Working with Numbers
Discussion Questions for Frisch reading

Reading done in advance: Michael Frisch “American History and the Structures of Collective Memory”

Lesson Objectives: students discuss the reading with an eye toward the kind of work the assignment is asking them to do -- that is design and administer their own survey about what people know, analyze the results and present the inquiry in a written document.

Notes: These questions move across the different kinds of reading we typically expect students to do -- from comprehending the reading, to reading as a research and finally reading as a writer. We offer them here as an illustration of the kinds of discussions you might want to have with your class as you work with Frisch, but it is also likely that you will return to these questions on different days as students work with the survey assignment. 

Discussion Questions: “American History and the Structures of Collective Memory:  A Modest Exercise in Empirical Iconography”

1. How does Michael Frisch contextualize the results of his small surveys? How does this contextualization allow him to claim a “broader meaning” for his survey data?

2. Frisch calls his survey results fascinating. He also points to the limitations of his surveys. What are the limitations of the “data” Frisch gathers? What limitations do you see beyond those he acknowledges himself?

3. How does the popularity of Betsy Ross complicate the idea of collective memory? How important is it to know the true story of Betsy Ross? Frisch claims that the fabricated version of events is an integral part of our national identity. What does that imply about national identity?

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Copyright © 2008 Composing Inquiry: Methods and Readings for Investigation and Writing
Last modified: 02/15/08. Contributors to this site include: Margaret Marshall, Andrew Strycharski, April Mann, Isis Artze-Vega, Patty Malloy, John Wafer.