Shoeless Joe Discussion Questions & Lessons

W.P. Kinsella Shoeless Joe
ENGL:1200:0037
Interpretation of Literature
Katie Ostdiek
Journeys to the Past: Nostalgia,
Baseball, and Iowa
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Monday, April 10:
Shoeless joe, Baseball, and iowa
• In groups, gather information about your group’s topic.
Have one group member add findings to Shoeless Joe
Google Doc.
• When finished, we’ll return to the whole class and hear a
brief (1-2 min) report from each group.
Instructor’s Computer Front of the room
Group 1: Shoeless Joe
Jackson bio/background
Group 2: 1919 World
Series/Black Sox Scandal
Group 3: Other banned
baseball players
Group 4: Other 20th
century baseball novels
Group 5: Field of Dreams
movie background/history,
connection with Kinsella
novel
Group 6: Regional
associations/connotatio
ns/values given to the
Midwest
Back of room Room entrance

Shoeless Joe, Baseball, and Iowa
• In groups gather information about your group’s topic. Have one group member add findings
to Shoeless Joe Google Doc.
Group 1: Shoeless Joe
Jackson bio/background
Emily Edwards
Parker Feldman
Marilyn Gonzales
Curtis Sanders
Group 2: 1919 World
Series/Black Sox Scandal
Reann Ellis
Brady Meinders
Cole Peterson
Jacqueline Zhang
Group 3: Other banned
baseball players
Keaton Davis
Meredith Koplin
Kirsten Stage
Alex Henderson
Group 4: Other 20th
century baseball novels
Madigan Brands
Jordan Habel
Brady Petermeier
Alejandro Tellez
Group 5: Field of Dreams
movie background/history,
connection w/ SJ novel
Matt Koelling
Alex LaCroix
Shawn Phanthavong
Group 6: Regional
associations/connotations/
values given to the
Midwest
Maddie Behnke
Coco Cheng
Amna Haider

Monday, April 10
• W.P. Kinsella, Shoeless Joe, 1982
• Magic realist novel:
• expresses a primarily realistic view of the real world while also
adding or revealing magical elements
• Fiction/literature with magic or the supernatural presented in an
otherwise real-world or mundane setting
• Not escapist
• Term originates primarily with Latin American fiction
• This was Kinsella’s first novel, written while Kinsella attended
the writers workshop in Iowa
• Originated from Kinsella’s short story, “Shoeless Joe Jackson
Comes to Iowa,”

Farm crisis of the 1980s
• During the 1980s, farmers in the United States were confronted by an
economic crisis more severe than any since the Great Depression. Many of
those who relied on agriculture for their livelihoods faced financial ruin. The
epicenter of the downturn was in the Midwest, but the effects quickly rippled
to other areas where agriculture played a prominent role in the local
economy.
• Surpluses of grain from ‘50s and ‘60s decreased and commodity prices rose
• Demand for agricultural produces “exploded”
• Soviet Union negotiated contract for wheat and feed grains in 1972 and
prices for wheat and corn skyrocketed over the course of 2 years
• Farmers prospered in ‘73 and ’74
• Federal Reserve tightened monetary policy in ‘79 to reduce inflation –
causing soaring interest rates
• Lending rates soared to “all-time high” between ’74 and ‘81, and was felt
most strongly by farm families and rural communities.
• How does this information impact our reading of this novel?
“1980s Farm Crisis.” Market to Market Classroom, Iowa Public Television,
2016. url: site.iptv.org/mtom/classroom/module/13999/farm-crisis.

W.P. Kinsella, Shoeless joe
• Section I: “Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa,” pp. 1-19.
• Epigraph:
• “Some men see things as they are,
and say why, I dream of things
that never were, and say why not.”
--Bobby Kennedy
“My father said he saw him years later playing in a tenth-rate
commercial league in a textile town in Carolina, wearing shoes and an
assumed name.”
“‘He’d put on fifty pounds and the spring was gone from his step in the
outfield, but he could still hit. Oh, how that man could hit. No one has ever
been able to hit like Shoeless Joe.’” (Kinsella 3)
• Who is “him”?
• How does Kinsella describe “him” (examine the details)?
• What effect does Kinsella’s use of this pronoun (and his description) have
on our perception of “him”?

• “‘If you build it, he will come.’” (3)
• “… I could feel the magic building like a gathering storm” (11)
• “Dimensions of ballparks jumped over and around me like fleas…” (4)
• “That was all the instruction I ever received…”
• “ ‘Oh love… if it makes you happy you should do it’… Annie: She has never once
called me crazy.” (4-5)
• “I thought back to when I first knew her. I came to Iowa to study… I chose
willingly, lovingly, to stay in Iowa… I don’t seem meant to farm, but I want to be
close to this precious land, for Annie and me to be able to say, ‘This is ours.’” (5,
emphasis added)
• “I came to Iowa to study, one of the thousands of faceless students who pass
through large universities, but I fell in love with the state. Fell in love with the
land, the people, the sky, the cornfields, and Annie.” (10, emphasis added)
• “Suddenly I thrust my hands wrist-deep into the snuffy-black earth. The air was
pure. All around me the clean smell of earth and water… I stirred the earth
with my fingers and knew I loved Iowa as much as a man could love a piece of

• “Instead of nursery rhymes, I was raised on the story of the
Black Sox Scandal… Shoeless Joe became a symbol of the
tyranny of the powerful over the powerless.” (7)
• “ ‘It must have been like…’ But I can’t find the words. ‘Like
having a part of me amputated, slick and smooth and painless.’
Joe looks up at me…” (14)
• “ ‘I loved the game,’ Shoeless Joe went on. ‘I’d have played for
food money. I’d have played free and worked for food. It was the
game, the parks, the smells, the sounds.” (15)
• “ ‘This must be heaven,’ he says. / ‘No. It’s Iowa,’ I reply
automatically.” (19, emphasis added)

