Now In November Discussion

I'm still warming up a bit to the science of discussing literature (it's been a while)--here are my attempts at discussion questions:
1. Why do you think this novel has fallen into relative obscurity compared to others of the period (Steinbeck, etc)? What's missing?
2. Compared to Dos Passos and other authors we will read this semester, Johnson's characters seem free of vice in terms of finding outlets to deal with the stress of their lives. Do the characters in Now in November harbor addictions? Are they greedy? In what ways?

Jenny/Jeff/Steve--representation of American Dream and anti-American dream--racism
Lisa/Connie--gender & destructive relationships: familial and romantic (any positive resolution?) birth control & abortion etc.
Heather/Ryan/Suzanne--source of his characters including the actual historical personages
Joel/Kurt/Nicole/Cory--biographies and style of prose there (and style of the whole book)
Camera Eye, Newsreel, Narratives, Cartoons
Dan/Nikki/PaNhia/Matthew--narcotics and smoking and alcohol

The Big Money

After reading the suggested portions, as well as some of the other narratives, of Dos Passos' The Big Money, some of the questions that came up in my mind included the following:

• What is the significance of the Newsreels at the beginning of each narrative, and their lack of time references?
• What is the significance of breaking up the narratives throughout the book, rather than having just one entire section devoted to each character?
• Why does Dos Passos use the characters and portrayals that he does, what about them makes their stories relevant to the Great Depression?

As to some of the topics that I thought may make for good discussion:

• The element of greed throughout each character's narratives, not in the traditional sense of greed for money, but rather in other ways within their lives.
• The ways in which Dos Passos changes elements of his tone and diction from narrative to narrative that is specific to each character.

These are just some of the thoughts that came up as I read through the book. See everyone in class!

Topic Regarding The Big Money: I am interested in observations regarding Dos Passos' treatment of gender--be sure you read the "Margo Dowling" narrative as well as the last on "Richard Savage," if this interests you as well. I believe Dos Passos's depiction of sex has been little analyzed: the practicalities of birth control and stds, the issue of sexual violence, of the sex trade etc. Dr. Perry

So, folks weren't reading this?

In response to Dr. Perry's discussion that the Life Histories weren't published:
Having read the North Carolina histories, I am not surprised. It seemed to me that the writers knew in some cases that the profiles they created would not be read during their lifetimes. So many of the descriptions of the subjects they interviewed were unflattering to the extent to being insulting: describing the female subjects as "mannish," "awkward," "ugly," and so forth. Either they did not expect the subject to read, or they only wrote flattering descriptions of the subjects they perceived to be literate. Nevertheless, I am astounded at how many of the accounts written in the North Carolina file are so consistent with our Dos Passos novel. Can't wait to explore and write about it more.

More summary of the "Life Histories"

One student wrote, "The WPA project provided people of the time stories of others who were experiencing the same struggle." I just want to clarify that this extensive archive was never published in print form, so people of the era were not reading it, unfortunately. Only now have the primary documents been digitized and made available online.

From reviewing the class work, the states that offered most about the GD were South and North Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Illinois (Chicago), and New York City.

Again, some of you may return to this archive for further research.

Life Histories

After reading the life histories from Florida and listening to the class presentations, the collection of interviews provides readers with a window into the lives of the people during the Depression. Based on the presentations, it was interesting to learn about how each state was affected by the Depression. As I read life histories from Florida, I was the most surprised by the fact that some families had to live in condemned homes. For example, to avoid paying rent, one family had to live in a house that leaned to one side and was patched together with lumber scraps and cloth. It was also interesting to note the large number of Floridian squatters that inhabited the state. The nation was filled with great desperation and anxiety as the number of jobs decreased and poverty increased.

Research Ideas mentioned from last night's presentations:
1. Comparative analysis of bestsellers of the era: Maltese Falcon versus The Good Earth versus Gone With the Wind--especially the idea of people desiring to read about how farming families in other times and places also suffered and endured
2. Compare the accounts of Floridian squatters to the depiction of life in Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God
3. Compare depictions of interracial relationships (Shayla's Alabama account) with published accounts of the era
4. Compare accounts of sailors (Steve's NYCity) with published accounts such as O'Neill's The Hairy Ape
5. Compare the accounts of taxi strikes with Clifford Odets' Waiting for Lefty
6. Continue with research into material culture of underclass women in GD e.g. work life as practical nurses, laundry, cleaning, prostitution etc. even Nikki's account of AA women in a NYC "slave market"
7. Consider depictions of elders working in the Life Histories such as Nicole saw and compare to Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman
8. Jeff had a good observation about women's lack of voice in the Wisconsin narratives, when they told accounts of male relatives versus their own lives

I may post further after I read your "Response Papers" --cmperry
7.

Thank you for your work on the Life Histories

I plan to summarize tonight's presentations and reiterate the sugggestions I saw for further research. cmperry