Fishbowl Discussion in AmCon

I have to say, I was really hesitant to participate in the fishbowl conversation in class yesterday.
The last time we had such a discussions, a student was not allowed to speak when she had something very important to say. She was upset, and many of the rest of us were as well.
I felt that yesterday's discussion went very well, however. I think maybe next time we have a fishbowl, we should keep that format. I liked that there was no requirement as for how long a student could stay in the conversation. The fact that there were two clear opinions helped keep the conversation going, I felt. Previously, we were up there only trying to come up with different facts to state, instead of arguing a point.

Many interesting points were brought up.

Should we trust David Brooks' authority?
He's probably read many more political sermons than we (AmCon class) have, but he certainly has different ideas than we do. David Brooks believed that Whitman's assertion represented the common man, but most people disagreed with him.

I have to say, I love Walt Whitman. Song of Myself has some of my favorite poetry. But I do disagree with him on his vision of American democracy. He seems to place an inflated purpose on literature. Not all of American society takes pleasure in reading and writing political thoughts. I certainly do, but all too often, I meet people who claim that they hate reading (it makes no sense!).

Well, I must get back to reading for tomorrow's class. Ciao!