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Parker, Jonathan Wetherbee

University of Northern Iowa 
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Spring 2022 Iowa Documents Class Projects History Class Projects 
1865 
[12] Jonathan Wetherbee Parker, letter transportation 
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English

[12] Jonathan Wetherbee Parker, letter transportation

The method of reading and writing about literature is undergoing a major change. The root of this change rests in the  structural  revolution that swept through the physical and social sciences early in this century. Rather than seeing the physical world as a collection of objects   out there,  the structuralists demonstrated that   reality  was partially created by human consciousness. To quote Terence Hawks on the structural revolution,   any observer is bound to create something of what he observes. Accordingly, the relationship between observer and observed achieves a kind of primacy. It becomes the only thing that can be observed . This revolution affected the humanities much later than the sciences. Until quite recently, literary study, for example, remained wedded to the notion that a literary text was a kind of object which existed independently of the reader. In the 1970s, however, the emergence of feminist and minority criticism, the development of reader-response theory, and the importation of deconstruction from France pushed literary study away from this  formalist  view toward a reader oriented method. The literary text is considered as much a creation of the reader/observer as of the author; therefore a major object of literary study is to examine the relationship between the reader and the text

Hovet, Theodore

Draftings In 
Volume 4 
Number 1 Draftings In Interactive Reading Article 2 
1089 
Prefatory Note 
Theodore Hovet 
University of Northern Iowa 
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Copyright © 1989 by the Board of Student Publications, University of Northern Iowa 
Recommended Citation 
Hovet, Theodore (1089) "Prefatory Note," Draftings In: Vol. 4 : No. 1 , Article 2. 
Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/draftings/vol4/iss1/2 
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Prefatory Note 
The method of reading and writing about literature is undergoing a ma-
jo r change. The root of this change rests in the "structural" revol uti on 
that swept through the physical and socia l sciences ear ly in this century . 
Rather than seei ng the physical world as a co ll ect ion of objects " out 
there," the structu rali sts demonstrated that " reality" was partially created 
by human consc iousness . To quote Terence Hawks on the st ructural 
revolut ion , " any observer is bound to create someth ing of w hat he 
observes . Accordin gly, the relationship between observer and observed 
achieves a kind of primacy. It becomes the only thin g that can be observ-
ed" (17). This revo lution affected the humanities much later than the 
sc iences. Until quite recently, literary study, for example, remained wed-
ded to the notion that a literary text w as a kind of object which existed 
independently of the reader. In t he 1970s, however, the emergence of 
femini st and mi nority criti cism , the developm ent of reader-response 
theory, and the importation of deconstruction from France pushed literary 
study away from this "formali st" v iew toward a reader o riented method . 
The literary text is considered as much a creation of th e reader/observer 
as of the author; th erefore a major object of literary study is to examine 
the re lation ship between th e reader and the text. 
A brief description of one such infl uential reader ori ented method 
cla ri f ies this approach. It derives from the Engli sh program at Carnegie 
Mellon University and is described by Gary W aller, Kath leen McCormick, 
and Linda Flower in Th e Lexington Reader and Reading Texts. They in-
struct teachers and students on how to study their re lat ionship to the 
literary wo rk and how to assess the effect of that relationship on its mean-
ing. They point out that both the author and the reader bring to the work 
a " general" and " litera ry repertoi re." The author w rites into a w ork a 
persona l value system and a cultu ra l ideo logy (the general repertoire) and 
assumpti ons about the purpose and conventions of lite rature (the li terary 
repertoire). The reader in turn reads into the wo rk a personal value system 
and cu ltural ideo logy (a general repertoi re) and assumptions abou t the 
purpose and conventions of literature (the literary repertoi re). M oreover, 
as these textbooks demonstrate, author and reader have writing and 
reading "strategies. " The author may be attempti ng to change the reader's 
values, to undermine the infl uence of a previous writer, or to exorcize 
the ghosts of childhood experience. The reader may be attempting to find 
answers to personal problems, to broaden knowledge of the world , o r 
to pass an exam. The reperto ire and strategy of writer and reader, in other 
V 
words, will seldom con form, and whatever " meaning" the work has wi ll 
emerge as reader and wr iter "interact" with each other within the text. 
In traditional or formalist litera ry study, the student was usually taught 
that his or her personal response to the work was either irrevelant or a 
gross distortion of its mea ning. The foundation of interactive reading is 
to recognize that a work has no single meaning, that the author is unaware 
of many of the possible meanings in the work, and that its immediate 
meaning is the creation of each reader. The key to reading a work, 
therefore, is not to dismiss one's responses as irrevelant to the work but 
to surface and " to own" the repertoires and readi ng strategies w hich 
created that response and to compare them to what we can learn about 
the author's. Thus w rit ing about a literary work entai ls a ce rtain amount 
of confession about exper iences that shape one's v iew of the world and 
forth right acknowledgment of the values that dictate one 's response to 
a litera ry work . 
This interaction between the reader and the text is what is called a 
"strong reading," that is, th e reader rea lizes that a literary work tries to 
get him or her to respond in a particular way, but the reader then chooses 
to use an awareness of his or her own repertoire and reading strategy 
" to resist the prescribed way of reading." In short, the reader becomes 
"a strong or independent reader" (a n empowered reader, to use Robert 
Scholes' s term) who defines " a particular perspective on the text," 
develops it "persuasively," and "a rticulates its implications" (Waller 
13-15). While this might seem to some an unobjective or biased way of 
reading, proponents of interactive reading insist that formalist readings 
are equally biased--only the biases are concealed or repressed beneath 
a rhetoric of objectivity. In other words, honesty demands a strong reading 
rather than a deceptively objective one. Even more importantly, an in-
teractive reading will elicit meanings from the text which have been con-
cealed behind rhetorical strategies . 
The following essays written by graduate students at th e University of 
Northern Iowa in the course American Realism and Naturalism 
demonstrate interactive reading. More specifically, they demonstrate how 
an acknowledgment of general repertoires, ideologies, and reading 
strategies can surface provocative new readings of even the most over-
worked " classics. " 
vi 
Theodore Hovet 
Professor of English 


