Send me one idea for our first discussion of Goffman before 8 am Wed. As with other such assignments, it’s enough to send me a few words indicating a topic, but please include a specific page reference.
Although Goffman’s work appeared almost 500 years after Montaigne’s, the form is broadly similar: each offers a number of related ideas illustrated with examples. Still, the ideas have a somewhat more prominent place in Goffman than they do in Montaigne, and that will undoubtedly influence our discussion.
Ideas appear on different levels in Goffman’s chapter; and, as you read, you should look for the points being made by
• each paragraph,
• series of related paragraphs (which may be marked as “first,” “second,” etc.),
• each of the 8 titled sections of the chapter, and
• the chapter as a whole.
However, while the more general ideas are perhaps the more important for understanding Goffman, they will naturally come out in the course of discussion, and what I’ll ask you to send to me, and to bring to class, as starting points for discussion are references to specific short passages in the text. (In saying ‘short’, I have in mind mainly sentences or groups of sentences—i.e., parts of paragraphs—but the length is bound to vary quite a bit, from single words or phrases to whole paragraphs.)
Let me suggest a number of kinds of passages to look for. And, although this list is assembled with Goffman’s chapter in mind, it will apply also to a number of other things we will read later in the semester.
• Passages of interest because of examples:
• an example of Goffman’s whose point is unclear (“What’s he getting at with this case?”)
• a point made by Goffman for which he doesn’t provide a concrete example (“What sort of case does he have in mind?”)
• a point made by Goffman for which you can supply a further example (“I’ve seen that sort of thing!”)
• a particularly telling example offered by him, perhaps one fitting your own experience (“This really nails the point!”)
• Passages of interest because of ideas:
• a presentation of a concept or distinction that might be filled out or clarified (“What does he mean here?”)
• a claim that seems wrong or poorly supported (“What are his reasons for saying this?”)
• a idea that was new to you (“That never occurred to me!”)
• a passage that appears to make an especially central point (“This seems important!”)
Notice that I’ve given the first couple of places in each of the two groups to passages that suggest questions and that the sorts of passages I’ve put last are the ones you might look for if you were looking for quotations to support an account of what Goffman says. In between come passages that are connected with your own experience. That ordering reflects my views about the value of discussions. I think they serve best to do two things for the people involved: (i) to help one another get a deeper understanding of the work being discussed by finding out how others answer questions about it, and (ii) to expand the context within they are all able to think about the work by sharing their experiences and responses.