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 Contents vii

Development of Group Rules and Norms 162 Bibliography 203

Changing a Norm 165 Notes 203
Development of a Group’s Climate 166
Cohesiveness 166 8 Leading Small Groups:
Building Cohesiveness in Virtual Teams 169 Practical Tips 209
Supportiveness 170
Teambuilding 172 Central Message 209
Questions for Review 173 Study Objectives 209
Key Terms 174 Responsibilities and Techniques of
Bibliography 174 Discussion Leaders and Chairs 210
Administrative Duties 211
Notes 175 Assembling the Group 211
Planning for Meetings 211
7 Leading Small Groups: Following Up on Meetings 213
Theoretical Perspectives 179 Liaison 213
Managing Written Communication for a
Central Message 179 Group 213
Study Objectives 179 Administrative Duties for Virtual Groups 219
Leading Discussions 221
Leadership and Leaders 181
Opening Remarks 221
Leadership 181
Regulating and Structuring Discussions 222
Sources of Influence (Power) 181
Equalizing Opportunity to Participate 225
Leaders 182
Stimulating Creative Thinking 227
Leadership Emergence 183
Stimulating Critical Thinking 227
Personal Characteristics of Emergent
Fostering Meeting-to-Meeting Improvement 229
Leaders 184
Leading Discussions in Virtual Groups 229
Leadership Emergence in Virtual Groups 186
Developing the Group 231
Traditional Approaches to Leadership 188 Helping Individuals Grow 231
Traits Approaches 188 Establishing and Maintaining Trust 232
Styles Approaches 188 Promoting Teamwork and Cooperation 233
Contemporary Approaches to Developing Virtual Groups 235
Leadership 190 Ethical Principles for Group Leaders 235
Functions Approach 190
Questions for Review 237
Contingency Approaches 191
Key Terms 237
Fiedler’s Contingency Model 192
Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Bibliography 238
Model 193 Notes 238
The Communicative Competencies Approach 194
Leadership Competencies in Virtual Groups 196 PART IV
The Relationship Between Leaders
and Followers 197 Improving Group Outputs 239
Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Model 198
Transformational Leadership 199 9 Problem Solving and
Distributed Leadership and the Leader as Decision Making in Groups:
Completer 200 Theoretical Perspectives 241
Questions for Review 202 Central Message 241
Key Terms 203 Study Objectives 241
viii Contents

Problem Solving and Decision Making 242 Authority 264

Group Versus Individual Problem Solving Audience 264
and Decision Making 243 Purpose 264
Factors Affecting Quality of Group Outputs 244 Recency 264
The Need for Structure in Group Problem Coverage 265
Solving 245 Understanding What Can Go Wrong During
The Functional Perspective of Group Problem Decision Making 266
Solving and Decision Making 247 Hidden Profiles 266
Starting Out Right: Addressing the Charge, Group Polarization 267
Groupthink 268
Type of Question, and Criteria 249
Understanding the Charge and Area Questions for Review 271
of Freedom 249 Key Terms 271
Understanding the Type of Questions to Be Bibliography 271
Addressed 249
Discussing Criteria for Evaluating Solutions 250 Notes 272
Understanding How the Group’s Decision
Will Be Made 252 10 Problem Solving and Decision
Decision Making by the Leader 252 Making in Groups: Practical Tips
Decision Making by the Leader in Consultation and Techniques 277
with Members 253
Central Message 277
Decision Making by Majority Vote 253
Decision Making by Consensus 254 Study Objectives 277
Understanding Phasic Progression During Using Problem-Solving Guidelines 278
Decision Making 254 The Procedural Model of Problem Solving
Fisher’s Model of Group Phases 255 (P-MOPS) 280
Orientation 255 The Single Question Format 280
Conflict 255 The Ideal Solution Format 281
Decision Emergence 255 Using P-MOPS to Address Complex
Reinforcement 256 Problems 282
Promoting Critical Thinking 259 Step 1 of P-MOPS: Problem Description
Evaluating Information 259 and Analysis 282
Distinguishing Between Facts Identify Problems to Work On 282
and Inferences 259 Focus on the Problem 283
Evaluating Survey and Statistical State the Problem Appropriately 283
Data 260 Map the Problem 284
Evaluating the Sources and Implications Step 2 of P-MOPS: Generating and Elaborating
of Opinions 260 on Possible Solutions 284
Evaluating Reasoning 261 Using Brainstorming to Discover
Overgeneralizing 261 Alternatives 285
Ad Hominem Attacks 262 Step 3 of P-MOPS: Evaluating Possible
Suggesting Inappropriate Causal Solutions 287
Relationships 262 Establish a Collaborative Climate for
False Dilemmas 263 Evaluation 287
Faulty Analogies 263 Establish Norms That Promote Critical
Evaluating Information and Reasoning from the Thinking 287
World Wide Web 263 Step 4 of P-MOPS: Consensus Decision Making 290
Accuracy 264 Suggestions for Achieving Consensus 290
 Contents ix

Second-Guess the Tentative Choice Before Fully When Negotiation Fails: Alternative
Committing to It 291 Procedures 341
Step 5 of P-MOPS: Implementing the Solution Mediation by the Leader 341
Chosen 292 Voting 342
Use PERT to Keep Track of Implementation Forcing 343
Details 292 Third-Party Arbitration 343
Tailoring P-MOPS to Fit a Specific Questions for Review 344
Problem 294 Key terms 344
Problem Characteristics 296
Bibliography 344
Using Technology to Help a Group’s Problem Notes 345
Solving and Decision Making 301
General Tools 301
Computer Technology Designed for Group
Problem Solving 304 PART V
Questions for Review 308
Key Terms 309 Group Observation and
Evaluation Tools 349
Bibliography 309
Notes 309 12 Tools for Assessing and
Evaluating Groups 351
11 Managing Conflict in the
Small Group 313 Central Message 351
Study Objectives 351
Central Message 313
Internal Assessment: Members Evaluate the
Study Objectives 313
Group 354
A Definition of Conflict 315 Self-Assessment 354
Positive and Negative Outcomes of Conflict 318 Member and Group Assessment 356
Benefits of Conflict 318
Negative Effects of Conflict 319 Calling for Outside Help: The
Expressing Disagreement in a Group 320 Consultant 366
Types of Conflict 322 Practice First 367
Task Conflict 323 Reminding 367
Relationship Conflict 323 Teaching 368
Process Conflict 323 Critiquing 368
Conflict over Inequity 324 Giving Feedback 368
Planning the Consultation 369
Managing Conflict 326 Ethical Principles for Consultants 371
Basic Approaches Toward Conflict
Management 327 More Instruments for Observing and
Conflict Management Styles and Tactics 329 Consulting 372
Avoidance 331 Verbal Interaction Analysis 372
Accommodation 332 Content Analysis 374
Competition 332 SYMLOG: Drawing a Snapshot of a Group 377
Collaboration 333 Questions for Review 381
Compromise 334
Key Terms 381
Expressing Disagreement Ethically 334
Cultural Factors in Conflict 336 Bibliography 382
Negotiating Principled Agreement 338 Notes 382
x Contents

Appendix A: Preparing for The Organizing Stage 397

Delegate Duties 398
Problem-Solving Discussions: Gather Verbal and Visual Materials 399
Informational Resources for the Verbal Materials 399
Group 383 Visual Materials 399
Organize Materials and Your Presentation 401
Review and Organize Your Present Stock
Introduction 401
of Information and Ideas 383 Body 402
Gather Information You Need 385 Conclusion 403
Note Taking 385
The Presenting Stage 403
Reading: Print and Electronic Sources 386
Check Your Language 404
Direct Observation 388
Practice Aloud 404
Surveys 388
Be a Good Listener 405
Individual and Group Interviews 389
Focus Group Interviews 389 Inviting Public Input Using a Buzz Group
Other Information Sources 389 Session 405
Evaluate the Information and Ideas You Have Public Meetings 407
Collected 390 Notes 409
Organize Your Information and Ideas 390 Key Terms 409
Key Terms 391
Appendix C: Using Technology
Appendix B: Making Public to Help Your Group 410
Presentations of the Group’s Keeping in Touch between Meetings 410
Output 392
Collaborative Work on Documents and
The Planning Stage 392 Projects 411
Your Audience 392 Comprehensive Group Management
Your Occasion 393
Systems 411
Your Purpose 393
Your Subject or Topic 394 Real-time Meetings of Distributed Groups 412
Member Strengths and Fears 394 Notes 412
Logistics 394
Types of Group Oral Presentations 395 Glossary 413
Panel Discussion 395 Credits 423
Preparing for Panel Discussions 396
Symposium 396 Name Index 424
Forum Discussions 397 Subject Index 434
Preface