Messages about Iowa (midwest)
and Baseball
• Further mythic/imagined/magical Midwest and
how that comes up in this chapter
• Watch a few scenes from the film:
• Ray Kinsella’s opening monologue (2:36min,
vimeo.com/45375220)
• Messages it’s communicating about
• Baseball
• The Midwest
• How they are different and similar to what comes up in
the novel?

and Baseball
• Further mythic/imagined/magical Midwest and
how that comes up in this chapter
• Terrence Mann’s “People Will Come” speech
(youtu.be/7SB16il97yw)
• Messages it’s communicating about
• Baseball
• The Midwest
• How they are different and similar to what comes up in
the novel?

homework
• FOR WEDNESDAY, April 12:
• Read W.P. Kinsella, Shoeless Joe (1982), pp. 20-59.
• FOR FRIDAY, April 14:
• Read W.P. Kinsella, Shoeless Joe (1982), pp. 59-101
(finish Part I & II)

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12
“As I did [keep my rashly given vow],
Shoeless Joe, or whoever or whatever
breathed this magic down onto my Iowa
farm…” (23)
W.P. Kinsella, Shoeless Joe (1982), pp. 20-5

Wed., April 12: Shoeless Joe
Kinsella, Shoeless Joe (1982), pp. 20-59
• Finances:
• Home plate = $14.95
• Bases = $28.95 (for 3)
• Characters:
• Ray Kinsella, Annie, Shoeless Joe, the unlucky eight, Karin, Chick
Gandil (25), Mark, Matthew, Luke, John (Annie’s brothers), Happy
Felsch, Eddie Cicotte, Lefty Williams, Fed McMullin, Swede Risberg,
Buck Weaver, Eddie Scissons (42), JD Salinger

April 12: Shoeless Joe
• MAGIC:
• “The process is all so slow, as dreams are slow, as dreams suspend time like a balloon
hung in midair. I want it all to happen now…” (25)
• “…as I finish each area of the field a new player springs to life. The cornstalks are now
toast brown in the orangeade sunshine of October; the ballpark smells of burning
leaves and frost. The ever-listening corn rustles like crumpling paper in the Indian-
summer breeze” (28)
• “The whole situation is mysterious and ethereal…” (29)
• “It is as if in another, fairer climate the Black Sox Scandal never happened, and the
Unlucky Eight play on, several of them earning baseball immortality.” (29)
• “‘Ease his pain.’ [who?] ‘J.D. Salinger.’” (31)
• “The story floats within me, tenuous as a spider web, impermanent as dew” (31)
• “Now, as the pallid winter sky lowers over Iowa like a gray dome, I wonder again and
again how I am ever going to accomplish such a miraculous feat”
• “I realize that I cannot go directly there… I have to absorb the new season like
sunlight… I must stuff myself with lore and statistics until my fingers ooze balm with
which I can staunch his wounds” (38, emphasis in original)
• “My journey will be like going out to hunt stars with a net on a stick”
• “I feel like an eighth grader bringing home a bad report card. In daylight, when I’m
alone, what I am about to do seems so ludicrous… This land is foreign to me. The hills
are blanketed with trees and foliage. I am used to being able to see for miles in any

April 12: Shoeless Joe
• CHARACTERIZATION:
• “They know that I am a baseball freak and despair that I have corrupted
their daughter and am in the process of converting their granddaughter…
They never mention my eccentricities to me, but they think I am crazy” (26-
7, emphasis added)
• “Ray, it’s so perfect here. Do whatever you have to, to keep it that way”
[Annie] (32)

J. D. Salinger (the character)
• Salinger (the character):
• Isolated in New Hampshire for 25 years
• No publications since 1965, in The New Yorker
• Gives no interviews
• Does not anthologize his work
• Discusses baseball in an interview in the Des Moines Register
• Salinger names a character Ray Kinsella in a short story and names a character
Richard Kinsella (Ray’s twin’s name) in The Catcher in the Rye.
• Salinger (the man):
• 1919-2010
• Wrote The Catcher in the Rye (1951); it was an instant success
• Published his final original work in 1965 and gave his last interview in 1980
• Served in WWII
• Became more and more reclusive following Catcher in the Rye and struggled with
unwanted attention
• Very litigious: struggled over legal battle in the 1980s with biographer Ian Hamilton (and
other attempts made to write his memoirs)

Group 1:
Emily Edwards
Brady Meinders
Madigan Brands
Jacqueline Zhang
Group 2:
Reann Ellis
Curtis Sanders
Alex LaCroix
Meredith Koplin
Group 3:
Keaton Davis
Parker Feldman
Jordan Habel
Maddie Behnke
Group 4:
Shawn Phanthavong
Brady Petermeier
Cole Peterson
Group 5:
Matt Koelling
Coco Cheng
Alex Henderson
Kirsten Stage
Group 6:
Alejandro Tellez
Marilyn Gonzales
Amna Haider
• Move into groups:

Setting and The Voice
• GROUPS:
• Select someone in your group to take notes, someone to watch the time, and someone to lead the
group (and make sure that everyone contributes – even if they haven’t done the reading
homework). Make sure that everyone’s name is at the top of the sheet of paper. Use the questions
below for discussion. There is not one right answer, so as a group start generating answers of your
own with evidence (page numbers) to support them. This will be turned in at the end of class.
• SETTING: The setting significantly affects the plot of a novel.
• What is the role of setting in this novel?
• Including a description of the setting(s) of Shoeless Joe, explain how the setting (where and when)
plays an important role in the novel’s plot and/or character development (which characters). You
may find it useful to begin with a list of the places that Ray travels to and the characters who have
been introduced so far.
• MAGIC:
• How would you characterize “the voice” that give’s Ray instructions?
• Look at each moment in the text and note important details (language, allusions, etc.).
Emily Edwards
Brady Meinders
Madigan Brands
Jacqueline
Zhang
Reann Ellis
Curtis Sanders
Alex LaCroix
Meredith Koplin
Keaton Davis
Parker Feldman
Jordan Habel
Maddie Behnke
Shawn
Phanthavong
Brady
Petermeier
Cole Peterson
Matt Koelling
Coco Cheng
Alex Henderson
Kirsten Stage
Alejandro Tellez
Marilyn Gonzales
Amna Haider

homework
• FOR FRIDAY
(finish Part I & II)
• FOR MONDAY
(Part III)
• Review Final Project Assignment Sheet – Start
working
• More to come…

