Day 23 - Friday

Day 23 - Friday

1) Class Business (5)

* Sign-in Sheet
* Discuss Assignment for Monday 10/22

2) Finish Discussion of "Show Dog" (20)

* Use e-mail questions to prompt discussion. Have students identify the claims, reasons & evidence for each reading

1) Did you love or hate this profile? Why

2) Who is our subject?

3) When do we know, for sure, who and what this subject is? (3rd paragraph)

4) How does the author position herself in the profile?

a) When does she first appear? (2nd word)

b) What is her relationship to the subject? (499)

5) What makes this profile funny or ridiculous? (499; interviews; treats an animal subject as if it were a human subject; personification)

6) What are the similarities and differences between the treatment of Biff and the treatment of Baryshnikov? (mock v. serious)

7) What claim(s) does Orlean make about Biff? (500, 503 "just a dog")

8) What kinds of sources/ evidence about Biff does Orlean use?

a) Compare with sources for Baryshnikov.

b) Interviews, personal interaction, dog magazines, competitions, dog’s suitcase.

9) What happens to the humans in the story/ profile? a) They are made to seem ridiculous, at times. They are as dog-like as Biff is human. (501)

b) Is this a profile of Biff’s owners, as well as of Biff?

10) How does the type of subject affect the form of the profile? Does this account for the length?

3) Discussion of "Forty-One False Starts" (25)

Identify claims, reasons & evidence

* Use student e-mails to organize discussion.

1) Did you love or hate this profile? Why?

2) Who is our subject?

3) Who is our author? What is her relationship to the subject? Does she play an active role in the action of the profile?

4) What is the form of this profile?

a) Why use 41 "false starts" or introductions to form a "whole" profile?

b) What is a false start?

c) Is this a "whole" profile? A "true" picture?

d) Why 41? (his age, no. 34)

5) Let’s look at the individual false starts:

a) What are the differences between these starts?

b) What are the claims? How do they differ? Are they stated or implied?

c) What kinds of evidence does Janet Malcolm employ to support her claims?

d) What information gets repeated? What information is new, from false start to false start?

e) Why are there differences in length? (1 is one of the longest, 26 the shortest.)

f) Is there, finally, an over-arching organizing claim here? If so, where? Related Question: Do we get a unified picture of David Salle?

g) How do these starts start? What hook is used?

6) Take a few minutes to review the false starts. Which is your favorite? Why? Which gives the fullest picture of Salle? Why?

7) What is the effect of this form on reliability (of author, subject, and/or evidence)? Ultimately, is the profile focused on facts or on impressions? Why might this be?

4) Return E-mails

 

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