I am aware of a comment by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich in a Sunday School Lesson she gave for dialogue. Ulrich is best known for A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812, which won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1991.
In the Sunday School class, Ulrich offered the technique of look at texts for what is not said in them. Then she gave some illustrations of how to do that. I decided to practise that technique when I was listening to some audio tapes of Doral Pilling talking about his ancestors.
Doral was reading the story of how his grandfather, Dick Pilling, left home at the age of 15 after having had a fight with his dad. Dick had earned his own pony by taking care of some acres of the family farm, and that is what he left with – one pony for the work he had done around the farm.
Saying he would not return to the farm for one year, and maybe never, he rode off to live with one, then another of his uncles, the second who hired him for the year and offered to pay him $150 for bushwhacking. The tape says, “When his contact with Uncle Josh had expired, the boy’s pay was one mare, one cow and a calf and five head of sheep, so when he decided to go back home, he came back as an owner of considerable livestock and he still had his original pony.”
Now I am thinking about what is not said. I imagined Dick going from earning one pony for his work on a family farm, to receiving 1 horse, 1 cow and calf and 5 sheep for work at his uncle’s business the next year.
Was Dick’s work worth that much more in one year?
Had his Dad previously been undervaluing his labour and his place in the family.
Why did Dick want to return home? From the story that follows, when the bullies in his community, his arch enemies saw him back home, one tried to wrestle him to the ground, Dick ended up on top, but was surprised.
What was it that surprised him? Was this the first measure he had of his growth, except for the measure of his stock?
I am just looking for what is not said and having a lot of fun doing it listening to Doral's voice.
I was a little bothered by Doral's voice at first, since he felt present. I thought if I just went back one screen I would see him on Zoom.
In the Sunday School class, Ulrich offered the technique of look at texts for what is not said in them. Then she gave some illustrations of how to do that. I decided to practise that technique when I was listening to some audio tapes of Doral Pilling talking about his ancestors.
Doral was reading the story of how his grandfather, Dick Pilling, left home at the age of 15 after having had a fight with his dad. Dick had earned his own pony by taking care of some acres of the family farm, and that is what he left with – one pony for the work he had done around the farm.
Saying he would not return to the farm for one year, and maybe never, he rode off to live with one, then another of his uncles, the second who hired him for the year and offered to pay him $150 for bushwhacking. The tape says, “When his contact with Uncle Josh had expired, the boy’s pay was one mare, one cow and a calf and five head of sheep, so when he decided to go back home, he came back as an owner of considerable livestock and he still had his original pony.”
Now I am thinking about what is not said. I imagined Dick going from earning one pony for his work on a family farm, to receiving 1 horse, 1 cow and calf and 5 sheep for work at his uncle’s business the next year.
Was Dick’s work worth that much more in one year?
Had his Dad previously been undervaluing his labour and his place in the family.
Why did Dick want to return home? From the story that follows, when the bullies in his community, his arch enemies saw him back home, one tried to wrestle him to the ground, Dick ended up on top, but was surprised.
What was it that surprised him? Was this the first measure he had of his growth, except for the measure of his stock?
I was a little bothered by Doral's voice at first, since he felt present. I thought if I just went back one screen I would see him on Zoom.
I started listening in one of the tapes, where Doral was reading quickly, letters to and from the Government of Alberta about the state of the road on which four children's lives were lost. The lump in my throat was hard to control.
Built to the wrong grade, Doral and Lorne Reed argued.
Perfectly acceptable grade, argued the Government -- thousands of cars had driven on the road without accident. No mention that in the previous 3 months 8 accidents had happened on that curve. And no acknowledgement that after the road, the grade was quickly fixed.
Richard Johnson is the one who asked where those audio tapes were and could he listen to them.
Thanks for producing them, Rebecca Johnson.
Arta
Perfectly acceptable grade, argued the Government -- thousands of cars had driven on the road without accident. No mention that in the previous 3 months 8 accidents had happened on that curve. And no acknowledgement that after the road, the grade was quickly fixed.
Richard Johnson is the one who asked where those audio tapes were and could he listen to them.
Thanks for producing them, Rebecca Johnson.
Arta
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