Friday, APRIL 14
“‘I envy you your craziness,’ he says quietly.
‘It has been years, far too many years, since I
did something absolutely crazy.’” (70)
“You have to be there to feel the magic… It’s
the place and the time. The right place and
right time. Iowa is the right place…” (99)

Friday, April 14
• Class Maintenance:
• Review Final Project: Journey Storify
• Class Discussion, pp.59-101
• MORE MAGIC
• CHARACTERIZATION

• Genre:
Books
Novel
Autobiograpy/
Biography
Auto-
biographica
l fiction
Magical
Realis
m
Realis
m
Fantasy
Science
fiction
Shoeless Joe

Friday, April 14: Shoeless Joe
Magic or crazy?
• “‘Ray Kinsella,’ I repeat… ‘Well, Ray Kinsella, I suppose you’re under
psychiatric treatment’” (62) #1
• “‘Fenway Park,’ I say. ‘I have tickets for tonight’s game. Good ones. I want
you to come with me’
‘Are you seeing a psychiatrist?’ he asks again.
‘I suppose I will be if this doesn’t go well,’ I say, making a rather pitiful
attempt at a smile.” (64) #2
• “‘What makes you think I want to go to a baseball game, need to go to a
baseball game?’”
• “‘Now really,’ says Salinger, ‘are you under psychiatric care?’” (65) #3
• “… ‘The press are just waiting for something like this – some excuse to
swarm up here like locusts and eat the leaves off my trees and snap the
blooms off the flowers in my window boxes. I won’t have it!’ His voice rises
theatrically on the final words.” (69)
• “ ‘I envy you your craziness,’ he says quietly. ‘It has been years, far too
many years, since I did something absolutely crazy.’” (70)

Magic or crazy?
• “What if it was all a hallucination? Religious fanatics are known
to have detailed visions. You’re obviously a baseball fanatic”
(75) #5
• “… like the parting of the Red Sea, a parking place appears [at
Fenway Stadium]… ‘Mor of a miracle to find a parking place on
a baseball night in downtown Boston than for a man to throw
away his artificial leg and grow a new one… You are not
impressed by magic,’ I say sadly.” (76 emphasis added)

Magic or crazy?
• “I want to be a metaphorical poultice applied to his wounds… ‘I
wrote a sonnet to you once’” (81)
• “You’re influenced by an illusion. Writers are magicians.” (82)
• “...we’re a congregation. Baseball is a ceremony, a ritual, as
surely as sacrificing a goat beneath a full moon is a ritual. The
only difference is that most of us realize that it is a game. Good
writing is a ritual, I’ve been told, so many words or so many
pages a day… You’ve captured the experience of growing up
in America, the same way Freddy Patek corners a ground
ball… Growing up is a ritual – more deadly than religion, more
complicated than baseball, for there seems to be no rules…
But baseball can soothe even those pains, for it is stable and
permanent…” (84)
• “…baseball is the most perfect of games, solid, true, pure and
precious as diamonds” (92)

Magic or crazy?
• “Go the distance” (93)
• “You have to be there to feel the magic… It’s the place and the
time. The right place and right time. Iowa is the right place, and
the time is right, too – a time when all the cosmic tumblers
have clicked into place and the universe opens up for a few
seconds, or hours, and shows you what is possible…” (99,
emphasis original)
• “Highly disturbed persons often feel that they are receiving
direct and personal messages from TV, radios, billboards, and
road signs…” (100)

ARCHETYPES:
COMMON THEMES AND MOTIFS
• “I suppose I should pay closer attention to weather forecasts and
storm warnings. My brother-in-law represents, at least symbolically,
the icy-white clouds that foretell hail, the farmer’s worst enemy.” (71)
• “…I suppose corn farms like mine will be operated by computer.
Instead of a farmhouse and family, there will be a small metallic box
studded with red, green and blue lights, which will tell a foreman
which quadrant needs water and in which area the cutworms are
hatching” (73)
• “The days of the small farmer are gone forever. You’re an
anachronism” (73)
• ANACHRONISM = something that seems to belong to a different period
(e.g. old-fashioned, outdated)
• Salinger describes the potential commercialized future of Ray’s field: “
‘I’d never let things get out of hand like that.’ ‘You won’t have any
choice. Don’t you ever watch the late movies? A scientist makes a
wonderful discovery, but it just grows and grows until it destroys him.’”

The Role of Stories
• “I am embarrassed about beginning, like an author
about to read his work for the first time to an
audience. ‘I read an interview with you… where you
talked about the importance of titles. So let me try
a title on you. My saga would be called ‘The Story
of How Shoeless Joe Jackson Came to Iowa’…
‘My father said he saw him years later…’ I
begin.” (70, emphasis added)

Group work
• GROUPS:
• Select someone in your group to take notes, someone to watch the
time, and someone to lead the group (and make sure that everyone
contributes – even if they haven’t done the reading homework).
Make sure that everyone’s name is at the top of the sheet of paper.
Use the questions below for discussion. There is not one right
answer, so as a group start generating answers of your own with
evidence (page numbers) to support them. This will be turned in at
the end of class.
MORE MAGIC (or crazy)…
Jacqueline Zhang
Brady Petermeier
Reann Ellis
Maddie Behnke
Marilyn Gonzales
Brady Meinders
Alex LaCroix Madigan Brands
Coco Cheng
Jordan Habel
Alejandro Tellez
Shawn Phanthavong
Emily Edwards
Meredith Koplin
Keaton Davis
Curtis Sanders
Parker Feldman
Alex Henderson
Kirsten Stage
Matt Koelling
Cole Peterson
Amna Haider

