Follow up for "A Good Man"

First of all, I must say that I thought the small group discussions were harder than I imagined. I think mainly because of the formality of it. It didn't feel like a class discussion, it felt more like a competition. That was just my initial reaction and maybe it's just because I get extremely nervous in leader type situations (I'm a failed Leo) but that was hard. The other thing is that I had quite a bit to say and I feel like I didn't say any of it. I think in a group discussion, one should be open to respond when they have something to say, and when someone is keeping track of that, it makes you more aware of what you're saying and all of a sudden, it's like you question when or if you should speak or save it for later. I don't know, maybe thats a good thing?

Anyways, I did prepare differently for this discussion than a normal class discussion and I'm not sure if it helped me? I started by reading the story on Friday and letting it sink in. Then I started doing research for scholarly journals about the story and other interesting articles. I started reading through the sources and tried to see if I could analyze the material. For the most part, the added resources helped me understand the characters in a better way. Then after I went through all the supporting evidence, I re-read the story and looked for specific examples of irony, foreshadow, "The good," and colors. The second time I read it, it seemed less shocking and more of a moral conviction.

My normal preparation for class is usually just reading and thinking about what I read, without any outside analysis. I think that is probably the norm for most people. I found it really helpful to find outside research on this story.

Three things I learned:

1) Having resources is always better than not having resources.
2) The risk of public humiliation is always motivating.
3) No matter how far-fetched it seems, someone will always come up with a conspiracy theory. 


For serious, I thought this was an interesting approach to a group discussion and I felt better prepared to discuss the text than I normally do, however I was really nervous. It did teach me a lesson about preparation though, and I think I need to step up my game on a regular basis.

~Witney Ryan