4.9 Making Significance

CONNECTION A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work. The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on. In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars. Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100. This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context? One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing? We need to hit the pause button to think deeply about life AND reading.

TEACHING POINT Today I want to teach you that thoughtful readers expect to pause as we encounter passages that seem laden with significance.

TEACHING Miss Thomas told me, “Bud, I know you can see your granddad has troubles getting along with most folks, right?” “Yes, ma’am.” “I think it’s because he expects so much out of everybody, himself included. And when you set your standards so high, you get let down a lot.” I shook my head up and down, acting like I understood. She said, “Now take your mother, for instance. He was so, so proud of that young woman, and he loved her very, very much. He was determined that she was going to be the first Calloway to get schooling all the way through college so he thought he had to be strict on her, but he went overboard, Bud, simple as that. He used to crow about how his mother and father had been born slaves and how it was only two generations later and the Calloways had come so far and worked so hard that one of them was actually going to be a teacher. But it was his dream, not hers.”

TEACHING Now you try! Signal with a thumbs-up when we get to a part where you would like to press pause. I went to my mother’s room and put my sax on the bed that Momma used to sleep in when she was a little girl. I put her smiling picture on the dressing table, then reached under her bed and pulled my sax case out again. I snapped the two silver snaps and started taking out all of my things. I took my old blanket out and remade my bed with it. I wasn’t going to need to carry it around with me anymore. I opened the tobacco pouch and took out the rock that said Flint on it and set it on the bed. I took the pouch and the flyers and walked down the hall to Herman E. Calloway’s room. Even though I could still hear him and Miss Thomas talking and boo-hooing in her room, I knocked on his door anyway. When no one answered I opened it. He had one of those dressing tables with a mirror stuck on the back of it too, so I walked real quick over to it and set the flyers and the bag of four rocks down. I got out of his room as fast as I could. Whew! Even though it was me who’d carried those around for all these years, you’d have to be a pretty big liar if you’d say those rocks and flyers really belonged to me. Herman E. Calloway’s name was all over the flyers and his writing was all over the rocks. Besides, the way he’d looked so shook up when he saw those rocks for the first time I figured they meant more to him than they did to me anyway.

TEACHING What am I thinking about these spots? Stop and jot. Here’s a tip: when readers think deeply about one part of the story, it helps to think about how that one part connects with other parts of the story.

ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT With your book club, start reading aloud from the beginning. When you find something that seems like it is important, say “stop and jot” and give everyone a chance to write.

THINKING DEEPLY ABOUT PASSAGES IN A BOOK What is significant about this part of the story? How does this part fit with other parts and relate to what the whole story is really, really about? How do all the parts of the story fit together and contribute to the message of the book? Why might the author have written this part in this particular way, including these details, using these words? What might the character be learning about life, the world, and what might I be learning about life, about the world?

LINK Find some passages in your own book that make you pause. You will want to share these with your club today.

SOME THOUGHT PROMPTS READERS USE TO PUSH OUR THINKING MIDWORKSHOP When you go to a potluck dinner, you don’t just bring a single napkin! You have to bring a big dish for everyone to share. You need to do the same with what you bring to your club. Before you meet with your club, think about the passage and thoughts you want to bring. You can write or think about it in a way that lets you talk over in your mind what the passage might really, really be about. SOME THOUGHT PROMPTS READERS USE TO PUSH OUR THINKING I think… This connects to… What’s more… This makes me think… I used to think…now I’m realizing… On the other hand… This is important because…

POWERFUL BOOK CLUB CONVERSATIONS SHARE POWERFUL BOOK CLUB CONVERSATIONS Be a good listener Be aware of any member who hasn’t talked Invite the member in Listen to conversation like it’s gold Allow disagreements to generate more talk and thinking Reread parts of the text and look to discover something new.