Group Work
• Between Salinger’s and Ray’s dialog, we hear an
ongoing tension over what is “magic” and what is
“crazy.”
1) How does Salinger address and discuss Ray’s
sanity? Does his attitude change? How?
2) Salinger frequently accuses Ray of hallucinating,
but he does very little in response. Why W.P.
Kinsella have his characters discuss sanity and
“craziness” so often in the passages for today?
Why make it an ongoing question? (You may have
multiple answers to this question.)
3) Magic is discussed slightly less, but it is certainly
related to the many references to religion, ritual,
and the sacred.
4) Identify the literary techniques used to describe
the magic and the sacred. What patterns do you
see?
5) What is magical and sacred in this novel, and to
whom?
6) What kinds of archetypes do you detect in this
novel?
Crazy: pp. 62, 64-65,
70, 75, 81, 100
Magic: pp. 76, 82, 99
Ritual/religion/sacred:
pp. 84, 92
Archetypes: pp. 71, 73,
90
Archetype is a typical
character, an action or
a situation that seems
to represent such
universal patterns of
human nature. An
archetype, also known
as universal symbol,
may be a character, a
theme, a symbol or
even a setting.
Jacqueline Zhang
Brady Petermeier
Reann Ellis
Maddie Behnke
Marilyn
Gonzales
Brady Meinders
Alex LaCroix Madigan
Brands
Coco Cheng
Jordan Habel
Alejandro Tellez
Shawn
Phanthavong
Emily Edwards
Meredith Koplin
Keaton Davis
Curtis Sanders
Parker Feldman
Alex
Henderson
Kirsten Stage
Matt Koelling
Cole Peterson
Amna Haider

• Why do you think Kinsella incorporates J.D. Salinger into his novel?
How is he portrayed in the novel?
• What role does he play in Ray’s journey? Look at the text and find
examples to support your answers.
If you aren’t familiar with Salinger’s work take a minute to look him up (yes,
it’s ok – get out your devices).
• What connotations or associations does this allusion and
characterization of Salinger bring to 1) Ray’s quest and 2) the novel’s
development?
The Catcher in the Rye (1951): A controversial novel
originally published for adults, but very popular with
adolescent readers for its themes of teenage angst and
alienation. The novel's protagonist Holden Caulfield has
become an icon for teenage rebellion. The novel also deals
with complex issues of innocence, identity, belonging, loss,
and connection.

Monday, APRIL 17
“We are mixing a cocktail of memories, and
history, and love, and imagination. Now we must
wait and see what effect it will have on us” (135)
Characterization (same groups as
Friday):
Salinger, etc.
Character Maps
Class Maintenance:
Reading Response 5
Final Writing Project Assignment

Group work
• GROUPS:
• Select someone in your group to take notes, someone to watch the time,
and someone to lead the group (and make sure that everyone contributes –
even if they haven’t done the reading homework). Make sure that
everyone’s name is at the top of the sheet of paper. Use the questions
below for discussion. There is not one right answer, so as a group start
generating answers of your own with evidence (page numbers) to support
them. This will be turned in at the end of class.
MORE CHARACTERS AND CHARACTERIZATION…
Jacqueline Zhang
Brady Petermeier
Maddie Behnke
Reann Ellis
Marilyn Gonzales
Brady Meinders
Alex LaCroix
Madigan Brands
Coco Cheng
Alejandro Tellez
Jordan Habel
Shawn Phanthavong
Meredith Koplin
Emily Edwards
Keaton Davis
Curtis Sanders
Parker Feldman
Alex Henderson
Kirsten Stage
Matt Koelling
Cole Peterson
Amna Haider

Salinger and
character development
• Why do you think Kinsella incorporates J.D. Salinger into his novel? How is he
portrayed in the novel?
• What role does he play in Ray’s journey? Look at the text and find examples to support
your answers.
• What connotations or associations does this allusion and characterization of Salinger
bring to 1) Ray’s quest and 2) the novel’s development?
• After reading through pp. 153, how has Salinger (and his visions and connection to “the
voice”) changed Ray’s emotional and mental state?
• How does Ray’s state (emotionally and mentally) compare with other literary journeys
we’ve looked at?
• Which new characters have we met? What do we know about them? What is/are their
role(s) in this literary journey? (Do they change the purpose of the journey? How?)
• What about the characters we’ve already met, what are their roles in this literary
journey?
• (Do they change the purpose of the journey? How?)
• **Now, make a map of all the characters we’ve met and show how they are connected.
Your group will turn this in at the end of the class period.
The Catcher in the Rye (1951): A controversial novel originally published for adults, but very
popular with adolescent readers for its themes of teenage angst and alienation. The novel's
protagonist Holden Caulfield has become an icon for teenage rebellion. The novel also deals with
complex issues of innocence, identity, belonging, loss, and connection.

Homework
• FOR Wednesday (4/19):
• REMINDERS:
• NO CLASS – MONDAY, APRIL 24 – USE AS A WORK DAY FOR FINAL PROJECT
• Reading Response 5 Due – April 28th
• Film Storify Due – May 5th
• FINAL PROJECT Due – May 5th
• Portfolio Due – May 10th
• NO FINAL EXAM
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursda
y
Friday
17 Reading 18 19 Reading 20 21 Reading
24 NO CLASS 25 26 Reading 27 28 Reading RR5 DUE
1 2 3 4 5 FILM STORIFY
DUE
&
FINAL PROJECT

Wednesday, April
19th
• Characteristics of the Journey
in Shoeless Joe
• Genre and Journeys:
• Characters and Point of view
• Messages about Iowa, the
Midwest, and Baseball in
Shoeless Joe, pp. 155-189,
and in film
W.P. Kinsella, Shoeless Joe (1982),
pp. 155-189
Keaton Davis
Marilyn Gonzales
Alex Henderson
Brady Meinders
Matt Koelling
Brady
Petermeier
Madigan Brands
Cole Peterson
Maddie Behnke
Shawn
Phanthavong
Reann Ellis
Curtis Sanders
Alejandro Tellez
Meredith Koplin
Jacqueline
Zhang
Amna Haider
Jordan Habel
Parker Feldman
Coco Cheng
Emily Edwards
Alex LaCroix
Kirsten Stage

the “Quest” in Shoeless Joe
• Create your own structure or template
for “the quest” in Shoeless Joe.
• This template (or outline of parts)
should indicate the important figures
(or people), thresholds/barriers, goals
and purposes that Kinsella
incorporates into this version of a
literary journey.
• You can start with the template we
used in class last week (see image
on the right), but use it as a skeleton
to identify additional unique features
in this novel’s version of “the quest.”
• Include details that describe that
“step” or “feature” of this novel’s
version of “the quest.”