Prefatory Note

In the January number of Science Bulletin there were offered some suggestions concerning the study of trees in winter. During the spring there are many opportunities to pursue further interesting and profitable studies

Clark, O. R.

Science Bulletin 
Volume 1 Number 6 Article 5 
4-1020 
Spring Study of Trees 
O. R. Clark 
Iowa State Teachers College 
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Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/science_bulletin/vol1/iss6/5 
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IOWA STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE 43 
,How to buy, dean, press, ;11end, re-
pair, pack and hang up suits. 
How to act when sister ot· 111othc1· 
entertains, or when inYitcd out to ·a 
dinnn or sociai affair (eYeryday 
manners, writing and answering so-
cial notes anti invitations, table eti-
quette, duties of host at dinner, carv-
ing and table service, duties of a 
guest). 
How to cook, when it is necessary 
(111ateri,1ls, equipment and home 
cookery of staple foods). 
What should be included in a wcH 
balanced diet. 
How to select meals at various 
types of eating places. 
Health habits which should be 
formed in order to keep one at his 
best. 
Sanitary practices that should be 
follo~Yed in order to make the home 
a11d community a better place in 
which to live. 
What should be done in case of ac-
cident. 
Home care of the sick and common 
scientific home remedies. 
Proper attitude toward those in 
the home. 
Standards of conduct between boys 
and girls. 
How to spend leisure time. 
Relation of work to health and 
success. 
Jobs open to high school boys. 
Life vocations. · 
Since the men of the household us-
ually share in the responsibilities of 
the· care and welfare of the family, it 
would seem wise to ~-'ive the boys of 
today, who will be heads of homes 
tomorrow, some practical, scientific 
knowledge upon which to base their 
judgments. Even now the boys must 
make decisions with respect to them-
selves and others. 
ls it not possible to include boys · 
in these health and home welfare 
courses without entirely wrecking 
the traditional course of study? Evi-
dently so, for not long ago the fed-
eral Bureau of Education made a 
survcv to determine if such courses 
were ·offered, and from the report of 
the , findings of that survey the fol-
lowing information is offered: 
"The returns from a questionnaire 
recently sent by the Bureau of Edu-
cation to .high schools of the United 
States show that Honie Economics 
is ofJercd . to boys in some schools of 
a nun1ber o( cities of thirty-one 
different states. 1.t also shows that 
twenty-four of these stales report a 
11mJ1ber of cities h ;iving some schools 
!hat. oll'er to bovs w course in Per-
sonal Hygiene ··and Health . Also, 
that thirty-three of the states repc;irt 
a number of cities in which . some 
schools offer to bovs soecilic courses 
in Home Economics, such as Foods, 
Landscape Gardening, Nutrition, 
Household Management, Home Build-
ing and Furnishing, Clothing Design, 
Household Budgets, Canm Cookery, 
Family Helationships, Art and De-
sign , Applied E conomics · and Child 
Care. 
"Wherever Home Economics has 
been offered to boys, it has been re-
ceived by them with acclaim." 
Thus we learn frpm thi.s report 
that some schools are offering cours-
es usually given only to girls, and 
furthermore, that the boys like what 
they get. 
Cannot more of our schools offer 
such courses? They should cer-
tainly give lhc boys as much consid-
eration as is offered to the girls in 
educating for life and its responsibil-
ities. BELVA L. SWAL\VELL 
SPRING STUDY OF TREES 
Botany 
In the January number of Science 
Bulletin there were offered some 
suggestions concerning the study of 
trees in winter. During the spring 
there are many opnortunities to pur-
sue further interesting and profitable 
sti1dies. 
One of the most familiar signs of 
active growth in trees is the bursting 
of buds from which the new growth 
of lcayes occurs. In this connection 
the contents of buds should be stud-
ied. A longisection of a large bud, 
such as the Shagbark Hickory, will 
reveal the "stem tip" or "growing 
point" to which. arc attached the 
closely paeked "foliage leaves." 
These parts arc protected by the 
modified leaves 01· "bud scales." Such 
a bud is spoken of as a ".leaf" or 
"bra·nch" bud. In the Cottonwood 
the large buds at the end of the twig 
when sectioned will show distinctly 
at this time of year the catkins of 
