Part 1: Summary

.  Anne Frank’s diary was the first book to change Mary Pipher's life. She had a child's innocent view of the world. Frank’s diary forced her to come to terms with evil. She now learned that there were adults out there who had committed mass genocide against children like herself. As an adult she learned about Anne’s desire to help others and her desire for fairness between the haves and have not. The diary showed Mary Anne’s belief in people and people’s ability to effect change.

.  Change leads into Pipher’s assertion that writing is designed to change the world. This change can be assessed by comparing the results of the writing to the writers goals. The results can range from a smile to a change in an organization’s policy. Writing can also create unexpected consequences. An article meant to achieve one result may achieve a different result or more results then intended.

   She discusses the types of writing that can effect change. Art, art like and propaganda can effect change. Art may use poetry or speeches to effect. Sometimes a straight forward or a mixture of straight forward and art are best.

.  Writing with a clear message can be used to make topics interesting and compelling to the common man. This type writing requires clarity, storytelling skills and the ability to connect. Change writers use these techniques to transform readers. Change writers encourage readers to think. Propaganda writers encourage readers to be more accepting and passive about topics.

.  Good writing can even change it’s authors mind as in Tolstoy’s image of Anna in Anna Karenina.

   Writing can be used to change conscience. Moral writing can draw attention to the wrongs of society, political, environmental or social. Music and film can also be used to effect moral conscience.

   Obstacles can discourage and encourage writers. Writers may give into the enormity of events or rebel and fight despite the size of the obstacle.

   In Knowing Thyself, Mary uses the three words, I Am From, her family heritage. She writes about where they are from, what they eat, there religious backgrounds and there experiences. She encourages others to trace their beginnings to enhance there writing experience. Knowing yourself, your values, your likes, your dislikes, your strengths and you weaknesses adds to the flavor of your writing.  She suggest writing comes from within and “inner clarity, presents readers with reflective, honest work. Conversely sheaves writing can help to define. Your writing displays tendencies. Pipher concludes with a discussion about her childhood memories. Her family and family friends encourage open dialogue on all types of subjects. They were also a family of storytellers and encourages. She showed how family experiences, teachings, discussions and interactions contributed to her being the person she is today.