F or this 14th edition, we again confront the ongoing challenge of

incorporating important new information without increasing the
length of the text. In this edition, we continue the process, which we
began in earnest in the 13th edition. We have removed material about the
communication process that most students already know, but retained and
consolidated information about communication processes as they relate
specifically to small groups. We have streamlined many of our discussions
and removed redundant information. We believe we have met our goal of
updating the text without increasing the length.
One of the most important changes concerns our definition of commu-
nication. Starting with this edition, we emphasize the transactional nature
of communication as group members simultaneously create, interpret, and
negotiate shared meaning through their interaction. While we have always
believed this, we bring this process of mutual creation to the forefront as
we explain key concepts most relevant to small groups. We continue to
highlight bona fide group theory, which we believe has contributed signifi-
cantly to our understanding of how real-world groups actually work. We
also note that the technology available to help groups has become much
more affordable and accessible than when we first started writing. To that
end, we discuss groups not as either face-to-face or virtual, but as entities
that can use a variety of technologies to assist their work and as existing
on a continuum from purely face-to-face to purely virtual. We have added
Appendix C, which briefly describes the most important technologies and
how group members can use them.
Our primary goal remains the same: to help students become more effec-
tive small group members and leaders by giving them the research-based
tools—both in terms of theoretical understandings and practical suggestions—
for effective participation in groups. When students complete their study of
small groups, we hope they will know how to use the information and tools
we present to understand why one group is satisfying and another feels like
torture. Most important of all, we hope they will understand what they can
do about it.
Effective Group Discussion focuses on secondary groups, such as work
groups, committees, task forces, self-directed work teams, and other small
groups with tasks to complete. The text provides practical tips and also
serves well as a reference source for advanced communication students,
consultants, or group leaders.

xi
xii Preface

Overview
Generally, the chapters move the discussion from systems inputs to through-
put processes to outcomes. Instructors have the flexibility to skim or skip
chapters or cover them in a different order. For instance, a section in Chapter 2
covers basic communication theory for students without a previous commu-
nication course, but this section can be skimmed quickly if it reviews material
students already know.
Part I presents an overview of small group and human communica-
tion theory. Chapter 1 introduces several ideas developed in subsequent
chapters: the importance of small groups in our lives, types of groups, how
many groups use technology, what constitutes ethical behavior, and why
members should become participant-observers in their groups. Chapter 2
presents the basics of communication theory that serve as the foundation
for studying small groups. In Chapter 3, we present systems theory as the
organizing framework used throughout the text.
Part II begins the discussion of group developing by focusing on the
members, the main small group inputs. Chapter 4 introduces the importance
of diversity and the contribution that members’ cultures and co-cultures make
to that diversity. Chapter 5 discusses how member characteristics contribute
to the roles that members play in groups, including a new section about
agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience (three of the
“Big Five” personality characteristics from psychology).
Part III focuses on the development of the group as an entity by pre-
senting information about a variety of throughput processes. Chapter 6
consolidates logically the information about norms, fantasy themes, and cohe-
siveness. Chapters 7 and 8 are companion chapters. Chapter 7 focuses on the
theoretical concepts necessary to understanding leadership, and Chapter 8
provides practical suggestions for group leaders.
Part IV discusses the importance of having appropriate problem-solving
and decision-making processes to improve the quality of group outputs. As
with leadership, Chapters 9 and 10 are paired, with Chapter 9 providing con-
ceptual information for understanding problem solving and decision making
and Chapter 10 providing specific suggestions and techniques for improving
problem-solving and decision-making processes. Chapter 11 focuses on how
conflict, if managed well, can improve group outputs.
In Part V, Chapter 12 presents tools for assessing and improving small
groups. Users of the text told us they preferred to have this chapter placed
at the end, following discussions of theories and concepts. However, these
tools and assessments can easily be used throughout the text to enhance
discussion of concepts, if instructors prefer.
There are three appendices to this edition. Appendix A guides mem-
bers in how to gather and organize their informational resources in prepa-
ration for problem solving and decision making. Although this information
 Preface xiii

conceptually precedes Chapters 9 and 10, most upper-division students

already know how to gather information. Appendix B discusses the public
presentation of a group’s work, including how to organize presentations
so the information is presented smoothly and seamlessly. Appendix C
discusses how groups can use technology to help members accomplish
group goals.

New Edition Changes

This 14th edition of Effective Group Discussion retains the reorganization
of the 13th edition, which fits the way many instructors have told us they
prefer to teach.
■ We have retained our research base, have consolidated conceptual
information where possible, removed material and examples that
seemed redundant or out-of-date, and added current theoretical
information.
■ We have integrated each chapter’s opening case more thoroughly with
the information presented throughout the chapter.
■ Small group techniques are integrated throughout the text so that stu-
dents can more readily link the concepts to the techniques.
■ We have modernized our definition of communication to emphasize its
transactional nature, as members mutually negotiate shared meaning.
■ We have continued to develop our discussion of technological issues,
introducing the idea of a continuum of technological use, from purely
face-to-face to purely virtual, and have added an appendix devoted to
group use of technology.
■ We have enhanced our discussion of diversity and linked cultural and
co-cultural differences more closely to that discussion.
■ We have sharpened and strengthened our discussion of ethics through-
out the text.
■ Information about leadership and problem solving/decision making can
be overwhelming. We kept the companion chapters devoted to each
topic from the 13th edition. The first provides theoretical and concep-
tual information and the second provides more practical information,
techniques, and tips.
■ We have added information about three of the “Big Five” psychological
personality characteristics relevant to groups in Chapter 5.
■ We have retained the Recap boxes placed throughout the chapters.
■ As always, we have updated this edition with the most current research
available.
xiv Preface

Features
Case Studies: Each chapter begins with a case study illustrating
that chapter’s main points. These are real-life stories designed to
help students retain key concepts and understand how that chap-
ter’s information is relevant to the real world. We link these case
studies explicitly to information presented throughout the chapter.
Recap Boxes: We have placed Recap boxes—internal summaries—
throughout each chapter. They provide logical “breathing places”
for students to review what they have learned.
Emphasis on Diversity: The importance of diversity and intercultural
communication cannot be overemphasized! In addition to a chapter
devoted to this topic, relevant information about diversity is
distributed throughout the text, and we have provided a more
global perspective that reflects our changing world.
Learning Aids: Each chapter includes learning objectives and margin
key terms, which are boldfaced in the text. The end of chapter
material includes Questions for Review and a Bibliography that
provides additional reading material. The Glossary at the end
of the text provides definitions of all key terms.
Online Learning Center at www.mhhe.com/galanes14e provides
online activities for students that supplement the topics in the
chapter. Tools and activities include interactive quizzes, and glos-
sary flashcards. Videos covering Nonverbal Messages, Defensive/
Supportive Communication, Aggressive/Assertive Communication,
The Employment Interview, Small Group Communication, and
Presentation are also available.

Resources for Instructors

Web site: The Online Learning Center at www.mhhe.com/galanes14e
provides the instructor’s manual, (containing sample syllabi, lecture
notes, additional exercises, writing assignments,) a testbank of
objective and essay questions, and PowerPoint slides, and up-to-
date weblinks.