flowers. These are known as "tlow-
er" ·or · "fruit" buds. Buds, such as 
those of thl.). · apple; . which · contain 
44 SCIENCE BULLETIN 
SCIENCE BULLETIN 
Issued monthly. Entered as second class 
mail matter at the post-office, Cedar Falls, 
Iowa, under the act of August 24, 1912. 
both leaves and flowers arc known 
as "mixed" buds. A point lo be em-
phasized, and verified by observa-
tion, is the fact that tlie! production 
of · leaves and flower.; ticnends en-
tiri",ly upon the onening of buds. 
The new growth of stem produced 
from the terminal buds ·will be green 
at first, which indicates that "·oody 
stems develop from the herbaceous 
condition. The length of time nec-
essary for the leaves to reach their 
mature size can be observPd, as well 
as the time of appearance of the 
new buds in the leaf axils. The rate 
at which the new stem elongates can 
be observed, and when growth is 
completed the amount can be com-
pared with that of previous seasons. 
By careful dissection of a large bud 
which is swelling, the number of 
nodes and leaves can be ·determined 
with considerable accuracy. After 
the new growth has been produced 
the number of nodes and of leaves 
can be compared with the number in 
the buds. This will bring out the 
fact that the opening of buds involves 
mostly the enlargement of structures 
already formed. A study of the "fruit 
spurs" in the Apple or Pear will illus-
trate a type of growth decidedly dif-
ferent from the ordinary and its re-
lati01i to pruning practice can be 
pointed out. Such comparisons will 
help to show the effect of environ-
mental conditions upon growth. The 
point should be emphasized, how-
e,;er, that conditions during the pre-
ceding summer when the buds were 
forming are just as important as the 
conditions at the time when the buds 
arc opening. The relative value in 
fruit production of summer and win-
ter pruning should be made clear. 
Some twigs, such as those of the 
Lilac, ,vmow and Cottornvood, will 
grow readily indoors in water and 
can he used to follow the changes 
which occur during the opening of 
buds. One lot of twigs can be treat-
ed with warm water for a time and 
another lot can be placed in a closed 
chamber containing ether and chlo-
roform for a period of twenty-four 
hours. The length of time necessary 
for such treated buds to open can be 
compared with that for untreated 
buds, kept as a check. Results 
should not be expected now as strik-
ing as would be obtained earlier in 
the spring or in late winter. Practi-
cal application of such methods is 
lo he found in the "forcing" of seed 
potatoes and flo,ver bulbs. Obser-
vation will reveal the fact that not 
all the buds on a twig make an active 
growth at one time. Some of them, 
fm· ,-omc reason, remain in the dor-
mant condition. The presence of 
these dormant buds makes possible 
the production of a second growth 
of leaves in a season when the first 
lea vcs arc killed by frost. The fact 
that some woody stems, like the wil-
low, will form adventitious roots 
readily when placed in water, ,vhilc 
others will not, suggests the npces-. 
sity for grafting as a means of prop-
agation and the various types of 
grafting should be studied and if pos-
sible demonstrated. 
In the identification of trees dur-
ing the growing season, leaf charac-
ters are the principal ones used but 
the value of other characters should 
be recognized. Bark and hvig char-
acters are ahvays useful and flowc1· 
characters are helpful in some cases. 
Fruit characters can seldom be used 
until fall. Some convenient group-
ings arc as follows: (1) Trees read-
ily recognized by their bark, viz . 
Birches, Aspens, Sycamore, Iron-
wood, Black Cherry, Red Oak; .(2) 
Trees with conspicuous flowers or 
fruits, viz. Catalpa, Black Locust, Tu-
lip, Prafrie Crab, Cherries, Walnuts; 
(3) Trees with thorns, viz. Honey 
Locust, Osage Orange, Hawthorns, 
Prickly Ash. The leaf characters 
most useful in identification are: (1) 
. whether the blade is simple or com-
pound; (2) whether the arrangcrncnt 
of leaves on the stem is simple or 
compound; (3) form or shape of the 
leaf blade; (4) type of margin; (5) 
type of veining. For accurate identi-
fication, use should be made of a re-
liable leaf key rather than the "pop-
ular" and none-too-accurate match-
ing of specimen with picture. Heli-
able keys arc found in such manuals 
as "Michigan Trees" by Otis or 
"Guide to the Trees" by Curtis, both 
published by Greenberg. One of the 
best and most helpful reference books 
is Hough's: "Handbook of Trees" pub-