For example…
Nostalgia for
past
The Call
The
Response:
physical labor
The [half]
reward
The enigma:
an unclear
twist is added
to the call
Nay-sayers:
hero’s sanity
is repeatedly
questioned
The second
hero: the
“helper”
becomes
another hero
in the quest
Something
else… TBD
Begins with nostalgia for a lost past
or object: Shoeless Joe’s glory
days… Iowa farmer’s financial
struggles
“If you build it…” Ray hears
a disembodied voice and
gets a series of images and
unexplainable insights to
help him build a field
The hero (Ray) is rewarded
for efforts, but not fully,
indicating there is more work
The hero (Ray) uses the
information he received to
build the field. This
endeavor involves
significant physical labor
and engagement with
national world.
“Ease his pain…”
The hero…
Hero puts trust in
voice… fill in the blank
TBD… The hero…
maybe something
about Salinger
TBD… This is just the
start of a “structure” or
template… You can
keep going…

the “Quest” in Shoeless Joe
• Create your own structure or template for “the
quest” in Shoeless Joe.
• This template (or outline of parts) should
indicate the important figures (or people),
thresholds/barriers, goals and purposes that
Kinsella incorporates into this version of a
literary journey.
• You can start with the template we used in
class last week (see image on the right), but
use it as a skeleton to identify additional
unique features in this novel’s version of “the
quest.”
• Include details that describe that “step” or
“feature” of this novel’s version of “the quest.”
• Remember: It’s not enough to say that this
novel fits the traditional template. Identify
features unique to this novel. This is an
exercise in critical and creative thinking.

What motivates this journey?
• What unique features or steps did your group note in your
outline of “the quest” in Shoeless Joe?
• What were some of the major motivators in this particular
quest?
Messages about Iowa (the Midwest) and Baseball
The magical, mythic, and imagined Midwest in this novel and the
film:
• Ray Kinsella’s opening monologue (2:36min, Opening Monologue)
• Terrence Mann’s “People Will Come” speech (3:28min,
youtu.be/7SB16il97yw)

Messages about Iowa (the Midwest)
and Baseball
• The magical, mythic, and imagined Midwest in this novel and the
film:
• Ray Kinsella’s opening monologue (2:36min, Opening
Monologue)

Messages about Iowa and Baseball…
• The magical, mythic, and imagined Midwest in this novel and the film:
• Terrence Mann’s “People Will Come” speech (3:28min,
youtu.be/7SB16il97yw)
• MLB Players Recite "People Will Come" Speech

and Baseball
• Further mythic/imagined/magical Midwest and how that
comes up in this chapter
• Watch a few scenes from the film:
• Ray Kinsella’s opening monologue
• Terrance Mann’s “People Will Come” Speech
• What messages do these monologues communicate
about…
• Baseball?
• The Midwest?
• How they are different and similar to what comes up in the
novel?

Looking ahead…
For Friday: CREATE YOUR OWN QUEST
• Reinvent the concept of this novel for you and your group
members in today’s world. Use the “quest” outline or
template that your group created for Shoeless Joe. Describe
the various components from your group’s template of Ray’s
quest for your version of a literary journey (similar to
Shoeless Joe)
• Describe your hero, the call, the helpers, etc.
• You will not likely have time to fully complete this activity
during class today. Complete as much as possible today, but
think about the elements you’d like to include before class on
Friday. We will have 10 minutes on Friday to complete our
narratives and share them with each other.

Homework:
• Reading for Friday:
• Shoeless Joe, pp. Read W.P. Kinsella, Shoeless Joe
(1982), pp. 189-226
• REMINDERS:
• NO CLASS – MONDAY, APRIL 24 – USE AS A
WORK DAY FOR FINAL PROJECT
• Reading Response 5 Due – April 28th
• Film Storify Due – May 5th
• FINAL PROJECT Due – May 5th
• Portfolio Due – May 10th
• NO FINAL EXAM

FRIDAY APRIL 21ST
Create and Present Original Quests
*Same Groups as Wednesday
Final Project Conference Sign-Up

Same Groups (Wed.)
Instructor’s
Computer
Front of the room
Marilyn
Alex H.
Brady M.
Keaton
Matt
Brady P.
Madigan
Cole
Maddie
Shawn
Reann
Alejandro
Jacqueline
Curtis
Meredith
Amna
Jordan
Parker
Coco
Emily
Alex L.
Kirsten

Original Quests
CREATE YOUR OWN QUEST
Shoeless Joe)
• You will not likely have time to fully complete this activity
during class today. Complete as much as possible today, but
think about the elements you’d like to include before class on
Friday. We will have 10 minutes on Friday to complete our
narratives and share them with each other.

Original Quests
Shoeless Joe)
• You will have 10-15 minutes to craft your quest before we
present them to each other. Each group will have a
maximum of 5 minutes to describe their narrative.

1. Nostalgia for the past
2. The call
3. Response (labor)
1. Katie loved to read. She grew up on Jane
Austen, Charles Dickens, and George Eliot and
longed for the time when her favorite authors
were alive
2. Then one day, she heard instructions to build a library. The
specifications were clear, as if they were entered into her mind like a
typewriter… “If you build it, they will come.”
3. Katie worked tirelessly, unsure of what drove her. She
carefully crafted each shelf and aisle to match the
specifications.
When she finished the shelving for the “A” section, a woman
appeared. I’ve come to check out a book she said. As soon
as she touched the As, words appeared in their pages and
the titles became burned, like glowing embers, onto their
covers. Katie glimpsed one of the titles and suddenly she
knew who this woman was.
“You’re Jane Austen!”
“You’re quite right; and you must be Katie. I am pleased
to make your acquaintance.” Katie could only mumble and
gasp in reply. “Your library is coming along splendidly, but
you’ll have to hurry if you want the others to come.”
“Others?” Katie managed to say.
“Yes,” Austen said emphatically. “You can’t have a
library without authors. They’ll be here soon and your library
will be filled with lovely stories.