Gloria J. Galanes
Katherine Adams
Acknowledgments

W e would like to thank all of the instructors and students who

have used Effective Group Discussion. We welcome your written
reactions to its content and composition. You can send your com-
ments to us via the Department of Communication, Missouri State Univer-
sity, Springfield, Missouri; or the Department of Communication, California
State University, Fresno, California.
May all your groups be enjoyable and satisfying!
Numerous people contributed to this book; we can name only a few.
First, we acknowledge our debt to instructors and writers Freed Bales, Ernest
Bormann, Elton S. Carter, B. Aubrey Fisher, Larry Frey, Kenneth Hance, Randy
Hirokawa, Sidney J. Parnes, J. Donald Phillips, M. Scott Poole, Linda Putnam,
Marvin Shaw, Victor Wall, and W. Woodford Zimmerman.
Finally, we want to acknowledge the vision and contributions of Jack
Brilhart, who died in 2005. Jack wrote the first version of this text in the
late 1960s as one monograph in a communication series. For many years,
Jack shared his expertise, his passion for understanding and working with
small groups, and his vast experience working with a variety of groups. We
enjoyed working with him, appreciated his generosity and greatly miss him.
The following instructors were exceptionally helpful in supplying
thoughtful, carefully considered suggestions:
Gil Cooper, Alexia Kolokotrones,
Pittsburg State University Long Beach City College
Dennis Gouran, Bala Musa,
Pennsylvania State University Azusa Pacific University
Douglas Guiffrida, Donna Smith,
University of Rochester Ferris State University
Patrizia Hoffman, Barbara Tarter,
Lock Haven University of PA Marshall University

xv
The Foundations
of Communicating
in Groups
T he three chapters in Part I provide introductory information to focus your study of
small group communication. Chapter 1 introduces important terms and concepts
used throughout the text. Chapter 2 lays the groundwork for understanding the com-
municative dynamics of small group interaction. Chapter 3 presents systems theory as a
framework for studying and understanding small groups.

P A R T

1
 The Small Groups
in Everyone’s Life

C H A P T E R 1

STUDY OBJECTIVES CENTRAL MESSAGE

As a result of studying Chapter 1, you should be able to: If you want to succeed in modern
1. Explain why you need to understand small group communica-
tion and to participate productively in small group discussions. organizational and social life, you
2. Be familiar with some of the ways technology can help a group must understand how to be a
be more productive.
productive member of a group and
3. Use correctly the terms presented in this chapter, particularly
group, small group, small group discussion, and ethics. act accordingly, including knowing
4. Describe the difference between primary and secondary
groups.
how technology can benefit a
5. Consciously and intentionally become a participant–observer group’s work.
during group discussions.
6. Describe the six ethical principles most relevant to small group
communication.

3
4 Chapter 1

S pringfield, Missouri, where one of us lives, has a two-day art festival

each May, attended by 15,000 to 20,000 people. Typically, more than
130 artists participate in Artsfest, which also offers music and dance
performers of all kinds, food vendors, and hands-on activities for children.
This combination art show and community festival requires the efforts of hun-
dreds of people. Artsfest is organized by a committee of volunteers work-
ing with representatives of the Springfield Regional Arts Council and the
Urban Districts Alliance. The large committee of 15 includes LaShonda, an
artist whose contacts extend throughout the region. She is mainly respon-
sible for artist recruitment and correspondence. Raj is a technology guru who
manages Artsfest’s social media campaigns on Facebook and Twitter. Pam
is a long-time community volunteer who knows everyone and is a lot of fun
to work with. Her extensive lists of contacts provide the core of volunteers
who work at the event, handling artist check-in, managing registration, tak-
ing gate receipts, selling T-shirts and souvenirs, providing security, and so
forth. In addition, Pam encourages a warm and relaxed atmosphere in group
meetings—she usually brings cookies. Jerry and Selena, the event coordina-
tors, are both well-organized individuals who are not thrown by the level of
detail that must be handled. Selena’s planning book keeps details of prior fes-
tivals at her fingertips. She knows exactly how many T-shirts were ordered in
prior years, how many artists were new to the festival, and how much money
was made in soft-drink sales. Jerry’s list of corporate sponsors is extensive; if
one sponsor decides to drop out, he has three possibilities lined up to replace
that sponsor.
The committee meets every other week January through March and
weekly in April, with committee members keeping in touch with one another
via technology between meetings. For example, committee members used
Dropbox to view and make suggestions for wording on artist recruitment
letters and other documents. When an issue arose between meetings that
needed a quick answer, members voted by e-mail. The committee’s normal
meeting location was unexpectedly unavailable at one meeting; members
were notified by text message of the temporary location. Jerry had to be out
of town during one important meeting just before the event; the committee
used Skype so he could participate. Members frequently call or text one
another between meetings as they think of things that need to be handled.
This example illustrates an important point: one person alone does not
have the talent, skill, or ideas to accomplish a complex task. By working
together, however, individuals in a group can achieve far more than indi-
viduals working alone. And with the advent of easy-to-use technologies,
group members can make their participation in groups even more effective.
Small groups, whether in education, business and industry, healthcare,
social services, religion, family life, politics, or government work, are the
basic building blocks of our society.1 Lawrence Frey, a leading scholar of
small group communication, believes as we do that the small group is the
most important social formation:
 The Small Groups in Everyone’s Life 5

Every segment of our society—from the largest multinational organization

to the political workings of federal, state, city, and local governments to
the smallest community action group to friendship groups to the nuclear
and extended family—relies on groups to make important decisions,
socialize members, satisfy needs, and the like.2
We spend a tremendous amount of time in formal and informal groups.
In the business world alone executives spend on average half of their time
in meetings,3 adding up to an estimated 20 million business meetings a day
in the United States,4 and that this time spent in meetings only increases
over time!5 When you add to this the amount of time we spend in groups
outside of work, you begin to appreciate how pervasive groups are in our
lives. However, poorly managed meetings hurt the very businesses they
are suppose to support, wasting valuable time and resources and losing as
much as $37 billion in the United States alone each year.6 Moreover, the
ability to function effectively as part of a group requires skills that must
be understood and practiced. Over 70 percent of respondents from 750
leading U.S. companies, in a national survey, ranked the “ability to work
in teams” as a more essential skill for MBA graduates than knowledge of
statistical techniques.7 Learning to be a good team member is essential to
our personal, professional, and social lives.
To get you started learning about effective group membership, we want
you to consider three important ideas about groups. First, the formation of
groups is natural to humans. Why? Groups are a fundamental way humans
meet important needs. Schutz explained that we use groups to belong and
identify with others (inclusion), find love and esteem (affection), and exer-
cise power over others and our environment (control).8 Notice that each of
these three needs mandates the participation of others and is so significant to
us that often we will relinquish our own resources, such as time and energy,
to participate in groups and satisfy our basic human needs. For example,
citizens of Springfield, Missouri, worked to transform a decaying downtown
space into Founders Park, a public green space in the city’s center. By assem-
bling in the various groups needed to accomplish their goal, these citizens
worked hard because the issue was important to each of them, and they
understood it could not happen without their collective efforts.
David Brooks, summarizing research into human behavior in a recent
column, speculated that humans are wired to cooperate and collaborate,
just as much as they are to compete. Groups provide a vehicle by which we
can do this.9 Stop for a moment and think about all the groups you have
participated in this past week, including family and peer groups. College
students average about 8 to 10, and sometimes list as many as 24 groups.
For example, one student listed the following: family, Bible study, sorority,
executive committee of sorority, study group in small group class, project
group in marketing class, intramural volleyball team, carpool, and work
group of clerks in clothing department. Your professors often list even
more groups than these. In fact, Goldhaber found that the average tenured
6 Chapter 1

faculty member served on six committees simultaneously and spent 11

hours per week in meetings!10
Does this seem like a lot of groups? Consider this: Reliance on groups
in our society is increasing and expected to increase further, perhaps
dramatically. American managers are recognizing the value of participa-
tive decision making, with the small group as one important vehicle for
encouraging employee participation and improving corporate decision
making.11 Years ago, Ouchi, developer of Theory Z management, warned
American managers that their ability to counter Japanese automobile
competition depended on how well they learned to work in groups.12
Waterman identified teamwork as a key element in companies that have
kept their competitive edge.13 Top management teams are recognized as
the most influential groups in organizations today.14
Why is group work successful? Groups are usually better problem solv-
ers, in the long run, than solitary individuals because they have access to
more information than individuals do, can spot flaws and biases in each oth-
ers’ thinking, and then can think of things an individual may have failed to
consider. Moreover, if people participate in planning the work of solving the
problem, they are more likely to work harder and better at carrying out the
solution. Thus, participation in problem solving and decision making helps
guarantee continued commitment to decisions and solutions (See Chapter 9).
Second, just because we often participate in groups, we cannot assume
we participate effectively. Just doing it doesn’t mean we do it well! Unless
we know something about why a group is unproductive, we won’t be able
to assess what is happening in our groups or know what to do with that
Grouphate assessment to help the group improve. Grouphate captures a negative
The feeling of anti- attitude toward groups that many of us develop that can get in the way of
pathy and hostility effective participation in groups.15 In spite of recognizing the central role
many people have of groups in our lives, we often have mixed feelings about them, due in
about working in a large measure to the tradeoffs involved. In return for meeting our needs,
group, fostered by we give up autonomy and the ability to do what we want, whenever we
the many ineffective, want. For instance, students often complain that group grades do not reflect
time-wasting groups their superior individual performance. Some people may even loathe being
that exist.
a member of a group.16 Interestingly, Sorensen found that grouphate is
partly caused by lack of training in how to communicate effectively as a
group member. If you have grouphate, it is in your best interests to get
over it because students with negative feelings and attitudes about partici-
pating in groups have been less successful academically than those with
more constructive and positive orientations toward group work.17
Strong communication skills are central to effective discussion and produc-
tive teamwork. Donald Petersen, former CEO at Ford Motor Company, learned
this during his rise at Ford. At first he envisioned his role as that of a soli-
tary engineer designing cars, but later he discovered that a successful company
requires interaction and teamwork: “Communication skills are crucial. And I
mean that in both directions—not only the ability to articulate . . . but to listen.”18
 The Small Groups in Everyone’s Life 7

