Short, Cheap, Nearly Great Books SE Denver: June 2012

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Read Seven by MacArthur “genius grant” recipient Edwidge Danticat and join us for a discussion on Tuesday, June 26 at 7:30 PM in the Community Room at Whole Foods - Tamarac. Ms. Danticat was born in Haiti and came to the U.S. when she was 12.

See page 35 of the Best American Short Stories - 2002.

This is also a chapter in her book, The Dew Breaker (2004) See her Facebook page: Edwidge Danticat.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

David Grimm: The Mushroom Cloud’s Silver Lining

Tuesday, June 12 @ 7:30PM:
Read The Mushroom Cloud’s Silver Lining by David Grimm and join us for a discussion in the Community Room on the West side of Whole Foods.

The work is found in The Best American Science * Nature Writing 2009 - page 94.

The work regarding neuro-genesis in this article touches on the question: Are humans different in degree or in kind from animals?

Basic Guidelines for Shared Inquiry

Read the selection carefully before participating in the discussion. This ensures that all participants are equally prepared to talk about the ideas in the work.
Most of us need to read short stories more than once.
Support your ideas with evidence from the text. This keeps the discussion focused on understanding the selection and enables the group to weigh textual support for different answers.
Discuss the ideas in the selection and try to understand them fully before exploring issues that go beyond the selection. Reflecting on the ideas in the text and the evidence to support them makes the exploration of related issues more productive.
Listen to other participants and respond to them directly. Directing your comments and questions to other group members, not always to the leader, will make the discussion livelier and more dynamic.
Expect the leader to only ask questions. Effective leaders help participants develop their own ideas, with everyone gaining a new understanding in the process. Participants should look to the leader for questions, not answers.