Discussion Questions
June 26,
2006
- How could George's analogy of the locomotive and the tramp
be applied to the process of urban growth and development?
- What is Bodnar's assessment of the immigrant? How
does he add a different dimension (or corrective) to the usual depiction of
the immigrant experience?
- What is the paradox with respect to labour which Bodnar describes?
- What is the connection between the material by Klein and
Kantor, and that by Bodnar?
- If, as Kantor and Klein claim the problems of the urban
environment were clear, what would explain their continued existence?
Is the explanation to be found in the material by Klein and Kantor, or does
it run much deeper than that?
- What is benevolent paternalism and what is its role in the
Gilded Age?
- Does the concept of "the commercial value of
beauty" of Pullman typify the Gilded Age?
- To what extent is Pullman the antithesis of the 'American
Dream' discussed last week? What values, or whose values, are those of
the Pullman system?
- The towns of Homestead and Pullman are, at initial
glance, seemingly at opposite ends of the urban spectrum. But a
careful examination indicates that these towns have more in common than the
first glance might suggest. Where do the towns and their inhabitants
share a common ground? Could it be argued that Homestead was more
desirable than Pullman? If so, how? On what grounds could such
an argument be based?