Rose, Week 8

Jill Lepore Response:

    Right off the bat, I was struck by Lepore’s writing style. It evoked the spirit of Natasha’s comment last class about breaking the convention of “scholarly” writing. At the end of the day, history is about telling stories that shed light on culture. I think that many Stanford professors - being at the forefront of their field - embrace this concept. That being said, I had not considered one of the pitfalls of this method - what happens when the author becomes too close to the subject? Or rather, do historians sympathize too much with their subjects in order to adequately tell their stories? Moreover, how do we write ourselves into the stories we tell? Is that always a flaw? 

    Lepore’s essay brilliantly answers all of these questions, candidly revealing her methods at the end. Her use of “anecdotes and character as allegories” “to arrive at an answer” really spoke to me, as I embark on a similar journey with my paper for this class (133). Her essay made me come to realize that my subject Gilbert Twigg - whose life and actions should be considered “extraordinary” or “unique” but are rendered ordinary within the context of mass shootings in American history - “serves as an allegory for broader issues affecting the culture as a whole.” This concept validates my work, which has felt trivial and frustrating at times due to the lack of information and seeming insignificance within the grand scheme of history. Lepore’s fourth proposition really resonated with me, because I do think that for better or for worse a historian’s work reflects and embodies his or her viewpoints and may begin to take on aspects of his or her personality; however, I find it hard to grapple with how exactly he or she becomes a character in his or her book. This is something that I would love to discuss further in class next week.

Primary Source:
This week my primary source is another excerpt from a newspaper article published the day after the "Caman Band Massacre." This time, however, the newspaper is local (the Wichita Daily Eagle) and includes the copy of Twigg's final words - a letter he left at his boarding house before he committed the crime. I am hoping to use this source to shed light on Twigg's humanity, as well as, how the letter might have shaped the town's reaction to his crime. In analyzing this source, I am wrestling with the following questions: Are there any themes in Twigg's writing? How did his past affect his decision to shoot into the crowd? Is there any evidence pointing to his motive? Are there any underlying ethical or political implications to his writing? Does the letter reshape how we view his actions? Is this letter rooted in time or could we read something similar today? If we do feel it is associated with time - what ties it to the turn of the century?