4. The [half]
reward
5. The enigma:
mysterious
twist added to
the call
6. Nay-sayers:
hero’s sanity is
questioned
7. The second
hero (not
included)
4. Soon, just like Austen said, authors from all over the world
and from all different eras began to arrive at the library.
Charles Dickens never left; after his books were filled with
rich stories, he began reading his books aloud from the south
wing. But there was still something missing…
5. “Find her words,” Katie heard one day. And with this
command images of the National Scottish Archive began to
flood over her. She was there with another person and they
were pouring over the archive’s material on 19th-century
oral poet and activist, Mary MacPherson.
Katie knew this author; she had studied MacPherson
for her dissertation. She was called Big Mary by historians
and her work was rare and difficult to come by since Mary
was both an oral poet and illiterate. The only copies of her
words were transcribed by others. When Katie looked over
her notes, she realize that the man in the vision was Sorley
McLean, a MacPherson scholar. He was from Scotland, but
according to the web he was currently lecturing at NYU.
That was it. Katie packed her bags and found a sub.
6. But when Katie began to pack, everyone started to worry. This library was
strange, but no one could deny that it had the best collection of literature ever
seen. But when she declared that she was going on a road trip from Iowa City
to NYU – that was it. Her dissertation director warned her, “If you take off, I
don’t know that I can continue to advise you. Her roommate wanted her to
seek professional help, but Katie didn’t listen. She knew that she had to take
this risk – she had to go to Scotland with McLean so that she could find
MacPherson’s words.

Original Quests
Shoeless Joe)
• You will have 15-20 minutes to craft your quest before we
present them to each other. Each group will have a
maximum of 5 minutes to describe their narrative.

What surprised
you?
See the groups below for a
“refresher” of who is in which group:
Instructor’s
Computer
Front of the
room
1:
Keaton
Marilyn
Alex H.
Brady M.
2:
Matt
Brady P.
Madigan
3:
Cole
Maddie
Shawn
Reann
4:
Curtis
Alejandro
Meredith
Jacqueline
5:
Amna
Jordan
Parker
6:
Coco
Emily
Alex L.
Kirsten
Back of room Room
entrance
• Which elements or features did other
groups include in their quest structure that
you had not thought of (a second hero, a
particular kind of barrier, etc.)?
• Which “quest” did you like the best? Why?
• Post responses to ICON by midnight
(today, 4/21/17)
• Ambiguous answers, will not receive
credit, e.g.
• “they didn’t really include anything I didn’t
think of”
• “I liked group 4 because they really got into
it”

HOMEWORK
• REMEMBER: NO CLASS MONDAY, APRIL 24TH, WORK
DAY!!!!!
• FOR TUESDAY (MIDNIGHT), APRIL 25
• SHOELESS JOE QUIZ ON ICON
• FOR WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26
(finish Part IV)
• FOR FRIDAY, APRIL 28
• Finish novel
• Reading Response 5 Due Friday, April 28, by midnight

Literary Devices: Elements
& technique
• We’ve discussed how writers use different literary elements and techniques
to create particular effects. Let’s take a moment to look at the devices or
techniques that W.P. Kinsella employs and consider why he uses them?
(what effect does he desire to produce?)
• Narrator and Point of View:
• Using examples from the text, explain from what point of view is Shoeless Joe
told?
• What affect does point of view has on the novel?
• How would the novel change if it were told from the point of view of each of
the following characters: JD Salinger, Annie Kinsella, Mark, etc.?
• Structure:
• How is this novel organized in terms of the 5 parts? What effect does this
order have on how the narrative unfolds?
• Within each part, how does Kinsella structure the narrative? Does it follow a
straight progression? (Refer back to other readings in this class for
comparison.)
• What effect does the organization and structure of this novel have on our
perception of the text (initially) and our interpretation of the novel?

Literary Devices: Elements
& technique
• Imagery
• Find textual examples in which Kinsella uses visual representations (of
actions, objects, or ideas) to appeal to our senses.
• What patterns (repetitions or similarities) do you notice in these examples
of imagery?
• What effect do these examples of imagery have on our perception of the
text, and on our interpretation of the story?
• Why might this effect be important to the themes of this novel?
• Like Slaughterhouse-Five Kinsella manipulates the genre boundaries
of this novel.
• Consider the genre of this novel on two levels:
• 1) How it appears when we suspend our disbelief and enter into Kinsella’s
fiction world and
• 2) How it appears when we step back and analyze it as a work of fiction.
• Considering both of these levels: how would you categorize the genre of
this novel? Why?

• Using examples from the text, explain from what point of
view is Shoeless Joe told? What affect does point of view
has on the novel? How would the novel change if it were told
from the point of view of each of the following characters: JD
Salinger, Annie Kinsella, Mark, etc.?
• Like Slaughterhouse-Five Kinsella manipulates the genre
boundaries of this novel. Consider the genre of this novel on
two levels: 1) How it appears when we suspend our disbelief
and enter into Kinsella’s fiction world and 2) How it appears
when we step back and analyze it as a work of fiction.
Considering both of these levels: how would you categorize
the genre of this novel? Why?