Third, groups provide the vehicle by which the individual can make a
contribution to the organization and the society as a whole. Larkin postu-
lated that humans have a motivation to give. The basic ingredient cement-
ing social cohesion is not the satisfaction of needs, but rather the availability
for contribution. What best binds individuals to groups may not be so much
the pressure to obtain necessities as the opportunities to give of oneself
to something beyond merely self-interested acquisition.19 The dignity of
individuals, Lawson states, comes from people’s contributions to something
greater than themselves. People who give of their time, money, energy, and
other resources live healthier, happier, and more fulfilled lives; they report
that their lives are more meaningful than those who do not.20 This is con-
firmed in recent organizational research by Strubler and York, who found
that team members felt a greater sense of participation and believed their
work within the organization was more meaningful and worthwhile than
non-team members.21 We believe that the success of work-related commit-
tees stems largely from this need to contribute collaboratively with others.
Our focus is the communicative dynamics of group members—what
people say and do in groups. While we will draw upon findings from other
disciplines, we will concentrate on the process of communication among
members and how group members can influence this process. The groups
we examine will cover a range of group settings: educational, religious, polit-
ical, corporate, entertainment, health, community, and social services. As you
study the central concepts we will be using throughout this text, remember
that the complexity of small group interaction among members cannot be
reduced to a cookie cutter set of prescriptions. Each element of group inter-
action influences every other element in the group (see Chapter 3). So while
we give you guidelines and suggestions to consider, you have to take into
account the group’s entire and unique situation as you enact these guidelines.
In the remainder of this chapter, we present definitions of key terms we
use throughout the book to reduce the possibility of misunderstanding. We
also present information about the types of groups you will encounter in
many different kinds of settings. We end with a discussion of ethical behavior
important to effective group functioning in Western cultures and centered
around a participant–observer perspective.

What Is Small Group Discussion?

Before we define how we view small group communication, we will begin
Group
with a big picture, then move to specifics. The first term requiring defini-
tion is group. What differentiates a collection of people from a group of Three or more
people? Don’t worry if you have a hard time putting your own definition into people with an inter-
dependent goal who
words; no single definition of group exists among those who study groups
interact and influ-
for a living. Among the variety of definitions for group, we prefer Marvin ence each other.
Shaw’s: a group consists of “persons who are interacting with one another in
8 Chapter 1