• 
IOWA ST ATE TEACHERS COLLEGE 
lished by Romeyn B. Hough Com-
pany, Lowville, N. Y. It is beauti-
fully illustrated, shows the distri-
bution of each species, and has com-
plete descriptions. "A Handbook of 
the Native Trees of Iowa" is a use-
ful reference and can be secured 
from the Extension Service, Iowa 
State College, Ames, for five cents 
per eopy. 
Interesting class discussions can be 
developed around such topics as (1) 
Economic Value of Forests; (2) For-
est Regions of the United States; (3) 
Protection of Our Forests. Other 
topics will suggest themselves. Much 
helpful material can be secured in 
the "Forestry Primer" published by 
the American Tree Association and 
obtainable from the Forestry Depart-
ment, Iowa State College, Ames. 
0. R. CLARK 
STATIC ELECTRICITY 
General Science 
There is ample evidence that many 
electrical phenomena were observed 
in early times. Thales, of Greece, 
about 600 B.C., observed that amber 
when vigorously rubbed would at-
tract light bodies such as scraps of 
thin paper. When a piece of mag-
netic iron found in Asia Minor was 
seen to attract bits of iron it was 
suggested that the two phenomena 
might be identical, but early in the 
seventeenth century Dr. William Gil-
bert pointed out the difference and 
brought the words "magnetism" and 
"electricity" into use. 
Over in Magdeburg, Otto von Guer-
icke, who had made an air pump and 
experimented with atmospheric pres-
sure, constructed an electrical de-
vice. He took a ball of sulnhur and 
as it turned in his hands, electric 
charges ·were developed to u remark-
able degree. Still later Benjamin 
Franklin, the versatile American 
statesman and scientist, demonstrat-
ed that the lightning which was sup-
erstitiously believed to be "fire sent 
down from heaven," was identical 
with the electric spark produced by 
von Guericke . in the laboratory. 
About the same time Volta, in Italy, 
made an electrophorus or induction 
device-the fore-runner of the mod-
ern static machine. 
,vhen the air in the school room 
is warm and dry, the teacher of gen-
eral science may easily demonstrate 
the presence of an electric charge. 
Suspend from any convenient point' 
a silk thread to which a small ball 
o_f pith, fr~m a corn stalk, has been 
hed. Now rub a warm dry glass 
t~unbler or flask with a dry piece of 
silk cloth and hold the glass near to 
the pith ball. If the gia~s has been 
electrified, the pith ball will be at-
tracted to it. The glass is then said 
to have an electrostatic charge upon 
it or to be "charged." If the pith 
ball ceases to be attracted and tlies 
away. from the glass by repulsion, 
we say that the pith ball has acquir-
ed the same kind of charge and that 
like charges repel each other. Now 
if a fountain pen or a piece of seal-
ing wax is rub~ed with dry warm 
woolen cloth or fur and has thus be-
come electrified, it will attract the 
charged pith ball which .was repelled 
by the glass. This is because the 
charge upon the pen is opposite to 
that upon the glass and unlike charg-
es attract each other. If next the 
pith ball is touched by the finger it 
will lose its charge and become neu-
tral and in that condition will be at-
tracted by either the pen or the glass 
since it no longer holds a charge'. 
It has become customary to call the 
charge upon the glass a positive 
charge and that upon the pen or 
wax a negative charge. The entire 
experiment may be reversed if. de-
sired, that is, one can begin with 
the fountain pen and demonstrate 
the same laws, charging the pith ball 
positively or · negatively as desired. 
Since the pith ball loses its charge 
every time the hand touches it, we 
decide that the hand is a conductor 
of electric charges ( or of electricity) 
and the charges are "grounded,"--
conducted to the ground. Since the 
silk, touching the pith ball, does not 
cause it to lose its charge, we say 
that silk is a non-conductor or insu-
lator. 
A device formed of one or more 
suspended pith balls constitutes a 
pith ball electroscope, an instrument 
to demonstrate the kind of charge 
possessed by a body. If the pith ball 
is repelled we know that it has the 
same charge, both bodies being either 
negative or positive. 
These simple tests will · enable the 
teacher to show that rubber, silk, 
wax, wool, fur, paraffin and glass 


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[12] Jonathan Wetherbee Parker, letter transportation

Prefatory Note

Spring Study of Trees

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