Thursday, January 15, 2004

Response 1 due.

Leads: Kara R., Jin Chen H.

Reading

• Jane Addams, “The Devil Baby at Hull-House” (Oates 75–89)

Notes

As we begin the (more explicitly) community-oriented portion of our class, there are a few questions to keep in mind:

• What makes up a community?
• How do people interact within a community?
• What are the expectations that a community places on those who try to enter it? (We’ll use Bartholomae for some specifics.)

We will focus our discussion on Addams’s essay. Addams is a prominent figure in Chicago history, and she was influential especialy in working with the poor and minority groups. Here are a few links that you might find helpful in learning about her background:

• Jane Addams Hull-House Museum at UIC
• Jane Addams Hull-House Association (a still-active nonprofit organization)
• Resources about Hull House from the Chicago Public Library

Questions on “The Devil Baby at Hull-House”:

• What role does rumor play?

• What role does the “Devil Baby” play?

• Consider this passage:

  The vivid interest of so many old women in the story of the Devil Baby may have been an unconscious, although powerful testimony that tragic experiences gradually become dressed in such trappings in order that their spent agony may prove of some use to a world which learns at the hardest. (80)

  What role does storytelling play in everyday life?

• What social relations do you see in this essay?

• Think about Addams’s style. What do you find appealing about it? What do you find difficult?