Discussion Summary

So I've got discussion summary duty for last week...

Tuesday we spent the hour in the computer lab at the library. It was a marvelous time. We learned how to use the online search through the Briggs website. The library guy (can't remember his name) Explained the computer system and explained SUMMON, WorldCat, Expanded Academic ASAP, Academic Search Premier, JSTOR, Lexis-Nexis, Britannica, and OED. Personally, I preferred WorldCat because you can search several different types of materials.

Thursday we started class off by coming up with some ideas for the presentations that start this week. After that we split up into small groups and discussed the readings that we've done so far from Deep Blues. We discussed James Coyner (who was brought up at the end of the second chapter) and what his relevance is in the book. We decided that Coyner was included in the book at least in part to show the racial tensions that were going on in that area. Also his specific case had whites versus blacks after everything went down because Coyner was protected until his execution which left many whites angry and searching for revenge and African Americans of the area "giddy" because one of their kind had finally been protected by the courts and police. We also discussed some of our favorite or interesting parts of the book that we had taken note of. We discussed the origins and social aspects of blues music as well as some of the musicians backgrounds.