HOMEWORK
• REMEMBER: NO CLASS MONDAY, APRIL 24TH,
WORK DAY!!!!!
• FOR WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26
(finish Part IV)
• FOR FRIDAY, APRIL 28
• Finish novel
• Reading Response 5 Due Friday, April 28, by
midnight

Wednesday, April 26
ICON EVALUATIONS
CONFERENCE SIGN UP SHEET
CLASS DISCUSSION
UPCOMING ASSIGNMENTS – REVIEW
GRADES AND OTHER GENERAL INFORMATION
“I heard somebody say once, ‘Success
is getting what you want, but happiness
is wanting what you get.’” (230)
Kinsella, Shoeless Joe, pp.226-255

Icon evaluations
engl:1200:0037
• You have two surveys to fill out:
• 1) Standard Evaluation and
• 2) Detailed Feedback (for me)
• You can log on through ICON or MyUI
• For ICON, simply go to https://icon.uiowa.edu
and log on
• Go to “Student Tools” and
• Select “Course Evaluations (ACE)”
• For MyUI, simply go to
https://myui.uiowa.edu and log on
• Under “Student Learning”
• select “Course Evaluations”
Our Course
Information:
ENGL:1200:0037
Spring 2017
Katherine Wetzel

Conference Sign-up
• Final project due – Friday, May 5th
• Conferences available from Thursday, April 27 – Friday, May 5

Final segment of: “The Oldest Living
Chicago Cub”
• How would you describe Eddie Scissons’s speech (pp.226-
229)? What is the purpose of his speech at this point in the
novel (and overall in this novel)?
• What role does Eddie Scissons play in the journey (or journeys)
in this novel? Why is he important to the development of the
plot? How is he important to the development of themes in this
novel?
• What effect does the major conflict (pp.240-245) of this section
and its resolution (pp.245-249) have on the novel, character
development, and theme development?
• We’ve read and discussed this novel as if it is Ray’s journey, but
who else might this journey be aimed at?

“The Oldest Living
Chicago Cub”
• How would you describe Eddie
Scissons’s speech (pp.226-229)?
• What is the purpose of his speech at
this point in the novel (and overall in
this novel)?

Chicago Cub”
• What role does Eddie Scissons play in the journey (or
journeys) in this novel? Why is he important to the
development of the plot? How is he important to the
development of themes in this novel?
who else might this journey be aimed at?

What effect does the major conflict (pp.240-245) of this section
and its resolution (pp.245-249)
have on the novel, character development, and theme
development?
Chicago Cub”

Chicago Cub”
• What role does Eddie Scissons play in the journey (or journeys)
in this novel? Why is he important to the development of the
plot? How is he important to the development of themes in this
novel?
• We’ve read and discussed this novel as if it is Ray’s
journey, but who else might this journey be aimed at?
We’ve read and discussed this novel as if it is Ray’s
journey, but who else might this journey be aimed at?

Upcoming Assignments &
Overview
• Grades will be updated this Friday by midnight
• Final Project FAQs:
• Should I use a formal or informal tone with this assignment?
• Not as formal as paper 2, but make sure this doesn’t become a reflection.
• Should I include a works cited page?
• Please include a works cited page
• You do not have to site tweets that are embedded in the storify, but include
other sources that are more complicated so that we can find them if
necessary.
• Examples
• https://storify.com/kmdonovan/is-it-possible-to-return-home
• https://storify.com/ea30236/the-journey-of-self
• https://storify.com/rylie_niebuhr/personal-growth-journeys
• https://storify.com/bmartel/literary-journeys

homework
• FOR FRIDAY
• Finish novel
• RR5 Due Friday, April 28th on ICON by midnight
• REMINDERS
• Final project due Friday, May 5th by midnight
• Film storify due Friday, May 5th by midnight
• Portfolios due May 10th (assignment discussed on
Friday)
Grades will be updated by Friday @ midnight

Friday, April 28
Class Maintenance:
Final Project / Schedule
Portfolio Assignment
Class Discussion:
Shoeless Joe
Literary Journeys
Kinsella, Shoeless Joe, pp. 256-end

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
24 25 26 27
Conferences:
12:30 Jordan
1:30 Emily
28
Conferences:
10:30 Amna
1:30 Alex H.
2:30 Marilyn
3:30 Brady M.
Reading
Response 5 Due
1
Watch Field of
Dreams
Conferences:
1:30 Madigan
2:00 Alejandro
2:30 Matt
3:30 Parker
4:00 Jacqueline
4:30 Curtis
2
Conferences:
11:00 Brady P.
11:30 Maddie
12:00 Reann
2:00 Kirsten
2:30 Meredith
3
Watch Field
of Dreams
4
Conferences:
2:30 Coco
5
Watch Field of
Dreams
Final Project
Due
8
Finals Week
NO FINAL
EXAM
9 10
Portfolio
Due
11 12

Final Portfolio
• Reflective Learning Portfolios form the core of our Outcomes
Assessment process for the program. Additionally, they contribute an
important component to the course. Here are the requirements for
the Portfolio:
• Each student in Fall 2016 Engl:1200 will be required to submit a portfolio
of all three major written assignments for the course (final papers without
comments – final project may come in the form of a URL or a pdf) and a
brief reflection of their work for the semester.
• In addition to gathering these materials, each student will add to the
portfolio: A final 2-3 page reflective paper (averaging 500-750 words) on
what the student has learned during the course. *Note: This should be
more of a reflection on the student's own learning processes, rather than
an “evaluation” of the course or the instructor. Students should reflect on
how they have grown as writers, readers and thinkers through the course.
(See generative questions below for assistance.)
• At the end of the semester, students will create one document containing
the major assignments designated by the instructor and their 2-3 page
reflection. They will then upload this document to the ICON dropbox under
the category clearly marked “Portfolio.”

Generative Questions
• How did you feel about reading when you began this class? What was your
comfort level with reading and discussing fiction both generally and in a classroom
setting? What was your comfort level with reading and discussing poetry both
generally and in a classroom setting?
• How do you feel about reading poetry and/or fiction now? Has your comfort level
with reading and discussing fiction and/or poetry changed? How has this class
influenced that change?
• Describe your experiences with literary analysis when you began this class. How
have your analysis skills changed this semester? How has this class influenced
that change?
• Describe your writing skills from the beginning of the semester. Have your writing
skills changed? Have your self-revision skills changed? How? Do you feel more
comfortable asking for help with your writing? Do you know where to go for help
with your writing?
• Have you been exposed to new works of literature that you wouldn’t have normally
read? Which texts?
• How did you feel about literature and/or interpreting literature when you began this
class? Has that changed? If so, how?

