Lit Circle Meeting #5

• My strengths today were that I had read the chapter accidently before, and again this week. This gave me a greater knowledge of detail from the book. It was a significant strength. I don't think I had any weaknesses.
• I contributed to the group with having the usual set of questions, and a very interesting passage. It was of a dream Jim was having again and again of Lena kissing him in a field. I thought this was interesting because a few paragraphs above, Jim is fancying Antonia and admits he likes her more than anyone else.
• My group members (as usual) corrected me about one of my points. I didn't understand why people thought Jim was a bad person just because he went to the dances. My group members corrected me by saying it was a very different time period and things were viewed very, very differently.
• Another question that puzzled me which I had asked was when starting to read the book, the author for some reason gave me an idea that Black Hawk was a very rural town with hardly anything in it. When starting to make some headway in this chapter I realized that Black Hawk wasn't so small anymore.
• I suggested taking a look at the passage where Jim has a dream about Lena kissing him in an empty field. I suggested this passage because Jim also has romantic feelings for Antonia, and this verifies the conflict that is about to happen.
• I did not offer to much interpretations of my own. My group had some pretty solid points and I agreed with them.
• I did not take any risks as an individual today.
• We used sufficient class time, stalled once discussing budget cuts, but used time pretty well over the 35 minute mark

Lit Circle Meeting #4

• My strengths were that I had very specific opinions regarding to answering my questions and I felt that that kept the group discussion going.
• My contributions included coming prepared with the usual prep work and having a few extra questions in my head for this discussion. My opinions were also valued in the group discussion and it changed a few of their opinions.
• One of the questions I had prepared on paper was a pretty silly question. I had asked why had they begun preserving cherries for winter when winter had just ended. They obviously were preparing for the next winter. This is how a group member (Mike) had changed my point of view.
• The only questions I asked that had not been on the paper were small questions to defend my point of view. For example: If Kathy asked what kind of floor did the tent have, I would answer something like, wouldn't you need something hard to dance on? I did this just to start the discussion.
• The passage I chose didn't have a hidden meaning or anything. It just really reminded my of my childhood and in the book it seemed like everything was merry.
• I thought the answer to Kathy's question was that they had boards lying across the floor. I would imagine the ladies would be wearing heels. If so then their heels would sink into the earth.
• I supported my group members by answering questions and bringing some to the table myself.
• Risks I took were making my group members really prove their points. Even if I agreed with them (I usually do) I try to make them really think about what they are saying and prove to me that their opinions are true.
• This time for some reason the discussion ran a bit short. We ended about 4-5 minutes before the 10 minute note taking period. I don't exactly know how or why this happened. Were the questions more straightforward than the ones before?

Lit Circle Meeting #3

• My strengths as a discussion member was mainly that I had come prepared with many questions and insight about the assigned reading. My weaknesses were probably that once I was out of questions or comments it was hard to start the conversation whenever it stalled because my group members did not help very much.
• My contribution to the discussion was my comments and thoughts about the reading. I thought I had some interesting points worth discussing, making the whole discussion kind of fun.
• My thinking was changed a bit by my groups members thoughts. When I came up with some theories of why things happened, I didn't consider some factors with which my groups thinking assisted my theories. This was helpful to me and a very fresh layer above my old ideas.
• One of the major questions I asked which came up again and again during the conversation was why had the Bohemian family moved to Nebraska on a farm with no experience with farming. Among others, a major one was why had Jimmy's family done nothing when they knew Krajiek was ripping the Bohemian family off. No one in the group could really come up with solid answers and neither could I.
• I mentioned the passage I chose to my group, we looked at it and agreed it was a pretty good quote representing cultures meshing together in America. I didn't look at any other passages in particular.
• Their wasn't much interpretations on my part. I mostly agreed with my group, but I was the only one who brought in their assignment so I didn't really have anything to interpret.
• I supported my group members by clarifying the book. A lot of times my group did not understand some basic things about the book which I did provide. They felt much better after I explained to them what I knew.
• I did not take much risk. Just presenting my ideas and questions, as well as clarifying the book for other members.
• I thought my group used sufficient time. We stalled about twice. Once in the middle for a short minute or so, and once right before our ten-minute note taking period.

Lit Circle Meeting #2

• The main focus today was taking in the first section of the book and clarifying everything that we read. We talked about many questions we had and the ones we wrote down such as how old is Jimmy? or why had the Bohemian family moved to Nebraska with no experience in farming.
• Mike thought that Jimmy was a few years younger than Antonia, while Kathy and I thought he was the same age as Antonia but people made sure he wasn't scared because they weren't there when he came of age. The second big point we had a disagreement on was why had the Bohemian family moved to the country side. Mike and Kathy thought it was because it was cheaper to live on a piece of land than in the city, while I thought the family had wanted to get away from their past and try something new.
• We did not quite conclude our opposing views, but we all respect each others thoughts.
• On some of our debates we refereed back to the book to clarify our thoughts with the group. By doing this we definitely got a deeper meaning out of it than reading it the first time. We got a sense of what life was like on a farm in the early 1900's in America and how it was largely formed by immigrants.
• The conversation stalled twice. We recovered both times by asking questions of the top of our heads that weren't written down. This method ensured a fresh debate started the conversation quite smoothly.

Our First Day Reading My Antonia

My group took turns reading every paragraph for about 2 and a half pages. We shortly discussed what we thought of the book when the bell rung.