such a manner that each person influences and is influenced by each other
person.”22 Shaw argued that, of all the characteristics of groups, none were
more important than interaction and mutual influence.
The Artsfest Planning Committee simply collected in one place does not
necessarily constitute a group unless there is reciprocal awareness and influ-
ence among members. If, for example, LaShonda, Jerry, and Pam each write
separate letters to recruit an artist to apply, Shaw would argue that no group
exists yet because Jerry and Pam did not influence LaShonda in recruiting
particular artists. However, once the members begin to interact with each
other and talk about how to pool their efforts to recruit artists, then we see a
group emerging out of their interaction. Interaction assumes coordination of
behaviors.23 More fundamentally, interaction “requires mutual influence.”24
The Artsfest committee members share a related key feature of a group:
Interdependent Goal an interdependent goal. Interdependence exists when all group members
An objective shared succeed or fail together in the accomplishment of the group’s purpose—in
by members of a this case, having a successful festival can be attained only if they coordinate
small group in such their efforts. In addition, committee members coordinated their actions, so
a way that one mem- that artists, food vendors, volunteers, and so forth, all showed up at the
ber cannot achieve right times on the right days. This logic extends to group members scattered
the goal without the geographically. If members interact and mutually influence each other by
other members also way of newsletters, telephone conversations, computer networks, or closed-
achieving it.
circuit TV, they still constitute a group.This occurred with the Artsfest com-
mittee. Although not geographically scattered, members influenced each
other via their e-mail, phone, text, Skype, and Dropbox correspondence.
The study of groups may include large groupings (e.g., whole societies)
or small ones; our focus is on small groups. The notion that “each person
influences and is influenced by each other” implies that members are aware
of each other, and from this mutual awareness we ground our definition of
Small Group small on perceptual awareness. A small group, therefore, is a group small
A group of at enough that each member is aware of and able to recall each other group
least three but few member, know who is and is not in the group, and recognize what role each
enough members is taking. Attempts to define small on the basis of number of members have
for each to perceive never worked. At the low end, we can certainly perceive all members in a
all others as indi- group of three. At the high end, most of us can take in up to 11 members in
viduals, share some a unit and, with training, may learn to handle 12 to 14.25
identity or common No doubt you have heard and used the word “team” and might wonder
purpose, and share
whether there is difference between a small group and a team. Some schol-
standards for gov-
ars see teams as highly functioning groups with a strong group identity and
erning their activities
as members. shared leadership.26 Others reserve team for groups in which leadership is
shared, such as the case with self-managed work groups.27 In a compre-
hensive review of the research into team dynamics, Salas, Sims, and Burke
discovered a recurring theme in all the different definitions of team: the
recognition of interdependence between members as they strive toward
a group goal.28 Thus, we do not differentiate the two terms—group and
team—and use them interchangeably. A small group may be called a team
(e.g., top management team), yet function no better than other groups of
Another random document with
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on it fer twenty-four year! Well, whut wuz yuh thinkin’ uv payin’ fer
the place?” she asked of the stranger sharply.
A nervous sign from Queeder, whose acquisitiveness was so
intense that it was almost audible, indicated that he was not to say.
“Well, now what do you think it would be worth?”
“Dunno ez I kin say exackly,” replied the wife slyly and greedily,
imagining that Queeder, because of his age and various mental
deficiencies was perhaps leaving these negotiations to her. “Thar’s
ben furms aroun’ hyur ez big’s this sold fer nigh onto two thousan’
dollars.” She was quoting the topmost figure of which she had ever
heard.
“Well, that’s pretty steep, isn’t it?” asked Crawford solemnly but
refusing to look at Queeder. “Ordinarily land around here is not worth
much more than twenty dollars an acre and you have only seventy,
as I understand.”
“Yes, but this hyur land ain’t so pore ez some, nuther,” rejoined
Mrs. Queeder, forgetting her original comment on it and making the
best argument she could for it. “Thar’s a spring on this hyur one, just
b’low the house hyur.”
“Yes,” said Crawford, “I saw it as I came in. It has some value. So
you think two thousand is what it’s worth, do you?” He looked at
Queeder wisely, as much as to say, “This is a good joke, Queeder.”
Mrs. Queeder, fairly satisfied that hers was to be the dominant
mind in this argument, now turned to her husband for counsel. “What
do yuh think, Bursay?” she asked.
Queeder, shaken by his duplicity, his fear of discovery, his greed
and troublesome dreams, gazed at her nervously. “I sartinly think
hit’s wuth that much anyhow.”
Crawford now began to explain that he only wanted an option on it
at present, an agreement to sell within a given time, and if this were
given, a paper signed, he would pay a few dollars to bind the bargain
—and at this he looked wisely at Queeder and half closed one eye,
by which the latter understood that he was to receive the sum
originally agreed upon.
“If you say so we’ll close this right now,” he said ingratiatingly,
taking from his pockets a form of agreement and opening it. “I’ll just
fill this in and you two can sign it.” He went to the worn poplar table
and spread out his paper, the while Queeder and his wife eyed the
proceeding with intense interest. Neither could read or write but the
farmer, not knowing how he was to get his eight hundred, could only
trust to the ingenuity of the prospector to solve the problem. Besides,
both were hypnotized by the idea of selling this worthless old land so
quickly and for so much, coming into possession of actual money,
and moved and thought like people in a dream. Mrs. Queeder’s
eyelids had narrowed to thin, greedy lines.
“How much did yuh cal’late yuh’d give tuh bind this hyur?” she
inquired tensely and with a feverish gleam in her eye.
“Oh,” said the stranger, who was once more looking at Queeder
with an explanatory light in his eye, “about a hundred dollars, I
should say. Wouldn’t that be enough?”
A hundred dollars! Even that sum in this lean world was a fortune.
To Mrs. Queeder, who knew nothing of the value of the mineral on
the farm, it was unbelievable, an unexplainable windfall, an augury of
better things. And besides, the two thousand to come later! But now
came the question of a witness and how the paper was to be signed.
The prospector, having filled in (in pencil) a sample acknowledgment
of the amount paid—$100—and then having said, “Now you sign
here, Mr. Queeder,” the latter replied, “But I kain’t write an’ nuther kin
my wife.”
“Thar wuzn’t much chance fer schoolin’ around’ hyur when I wuz
young,” simpered his better half.
“Well then, we’ll just have to let you make your marks, and get
some one to witness them. Can your son or daughter write?”
Here was a new situation and one most unpleasant to both, for
Dode, once called, would wish to rule, being so headstrong and
contrary. He could write his name anyhow, read a little bit also—but
did they want him to know yet? Husband and wife looked at each
dubiously and with suspicion. What now? The difficulty was solved
by the rumble of a wagon on the nearby road.
“Maybe that is some one who could witness for you?” suggested
Crawford.
Queeder looked out. “Yes, I b’lieve he kin write,” he commented.
“Hi, thar, Lester!” he called. “Come in hyur a minute! We wantcha fer
somepin.”
The rumbling ceased and in due time one Lester Botts, a farmer,
not so much better in appearance than Queeder, arrived at the door.
The prospector explained what was wanted and the agreement was
eventually completed, only Botts, not knowing of the mineral which
Queeder’s acres represented, was anxious to tell the prospector of
better land than this, from an agricultural view, which could be had
for less money, but he did not know how to go about it. Before she
would sign, Mrs. Queeder made it perfectly clear where she stood in
the matter.
“I git my sheer uv this hyur money now, don’t I,” she demanded,
“paid tuh me right hyur?”
Crawford, uncertain as to Queeder’s wishes in this, looked at him;
and he, knowing his wife’s temper and being moved by greed,
exclaimed, “Yuh don’t git nuthin’ ’ceptin’ I die. Yuh ain’t entitled tuh
no sheer unless’n we’re separatin’, which we hain’t.”
“Then I don’t sign nuthin’,” said Mrs. Queeder truculently.
“Of course I don’t want to interfere,” commented the prospector,
soothingly, “but I should think you’d rather give her her share of this
—thirty-three dollars,” he eyed Queeder persuasively—“and then
possibly a third of the two thousand—that’s only six hundred and
sixty—rather than stop the sale now, wouldn’t you? You’ll have to
agree to do something like that. It’s a good bargain. There ought to
be plenty for everybody.”
The farmer hearkened to the subtlety of this. After all, six hundred
and sixty out of eight thousand was not so much. Rather than risk
delay and discovery he pretended to soften, and finally consented.
The marks were made and their validity attested by Botts, the one
hundred in cash being counted out in two piles, according to Mrs.
Queeder’s wish, and the agreement pocketed. Then the prospector
accompanied by Mr. Botts, was off—only Queeder, following and
delaying him, was finally handed over in secret the difference
between the hundred and the sum originally agreed upon. When he
saw all the money the old farmer’s eyes wiggled as if magnetically
operated. Trembling with the agony of greed he waited, and then his
hard and knotted fingers closed upon the bills like the claws of a
gripping hawk.
“Thank yuh,” he said aloud. “Thank yuh,” and he jerked doorward
in distress. “See me alone fust when yuh come ag’in. We gotta be
mighty keerful er she’ll find out, an’ ef she does she’ll not sign
nuthin’, an’ raise ol’ Harry, too.”
“Oh, that’s all right,” replied the prospector archly. He was thinking
how easy it would be, in view of all the dishonesty and chicanery
already practised, to insist that the two thousand written in in pencil
