Reading Questions from April 5

Based on today's readings, what most interests you about women and work? Children and work? Men and work?

When Susan B. Anthony talks about work, whose work outside the home is she overlooking? Do you think she is unaware of these women's plight? Why the omission?

As journalist Stephen Crane tours the mine, he notes again and again moments of levity and moments of terror. Who experiences which emotions, and why?

Do you think Crane sees himself as having a better perspective on the mine than do the miners? Explain.

In the end, what argument do you think Crane was trying to make about mining or the miners?

How did workers subvert or try to undermine the strict rules of their workplaces? What did they gain through such subversion? What did they lose?

What role could and did consumers play in influencing the workplaces where their products were created?

What is the argument of Carnegie's essay?

How does Carnegie justify philanthropy and Social Darwinism?

Did Carnegie's philanthropy support or subvert the norms of capitalism and industrial life?

What else does Carnegie's essay reveal about the U.S. and its values in the Gilded Age?