Portfolio grading
• Each portfolio will receive a complete/incomplete
grade for following the above guidelines and
submitting the portfolio by the due date. Successful
completion will receive a “complete” grade and
unsuccessful or absent submissions will receive an
“incomplete” grade.

The rapture of J.D. Salinger
• What is the door for? Where does it go?
• “No one asked me. It was instinct that caused me to build that door…” (259)
• What is beyond the gate? How does the gate and its secrets impact the
characters and their development? (260-2)
• “I do have hope… My hope is that if I serve them well, I may someday be
told…” (260)
• What have we learned about who is being chosen and for what purpose?
• “…a man being able to touch the perfect dream” (263)
• How does the novel end?
• What symbols does Kinsella incorporate into this final chapter and what do
they represent?
• With all of these issues in mind, what effect does this ending and final
chapter have on our interpretation of the “journey”? Why might Kinsella craft
it this way?

Literary journeys
who else might this journey be aimed at? Why?
• How does that change the other features of this literary journey
or quest?

Homework
24 25 26 27
Conferences:
12:30 Jordan
1:30 Emily
28
Conferences:
10:30 Amna
1:30 Alex H.
2:30 Marilyn
3:30 Brady M.
RR 5 Due
1
Field of Dreams
Conferences:
1:30 Madigan
2:00 Alejandro
2:30 Matt
3:30 Parker
4:00 Jacqueline
4:30 Curtis
2
Conferences:
11:00 Brady P.
11:30 Maddie
12:00 Reann
2:00 Kirsten
2:30 Meredith
3
Field of
Dreams
4
Conferences:
2:30 Coco
5
Field of Dreams
Final Project Due
8
Finals Week
NO FINAL EXAM
9 10
Portfolio
Due
11 12
TONIGHT
RR5 is DUE by MIDNIGHT
TONIGHT
FOR MONDAY (final week)
Prepare for final film, Field of
Dreams
Prepare final project (due Friday,
May 5th)

Field of dreams
ENGL:1200:0037
Interpretation of Literature
Katie Wetzel
Spring 2017
Concluding Literary Journeys & Final
Narratives
WEEK 16

Monday, May 1
Class Maintenance  Review of Novel vs. Film  View Field of Dreams
(40min)
Who wants to burn books? Who wants to piss on the
Constitution of the United Sates? Anybody?
All right. Now: who's for The Bill of Rights? Come
on...who thinks freedom’s a pretty good thing? Let's
see those hands.
Who thinks we have to stand up to the kind of
censorship they have in Russia?There you go. All
right, America! I'm proud of you. I mean it. You're
beautiful!

Homework
24 25 26 27
Conferences:
12:30 Jordan
1:30 Emily
28
Conferences:
10:30 Amna
1:30 Alex H.
2:30 Marilyn
3:30 Brady M.
RR 5 Due
1
Field of Dreams
Conferences:
1:30 Madigan
2:00
2:30
3:30 Parker
4:00 Jacqueline
4:30 Curtis
2
Conferences:
11:00 Brady P.
11:30 Maddie
12:00 Reann
2:00 Kirsten
2:30 Meredith
3
Field of
Dreams
Conferences:
1:30 Amna
2:00 Alejandro
4
Conferences:
2:30 Coco
5
Field of Dreams
Final Project Due
Film Storify Due
*(over Wizard of Oz,
Mad Max: Fury Road,
or Field of Dreams)s
8
Finals Week
NO FINAL EXAM
9 10
Portfolio Due
11 12
FOR FINAL WEEK
Dreams
Final Project - due Friday, May 5th
Film Storify - due Friday, May 5th
EXAM WEEK
Portfolio – due Wednesday, May
10th

Wednesday,
May 3
Class Maintenance:
View Field of Dreams (40min)
“Go the distance… [Terrance Mann:] ‘I wish I had your
passion, Ray. Misdirected though it might be, it is still a
passion. I used to feel that way about things, but… You
got another message, didn’t you?’”

Homework
24 25 26 27
Conferences:
12:30 Jordan
1:30 Emily
28
Conferences:
10:30 Amna
1:30 Alex H.
2:30 Marilyn
3:30 Brady M.
RR 5 Due
1
Field of Dreams
Conferences:
1:30 Madigan
2:00
2:30
3:30 Parker
4:00 Jacqueline
4:30 Curtis
2
Conferences:
11:00 Brady P.
11:30 Maddie
12:00 Reann
2:00 Kirsten
2:30 Meredith
3
Field of
Dreams
Conferences:
1:30 Amna
2:00 Alejandro
4:00 Curtis
4:30 Matt
4
Conferences:
2:30 Coco
5
Field of Dreams
Final Project Due
Film Storify Due
Mad Max: Fury Road,
or Field of Dreams)
8
Finals Week
NO FINAL EXAM
9 10
Portfolio Due
11 12
FOR FINAL WEEK
Dreams
EXAM WEEK
Portfolio – due Wednesday, May
10th

Friday, may 5
Finish viewing of Field of Dreams
Snacks
ENJOY BEING DONE WITH CLASSES!

Homework
24 25 26 27
Conferences:
12:30 Jordan
1:30 Emily
28Conferences:
10:30 Amna
1:30 Alex H.
2:30 Marilyn
3:30 Brady M.
RR 5 Due
1
Field of Dreams
Conferences:
1:30 Madigan
3:30 Parker
4:00 Jacqueline
4:30 Curtis
2
Conferences:
11:00 Brady P.
11:30 Maddie
12:00 Reann
2:00 Kirsten
2:30 Meredith
3
Field of
Dreams
Conferences:
1:30 Amna
2:00 Alejandro
4
Conferences:
2:30 Coco
5
Field of Dreams
Final Project Due
Film Storify Due
Mad Max: Fury Road,
or Field of Dreams)
8
Finals Week
NO FINAL EXAM
9 10
Portfolio Due
11 12
FOR FINAL WEEK
Prepare for final film, Field of Dreams
EXAM WEEK
Portfolio – due Wednesday, May 10th
I will not hold office hours next week,
but I can make appointments as
necessary.
Just email me 

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