discussion.– Elect someone to type up and email this to me. I will

post it in a discussion area on GoPost for you.– You will have some time to work on this tomorrow.

Recap of schedule. • Tomorrow

– Keep reading– we will finish up writing the general introduction.– You will have time to work in your groups on the content of the Wiki.– I will demonstrate how the wiki should be laid out.

• Over the weekend– Finish the book.– Post your wiki entry.

• Monday– Presentations

• Tuesday– Presentations

• Wednesday– Split groups– Start making supplimental posts, developing the wiki pages.

• Thursday.– Back to big class discussion.– Final day for Agee– Start reading Danielewski over the weekend.