was the actual sale price and efface old Queeder by threatening to
expose his duplicity. However, there were sixty days yet in which to
consider this. “In sixty days, maybe less, I’ll show up.” And he
slipped gracefully away, leaving the old earth-scraper to brood alone.
But all was not ended with the payment of this sum, as any one
might have foretold. For Dode and Jane, hearing after a little while
from their mother of the profitable sale of the land, were intensely
moved. Money—any money, however small in amount—conjured up
visions of pleasure and ease, and who was to get it, after all the toil
here on the part of all? Where was their share in all this? They had
worked, too. They demanded it in repeated ways, but to no avail.
Their mother and father were obdurate, insisting that they wait until
the sale was completed before any further consideration was given
the matter.
While they were thus arguing, however, quarreling over even so
small a sum as $100, as they thought, a new complication was
added by Dode learning, as he soon did, that this was all mineral
land, that farms were being sold in Adair—the next township—and
even here; that it was rumored that Queeder had already sold his
land for $5,000, and that if he had he had been beaten, for the land
was worth much more—$200 an acre even, or $14,000. At once he
suspected his father and mother of some treachery in connection
with the sale—that there had been no option given, but a genuine
sale made, and that Queeder or his mother, or both, were concealing
a vast sum from himself and Jane. An atmosphere of intense
suspicion and evil will was at once introduced.
“They’ve sold the furm fer $5,000 ’stid uv $2,000; that’s whut
they’ve gone an’ done,” insisted Dode one day to Jane in the
presence of his father and mother. “Ev’rybody aroun’ hyur knows
now what this hyur land’s wuth, an’ that’s whut they got, yuh kin bet.”
“Yuh lie!” shrieked Queeder shrilly, who was at once struck by the
fact that if what Dode said was true he had walked into a financial as
well as a moral trap from which he could not well extricate himself. “I
hain’t sold nuthin’,” he went on angrily. “Lester Botts wuz hyur an’
seed whut we done. He signed onto it.”
“Ef the land’s wuth more’n $2,000, that feller ’twuz hyur didn’
agree tuh pay no more’n that fer it in hyur,” put in Mrs. Queeder
explanatorily, although, so little did she trust her husband, she was
now beginning to wonder if there might not have been some secret
agreement between him and this stranger. “Ef he had any different
talk with yer Paw,” and here she eyed old Queeder suspiciously,
beginning to recall the prospector’s smooth airs and ways, “he didn’
say nuthin’ ’bout it tuh me. I do rec’leck yer Paw’n him talkin’ over by
the fence yander near an hour afore they come in hyur. I wondered
then whut it wuz about.” She was beginning to worry as to how she
was to get more seeing that the price agreed upon was now,
apparently, inconsequential.
And as for Dode, he now eyed his father cynically and
suspiciously. “I cal’late he got somepin more fer it than he’s tellin’ us
about,” he insisted. “They ain’t sellin’ land down to Arno right now fer
no $200 an acre an’ him not knowin’ it—an’ land not ez good ez this,
nuther. Ye’re hidin’ the money whut yuh got fer it, that’s whut!”
 Mrs. Queeder, while greatly disturbed as to the possibility of
duplicity on her husband’s part in connection with all this, still
considered it policy to call Heaven to witness that in her case at least
no duplicity was involved. If more had been offered or paid she knew
nothing of it. For his part Queeder boiled with fear, rage, general
opposition to all of them and their share in this.
“Yuh consarned varmint!” he squealed, addressing Dode and
leaping to his feet and running for a stick of stovewood, “I’ll show yuh
whuther we air er not! Yuh ’low I steal, do yuh?”
Dode intercepted him, however, and being the stronger, pushed
him off. It was always so easy so to do—much to Queeder’s rage.
He despised his son for his triumphant strength alone, to say nothing
of his dour cynicism in regard to himself. The argument was ended
by the father being put out of the house and the mother pleading
volubly that in so far as she knew it was all as she said, that in
signing the secret agreement with her husband she had meant no
harm to her children, but only to protect them and herself.
But now, brooding over the possibility of Queeder’s deception, she
began to lay plans for his discomfiture in any way that she might—
she and Dode and Jane. Queeder himself raged secretly between
fear and hatred of Dode and what might follow because of his
present knowledge. How was he to prevent Dode from being present
at the final transaction, and if so how would the secret difference be
handed him? Besides, if he took the sum mentioned, how did he
know that he was not now being overreached? Every day nearly
brought new rumors of new sales at better prices than he had been
able to fix. In addition, each day Mrs. Queeder cackled like an
irritable hen over the possible duplicity of her husband, although that
creature in his secretive greed and queerness was not to be
encompassed. He fought shy of the house the greater part of each
day, jerked like a rat at every sound or passing stranger and denied
himself words to speak or explain, or passed the lie if they pressed
him too warmly. The seven hundred extra he had received was
wrapped in paper and hidden in a crevice back of a post in the barn,
a tin can serving as an outer protection for his newly acquired
wealth. More than once during the day he returned to that spot,
listened and peeked before he ventured to see whether it was still
safe.
Indeed, there was something deadly in the household order from
now on, little short of madness in fact, for now mother and children
schemed for his downfall while all night long old Queeder wakened,
jerking in the blackness and listening for any sounds which might be
about the barn. On more than one occasion he changed the hiding
place, even going so far as to keep the money on his person for a
time. Once he found an old rusty butcher knife and, putting that in his
shirt bosom, he slept with it and dreamed of trouble.
Into the heart of this walked another prospector one morning
rejoicing, like the first one, at his find. Like all good business men he
was concerned to see the owner only and demanded that Queeder
be called.
“Oh, Paw!” called Jane from the rickety doorway. “Thar’s some
one hyur wants tuh see yuh!”
Old Queeder looked warily up from his hot field, where he had
been waiting these many days, and beheld the stranger. He dropped
his weed fighting and came forward. Dode drifted in from
somewhere.
“Pretty dry weather we’re having, isn’t it?” remarked the stranger
pleasantly meeting him halfway in his approach.
“Yes,” he replied vacantly, for he was very, very much worn these
days, mentally and physically. “It’s tol’able dry! Tol-able dry!” He
wiped his leathery brow with his hand.
“You don’t know of any one about here, do you, who has any land
for sale?”
“Ye’re another one uv them min’l prowspecters, I projeck, eh?”
inquired Queeder, now quite openly. There was no need to attempt
to conceal that fact any longer.
The newcomer was taken aback, for he had not expected so much
awareness in this region so soon. “I am,” he said frankly.
“I thought so,” said Queeder.
 “Have you ever thought of selling the land here?” he inquired.
“Well, I dunno,” began the farmer shrewdly. “Thar’ve been fellers
like yuh aroun’ hyar afore now lookin’ at the place. Whut do yuh cal-
late it might be wuth tuh yuh?” He eyed him sharply the while they
strolled still further away from the spot where Dode, Jane and the
mother formed an audience in the doorway.
The prospector ambled about the place examining the surface
lumps, so very plentiful everywhere.
“This looks like fairly good land to me,” he said quietly after a time.
“You haven’t an idea how much you’d want an acre for it, have you?”
“Well, I hyur they’re gettin’ ez much ez three hundred down to
Arno,” replied Queeder, exaggerating fiercely. Now that a second
purchaser had appeared he was eager to learn how much more, if
any, than the original offer would be made.
“Yes—well, that’s a little steep, don’t you think, considering the
distance the metal would have to be hauled to the railroad? It’ll cost
considerable to get it over there.”
“Not enough, I ’low, tuh make it wuth much less’n three hundred,
would it?” observed Queeder, sagely.
“Well, I don’t know about that. Would you take two hundred an
acre for as much as forty acres of it?”
Old Queeder pricked his ears at the sound of bargain. As near as
he could figure, two hundred an acre for forty acres would bring him
as much as he was now to get for the entire seventy, and he would
still have thirty to dispose of. The definiteness of the proposition
thrilled him, boded something large for his future—eight thousand for
forty, and all he could wring from the first comer had been eight
thousand for seventy!
“Huh!” he said, hanging on the argument with ease and leisure. “I
got an offer uv a option on the hull uv it fer twelve thousan’ now.”
“What!” said the stranger, surveying him critically. “Have you
signed any papers in the matter?”
 Queeder looked at him for the moment as if he suspected
treachery, and then seeing the gathered family surveying them from
the distant doorway he made the newcomer a cabalistic sign.
“Come over hyur,” he said, leading off to a distant fence. At the
safe distance they halted. “I tell yuh just how ’tis,” he observed very
secretively. “Thar wuz a feller come along hyur three er four weeks
ago an’ at that time I didn’t know ez how this hyur now wuz min’l,
see? An’ he ast me, ’thout sayin’ nuthin’ ez tuh whut he knowed,
whut I’d take for it, acre fer acre. Well, thar wuz anuther feller, a
neighbor o’ mine, had been along hyur an’ he wuz sayin’ ez how a
piece o’ land just below, about forty acres, wuz sold fer five thousan’
dollars. Seein’ ez how my land wuz the same kind o’ land, only
better, I ’lowed ez how thar bein’ seventy acres hyur tuh his forty I
oughta git nearly twicet ez much, an’ I said so. He didn’t ’low ez I
ought at fust, but later on he kind o’ come roun’ an’ we agreed ez
how I bein’ the one that fust had the place—I wuz farmin’ hyur ’fore
ever I married my wife—that ef any sale wuz made I orter git the
biggest sheer. So we kind o’ fixed it up b’tween us, quiet-like an’ not
lettin’ anybody else know, that when it come tuh makin’ out the
papers an’ sich at the end uv the sixty days he was to gimme a
shade the best o’ the money afore we signed any papers. Course I
wouldn’t do nuthin’ like that ef the place hadn’t b’longed tuh me in