Part 2: Outline

1. Anne Frank’s Diary
   1. First book to change Mary Pipher’s impression of the universe
      1. Had a child’s innocent view of the world
         1. Ignored the existence of evil
         2. Had trust in adults
      2. Lost her innocence after reading diary
         1. Realized adults could systematically kill children
         2. World expanded to include heroes
         3. World expanded to include villains
   2. Mary Pipher’s visit to the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C.
      1. Learned about Anne Frank insatiable desire for the truth
      2. Learned about Anne Frank’s childlike innocence
      3. Learned that Anne Frank was charismatic
   3. Anne Frank’s essay “Give”
      1. Inspired by experience passing by beggars
      2. Displays empathy
         1. Wonders if we'll off people know the life of a beggar
         2. Notes you don’t have to wait to change the world
         3. Notes the simple act of kindness is a gift
      3. Has a sense of fairness
         1. Writes “God has created enough for each and everyone of us. Let us begin by dividing it more fairly
   4. Diary gave a sense of hope and beauty to life despite dire straits
   5. Diary shows faith in the willingness of people to give
2. Writing to change the world
   1. Assessed by the effects the writers goals have on the world
      1. “Wild Geese”, by Mary Oliver inspired environmentalist
      2. “Blowing in the Wind” by Bob Dylan became the anthem to many causes
      3. Other bands inspired listeners
      4. Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring written to stop the use of certain pesticides stop the use of DDT
   2. Writings expected to have one effect can have multiple consequences
      1. Rule of 26 states that “for every result you expect from an action there will be 26 results you do not expect”
      2. Upton Sinclair’s book “The Jungle”
         1. Written to detest the treatment of factory workers
         2. Led to the creation of Uniform standards in the meat packing industry
3. Types of writing to change the world
   1. Art
      1. Poems
         1. Walt Whitman’s “I hear America Singing”
      2. Speeches
         1. Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address”
      3. Straight forward
         1. Katherine Newman’s, David Harding’s and Cybelle Fox’s “Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings
      4. Mixture of art and straight forward
         1. Bill McKibben’s “The Age of Missing Information”
   2. Writing with clear messages
      1. Not designed for literary critics
      2. Makes topic interesting and compelling for the common man
      3. Requires many different capabilities
         1. Storytelling skills
         2. Clarity
         3. Ability to connect
      4. Modes of communication
         1. Op-Ed
         2. Poems
         3. Speeches
   3. Types of writers
      1. Change writers
         1. Transform readers
         2. Urges readers to join the cause
         3. Invites debate
         4. Encourages thought
         5. Encourages an open mind
         6. Trust readers to make their own conclusions
      2. Propaganda writers
         1. Encourages readers to accept the status quo
         2. Invites passive agreement
4. Good writing can surprise the author
   1. Leo Tolstoy intended to present an uncomplimentary picture of the adulteress Anna.
   2. While developing the story, he felling love withheld
5. Writing to arouse a conscience – Moral Writing
   1. Writer’s intent
      1. Writing needs to be authentic and transparent
      2. Teach readers how to think not what to think
      3. Use ideas and experiences to connect
      4. Coax readers to expand their frame of reference
   2. Seemingly inconsequential topics can cause a stir in consciousness
      1. Horticulturalist Twyla Hansen aroused consciousness when encourage landowners to plant slow growing tree so that future generations might have shade
      2. Mary Pipher’s own letter campaign for Amnesty International bore fruit
   3. Examples of political effective writing
      1. John F. Kennedy launched the War on Poverty based on Michael Harrington’s The Other America
      2. Reforms of New York City’s hares drug laws were the result of Jennifer Gonnerman’s book Life on the Outside
   4. Examples of academic effective writing
      1. Donella Meadows’, Dennis Meadows’and Jorgan Randers’ The Limits of Growth focuses on population growth and the decline of natural resources
      2. Dr. Paul Farmer, a medical anthropologist revolutionized medicine in developing nations wit his books AIDS and Haiti and the Geography of Blame and Infections and Inequalities: The Modern Plague
   5. Examples of journalist effective writings
      1. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein exposed Watergate
      2. Seymour Hersh’s writings on Iraq and Afghanistan.
      3. Readers responses to effective writing
         1. Jim Barksdale, former CEO of Netscape contributed thousands of dollars in tuition money to Mississippi students in response to an article about the state’s ability to fund it’s educational system
   6. Many writers who have faced devastating obstacles write to heal, express outrage and to enlighten others of their situation
      1. Loung Ung’s memoir Lucky Child tells the story of growing up in Cambodia versus growing up in the United States.
   7. Music is an effective way to raise the moral consciousness.
      1. Songs that lifted people during the civil rights movement
         1. “We Shall Overcome”
         2. Woody Guthrie’s “This land Is Your Land”
         3. Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready”
         4. Tracy Chapman’s “Revolution”
   8. Films can be effective
      1. Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me cast a disparaging light on fast food giant McDonalds forcing McDonald to change its menu
6. The writer’s goal is to find the best way to express their concerns
7. Obstacles that can discourage writers
   1. The enormity of events
   2. The fear their writing will only reinforce the status quo
   3. The fear they will be ignore
      1. The Lazlo Letters by Don Novello showed how many government and corporate entities do ignore your letters
   4. Our relationship to the written word has changed
      1. Fewer people read newspapers and magazines
         1. Too busy to read
      2. TV and Video games have replaced reading in our children’s lives
8. Obstacles can encourage people to write
   1. Feel the need to cry out our frustrations
   2. Writing is most people way to control their surroundings
      1. People are not likely to physically protest
      2. People write to voice the degradation of the things they value and against thing they detest
   3. Examples of people writing to gain control
      1. Fyodor Dostoyevsky proclaim the power of love despite his desperate situation
      2. Mary Pipher visited war torn Burma
         1. Despite the desperation, one man had the courage to write the motto of imprisoned leader Aung San Sun Kyi “Freedom from Fear”
9. Know Thyself
   1. Poem I Am From
      1. Describes Mary Pipher’s ancestors
         1. Where they are from
         2. How they grew up
         3. How the preyed
         4. What they ate
         5. There personalities
         6. There values
         7. There politics
         8. There occupations
         9. Everything that made her her
      2. Describes how diversity defined her
      3. Used poem to help immigrants with identity issues
         1. Required to start each line with I Am From
         2. Must include food, places and religion
      4. Encourages self reflection on the path your life has taken
         1. Examine pivotal events that shaped your values
         2. Reflect on experiences and people who have influenced you
         3. Reflect on your talents, abilities, likes, dislikes and weaknesses
   2. Your image of yourself “allows you to write with your own grand themes, your own passions, even your own flaws, at your service”
      1. Everything you are adds to the flavor of your personality, (Willa Cather)
   3. Knowledge of self
      1. Adds clarity
      2. Produces reflective and honest work
   4. Writing can help gain knowledge of yourself
      1. Certain issues and themes that come up in your writing reflect your concerns
10. Mary Pipher reflects how her childhood manifested itself in her writing
    1. Suggest you look at your inventory of childhood experiences
    2. Describes background differences of parents
       1. Mother from High plains of Colorado
       2. Father from from the Ozarks
       3. Both served in WWll and met on base
       4. Both grew up poor during the depression
    3. Described family environment while growing up
       1. Lots of family and friends of different backgrounds
          1. Different beliefs
          2. Different politics
          3. Different occupations
          4. Different environments
       2. Open debate encouraged
          1. Gave her a wide range of views
       3. Parents and relatives relished story telling
       4. Reading encouraged
          1. Read to keep entertained
          2. Reading took the place of her working parents
          3. Made up her own stories to keep entertained

Part 3. Key Terminology with definitions

Largesse: Generosity in bestowing money or gifts upon others

Pogroms: An organize massacre of a specific ethnic group

Bond slave: A person who works to repay a debt

Muckelty: ?

Platte: A river in Nebraska

Part 4. Discussion Questions

• Why did Mary Pipher identify with Anne Frank?
• Was itches similarity in age?

• Why did Anne Frank’s diary change Mary’s point of view?

• How were Tori Amos, the Indigo Girls and Ozomati trying to influence their audience?

• How are your flaws assets?

Part 5. Analysis