the fust place, an’ ef me an’ my wife an’ chil’n got along ez well’s we
did at fust, but she’s allers a-fightin’ an’ squallin’. Ef he come back
hyur, ez he ’lowed he would, I wuz t’ have eight thousan’ fer myself,
an’ me an’ my wife wuzta divide the rest b’tween us ez best we
could, her to have her third, ez the law is.”
The stranger listened with mingled astonishment, amusement and
satisfaction at the thought that the contract, if not exactly illegal,
could at least to Queeder be made to appear so. For an appeal to
the wife must break it, and besides because of the old man’s cupidity
he might easily be made to annul the original agreement. For plainly
even now this farmer did not know the full value of all that he had so
foolishly bartered away. About him were fields literally solid with zinc
under the surface. Commercially $60,000 would be a mere bagatelle
to give for it, when the East was considered. One million dollars
would be a ridiculously low capitalization for a mine based on this
property. A hundred thousand might well be his share for his part in
the transaction. Good heavens, the other fellow had bought a fortune
for a song! It was only fair to try to get it away from him.
“I’ll tell you how this is, Mr. Queeder,” he said after a time. “It looks
to me as though this fellow, whoever he is, has given you a little the
worst end of this bargain. Your land is worth much more than that,
that’s plain enough. But you can get out of that easily enough on the
ground that you really didn’t know what you were selling at the time
you made this bargain. That’s the law, I believe. You don’t have to
stick by an agreement if it’s made when you don’t understand what
you’re doing. As a matter of fact, I think I could get you out of it if you
wanted me to. All you would have to do would be to refuse to sign
any other papers when the time comes and return the money that’s
been paid you. Then when the time came I would be glad to take
over your whole farm at three hundred dollars an acre and pay cash
down. That would make you a rich man. I’d give you three thousand
cash in hand the day you signed an agreement to sell. The trouble is
you were just taken in. You and your wife really didn’t know what you
were doing.”
“That’s right,” squeaked Queeder, “we wuz. We didn’t ’low ez they
wuz any min’l on this when we signed that air contrack.”
Three hundred dollars an acre, as he dumbly figured it out, meant
$21,000—twenty-one instead of a wretched eight thousand! For the
moment he stood there quite lost as to what to do, say, think, a
wavering, element-worn figure. His bent and shriveled body, raked
and gutted by misfortune, fairly quivered with the knowledge that
riches were really his for the asking, yet also that now, owing to his
early error and ignorance in regard to all this, he might not be able to
arrange for their reception. His seared and tangled brain, half twisted
by solitude, balanced unevenly with the weight of this marvelous
possibility. It crossed the wires of his mind and made him see
strabismically.
The prospector, uncertain as to what his silence indicated, added:
“I might even do a little better than that, Mr. Queeder—say, twenty-
five thousand. You could have a house in the city for that. Your wife
could wear silk dresses; you yourself need never do another stroke
of work; your son and daughter could go to college if they wanted to.
All you have to do is to refuse to sign that deed when he comes back
—hand him the money or get his address and let me send it to him.”
“He swindled me, so he did!” Queeder almost shouted now, great
beads of sweat standing out upon his brow. “He tried tuh rob me! He
shan’t have an acre, by God—not an acre!”
“That’s right,” said the newcomer, and before he left he again
insinuated into the farmer’s mind the tremendous and unfair
disproportion between twelve (as he understood Queeder was
receiving) and twenty-five thousand. He pictured the difference in
terms of city or town opportunities, the ease of his future life.
Unfortunately, the farmer possessed no avenue by which to
escape from his recent duplicity. Having deceived his wife and
children over so comparatively small a sum as eight thousand, this
immensely greater sum offered many more difficulties—bickering,
quarreling, open fighting, perhaps, so fierce were Dode and his wife
in their moods, before it could be attained. And was he equal to it? At
the same time, although he had never had anything, he was now
feeling as though he had lost a great deal, as if some one were
endeavoring to take something immense away from him, something
which he had always had!
During the days that followed he brooded over this, avoiding his
family as much as possible, while they, wondering when the first
prospector would return and what conversation or arrangement
Queeder had had with the second, watched him closely. At last he
was all but unbalanced mentally, and by degrees his mind came to
possess but one idea, and that was that his wife, his children, the
world, all were trying to rob him, and that his one escape lay in flight
with his treasure if only he could once gain possession of it. But
how? How? One thing was sure. They should not have it. He would
fight first; he would die. And alone in his silent field, with ragged body
and mind, he brooded over riches and felt as if he already had them
to defend.
 In the meanwhile the first prospector had been meditating as to
the ease, under the circumstances, with which Queeder’s land could
be taken from him at the very nominal price of two thousand,
considering the secrecy which, according to Queeder’s own wish,
must attach to the transfer of all moneys over that sum. Once the
deed was signed—the same reading for two thousand—in the
presence of the wife and a lawyer who should accompany him, how
easy to walk off and pay no more, standing calmly on the letter of the
contract!
It was nearing that last day now and the terrible suspense was
telling. Queeder was in no mental state to endure anything. His
hollow eyes showed the wondering out of which nothing had come.
His nervous strolling here and there had lost all semblance of
reason. Then on the last of the sixty allotted days there rode forward
the now bane of his existence, the original prospector, accompanied
by Attorney Giles, of Arno, a veritable scamp and rascal of a lawyer.
At first on seeing them Queeder felt a strong impulse to run away,
but on second consideration he feared so to do. The land was his. If
he did not stay Dode and Mrs. Queeder might enter on some
arrangement without his consent—something which would leave him
landless, money-less—or they might find out something about the
extra money he had taken and contracted for, the better price he was
now privately to receive. It was essential that he stay, and yet he had
no least idea as to how he would solve it all.
Jane, who was in the doorway as they entered the yard, was the
one to welcome them, although Dode, watchful and working in a
nearby patch, saluted them next. Then Mrs. Queeder examined
them cynically and with much opposition. These, then, were the
twain who were expecting to misuse her financially!
“Where’s your father, Dode?” asked Attorney Giles familiarly, for
he knew them well.
“Over thar in the second ’tater patch,” answered Dode sourly. A
moment later he added with rough calculation, “Ef ye’re comin’ about
the land, though, I ’low ez ’twon’t do yuh no good. Maw an’ Paw
have decided not tuh sell. The place is wuth a heap more’n whut you
all’re offerin’. They’re sellin’ land roun’ Arno with not near ez much
min’l onto hit ez this hez for three hundred now, an’ yuh all only
wanta give two thousan’ fer the hull place, I hyur. Maw’n Paw’d be
fools ef they’d agree tuh that.”
“Oh, come now,” exclaimed Giles placatively and yet irritably—a
very wasp who was always attempting to smooth over the ruffled
tempers of people on just such trying occasions as this. “Mr.
Crawford here has an option on this property signed by your mother
and father and witnessed by a Mr.”—he considered the slip—“a Mr.
Botts—oh, yes, Lester Botts. You cannot legally escape that. All Mr.
Crawford has to do is to offer you the money—leave it here, in fact—
and the property is his. That is the law. An option is an option, and
this one has a witness. I don’t see how you can hope to escape it,
really.”
“They wuzn’t nuthin’ said about no min’l when I signed that air,”
insisted Mrs. Queeder, “an’ I don’t ’low ez no paper whut I didn’t
know the meanin’ uv is goin’ tuh be good anywhar. Leastways, I
won’t put my name onto nuthin’ else.”
“Well, well!” said Mr. Giles fussily, “We’d better get Mr. Queeder in
here and see what he says to this. I’m sure he’ll not take any such
unreasonable and illegal view.”
In the meantime old Queeder, called for lustily by Jane, came
edging around the house corner like some hunted animal—dark,
fearful, suspicious—and at sight of him the prospector and lawyer,
who had seated themselves, arose.
“Well, here we are, Mr. Queeder,” said the prospector, but
stopped, astonished at the weird manner in which Queeder passed
an aimless hand over his brow and gazed almost dully before him.
He had more the appearance of a hungry bird than a human being.
He was yellow, emaciated, all but wild.
“Look at Paw!” whispered Jane to Dode, used as she was to all
the old man’s idiosyncrasies.
“Yes, Mr. Queeder,” began the lawyer, undisturbed by the whisper
of Jane and anxious to smooth over a very troublesome situation,
“here we are. We have come to settle this sale with you according to
the terms of the option. I suppose you’re ready?”
“Whut?” asked old Queeder aimlessly, then, recovering himself
slightly, began, “I hain’t goin’ tuh sign nuthin’! Nuthin’ ’tall! That’s
whut I hain’t! Nuthin’!” He opened and closed his fingers and twisted
and craned his neck as though physically there were something very
much awry with him.
“What’s that?” queried the lawyer incisively, attempting by his tone
to overawe him or bring him to his senses, “not sign? What do you
mean by saying you won’t sign? You gave an option here for the
sum of $100 cash in hand, signed by you and your wife and
witnessed by Lester Botts, and now you say you won’t sign! I don’t
want to be harsh, but there’s a definite contract entered into here
and money passed, and such things can’t be handled in any such
light way, Mr. Queeder. This is a contract, a very serious matter
before the law, Mr. Queeder, a very serious matter. The law provides
a very definite remedy in a case of this kind. Whether you want to
sign or not, with this option we have here and what it calls for we can
pay over the money before witnesses and enter suit for possession
and win it.”
“Not when a feller’s never knowed whut he wuz doin’ when he
signed,” insisted Dode, who by now, because of his self-interest and
the appearance of his father having been misled, was coming round
to a more sympathetic or at least friendly attitude.
“I’ll not sign nuthin’,” insisted Queeder grimly. “I hain’t a-goin’ tuh
be swindled out o’ my prupetty. I never knowed they wuz min’l onto
hit, like they is—leastways not whut it wuz wuth—an’ I won’t sign, an’
yuh ain’t a-goin’ tuh make me. Ye’re a-tryin’ tuh get it away from me
fur nuthin’, that’s whut ye’re a-tryin’ tuh do. I won’t sign nuthin’!”
“I had no idee they wuz min’l onto hit when I signed,” whimpered
Mrs. Queeder.
“Oh, come, come!” put in Crawford sternly, deciding to deal with
this eccentric character and believing that he could overawe him by
referring to the secret agreement between them, “don’t forget, Mr.
Queeder, that I had a special agreement with you concerning all
this.” He was not quite sure now as to what he would have to pay—
the two or the eight. “Are you going to keep your bargain with me or
not? You want to decide quick now. Which is it?”
“Git out!” shouted Queeder, becoming wildly excited and waving
his hands and jumping backward. “Yuh swindled me, that’s whutcha
done! Yut thort yuh’d git this place fer nothin’. Well, yuh won’t—yuh
kain’t. I won’t sign nuthin’. I won’t sign nuthin’.” His eyes were red
and wild from too much brooding.
Now it was that Crawford, who had been hoping to get it all for two
thousand, decided to stick to his private agreement to pay eight, only
instead of waiting to adjust it with Queeder in private he decided now
to use it openly in an attempt to suborn the family to his point of view
by showing them how much he really was to have and how unjust
Queeder had planned to be to himself and them. In all certainty the
family understood it as only two. If he would now let them know how
matters stood, perhaps that would make a difference in his favor.
“You call eight thousand for this place swindling, and after you’ve
taken eight hundred dollars of my money and kept it for sixty days?”
“Whut’s that?” asked Dode, edging nearer, then turning and
glaring at his father and eyeing his mother amazedly. This surpassed
in amount and importance anything he had imagined had been
secured by them, and of course he assumed that both were lying.
“Eight thousan’! I thort yuh said it wuz two!” He looked at his mother
for confirmation.
The latter was a picture of genuine surprise. “That’s the fust I
hearn uv any eight thousan’,” she replied dumbly, her own veracity in
regard to the transaction being in question.
The picture that Queeder made under the circumstances was
remarkable. Quite upset by this half-unexpected and yet feared
revelation, he was now quite beside himself with rage, fear, the
insolvability of the amazing tangle into which he had worked himself.
The idea that after he had made an agreement with this man, which
was really unfair to himself, he should turn on him in this way was all
but mentally upsetting. Besides, the fact that his wife and son now
knew how greedy and selfish he had been weakened him to the
point of terror.
“Well, that’s what I offered him, just the same,” went on Crawford
aggressively and noting the extreme effect, “and that’s what he
agreed to take, and that’s what I’m here to pay. I paid him $800 in
cash to bind the bargain, and he has the money now somewhere.
His saying now that I tried to swindle him is too funny! He asked me
not to say anything about it because the land was all his and he
wanted to adjust things with you three in his own way.”
“Git outen hyur!” shouted Queeder savagely, going all but mad,
“before I kill yuh! I hain’t signed nuthin’! We never said nuthin’ about
no $8,000. It wuz $2,000—that’s what it wuz! Ye’re trin’ tuh swindle
me, the hull varmint passel o’ yuh! I won’t sign nuthin’!” and he
stooped and attempted to seize a stool that stood near the wall.
At this all retreated except Dode, who, having mastered his father
in more than one preceding contest, now descended on him and with
one push of his arm knocked him down, so weak was he, while the
lawyer and prospector, seeing him prone, attempted to interfere in
his behalf. What Dode was really thinking was that now was his
chance. His father had lied to him. He was naturally afraid of him.
Why not force him by sheer brute strength to accept this agreement
and take the money? Once it was paid here before him, if he could
make his father sign, he could take his share without let or
hindrance. Of what dreams might not this be the fulfilment? “He
agreed on’t, an’ now he’s gotta do it,” he thought; “that’s all.”
“No fighting, now,” called Giles. “We don’t want any fighting—just
to settle this thing pleasantly, that’s all.”
After all, Queeder’s second signature or mark would be required,
peaceably if possible, and besides they wished no physical violence.
They were men of business, not of war.
“Yuh say he agreed tuh take $8,000, did he?” queried Dode, the
actuality of so huge a sum ready to be paid in cash seeming to him
almost unbelievable.
 “Yes, that’s right,” replied the prospector.
“Then, by heck, he’s gotta make good on whut he said!” said Dode
with a roll of his round head, his arms akimbo, heavily anxious to see
the money paid over. “Here you,” he now turned to his father and
began—for his prostrate father, having fallen and injured his head,
was still lying semi-propped on his elbows, surveying the group with
almost non-comprehending eyes, too confused and lunatic to quite
realize what was going on or to offer any real resistance. “Whut’s a-
gittin’ into yuh, anyhow, Ol’ Spindle Shanks? Git up hyur!” Dode went
over and lifted his father to his feet and pushed him toward a chair at
the table. “Yuh might ez well sign fer this, now ’at yuh’ve begun it.
Whar’s the paper?” he asked of the lawyer. “Yuh just show him whar
he orter sign, an’ I guess he’ll do it. But let’s see this hyur money that
ye’re a-goin’ tuh pay over fust,” he added, “afore he signs. I wanta
see ef it’s orl right.”
The prospector extracted the actual cash from a wallet, having
previously calculated that a check would never be accepted, and the
lawyer presented the deed to be signed. At the same time Dode took
the money and began to count it.
“All he has to do,” observed Giles to the others as he did so, “is to
sign this second paper, he and his wife. If you can read,” he said to
Dode when the latter had concluded, and seeing how satisfactorily
things were going, “you can see for yourself what it is.” Dode now
turned and picked it up and looked at it as though it were as simple
and clear as daylight. “As you can see,” went on the lawyer, “we
agreed to buy this land of him for eight thousand dollars. We have
already paid him eight hundred. That leaves seven thousand two
hundred still to pay, which you have there,” and he touched the
money in Dode’s hands. The latter was so moved by the reality of
the cash that he could scarcely speak for joy. Think of it—seven
thousand two hundred dollars—and all for this wretched bony land!
“Well, did yuh ever!” exclaimed Mrs. Queeder and Jane in chorus.
“Who’d ’a’ thort! Eight thousan’!”
Old Queeder, still stunned and befogged mentally, was yet
recovering himself sufficiently to rise from the chair and look
strangely about, now that Dode was attempting to make him sign,
but his loving son uncompromisingly pushed him back again.
“Never mind, Ol’ Spindle Shanks,” he repeated roughly. “Just yuh
stay whar yuh air an’ sign as he asts yuh tuh. Yuh agreed tuh this,
an’ yuh might ez well stick tuh it. Ye’re gittin’ so yuh don’t know what
yuh want no more,” he jested, now that he realized that for some
strange reason he had his father completely under his sway. The
latter was quite helplessly dumb. “Yuh agreed tuh this, he says. Did
ja? Air yuh clean gone?”
“Lawsy!” put in the excited Mrs. Queeder. “Eight thousan’! An’ him
a-walkin’ roun’ hyur all the time sayin’ hit wuz only two an’ never
sayin’ nuthin’ else tuh nobody! Who’d ’a’ thort hit! An’ him a-goin’ tuh
git hit all ef he could an’ say nuthin’!”
“Yes,” added Jane, gazing at her father greedily and vindictively,
“tryin’ tuh git it all fer hisself! An’ us a-workin’ hyur year in an’ year
out on this hyur ol’ place tuh keep him comfortable!” She was no less
hard in her glances than her brother. Her father seemed little less
than a thief, attempting to rob them of the hard-earned fruit of their
toil.
As the lawyer took the paper from Dode and spread it upon the old
board table and handed Queeder a pen the latter took it aimlessly,
quite as a child might have, and made his mark where indicated, Mr.
Giles observing very cautiously, “This is of your own free will and
deed, is it, Mr. Queeder?” The old man made no reply. For the time
being anyhow, possibly due to the blow on his head as he fell, he
had lost the main current of his idea, which was not to sign. After
signing he looked vaguely around, as though uncertain as to what
else might be requested of him, while Mrs. Queeder made her mark,
answering “yes” to the same shrewd question. Then Dode, as the
senior intelligence of this institution and the one who by right of force
now dominated, having witnessed the marks of his father and
mother, as did Jane, two signatures being necessary, he took the
money and before the straining eyes of his relatives proceeded to
recount it. Meanwhile old Queeder, still asleep to the significance of
the money, sat quite still, but clawed at it as though it were
something which he ought to want, but was not quite sure of it.
“You find it all right, I suppose?” asked the lawyer, who was turning
to go. Dode acknowledged that it was quite correct.
Then the two visitors, possessed of the desired deed, departed.
The family, barring the father, who sat there still in a daze, began to
discuss how the remarkable sum was to be divided.
“Now, I just wanta tell yuh one thing, Dode,” urged the mother, all
avarice and anxiety for herself, “a third o’ that, whutever ’tis, b’longs
tuh me, accordin’ tuh law!”
“An’ I sartinly oughta git a part o’ that thar, workin’ the way I have,”
insisted Jane, standing closely over Dode.
“Well, just keep yer hands off till I git through, cantcha?” asked
Dode, beginning for the third time to count it. The mere feel of it was
so entrancing! What doors would it not open? He could get married
now, go to the city, do a hundred things he had always wanted to do.
The fact that his father was entitled to anything or that, having lost
his wits, he was now completely helpless, a pathetic figure and very
likely from now on doomed to wander about alone or to do his will,
moved him not in the least. By right of strength and malehood he
was now practically master here, or so he felt himself to be. As he
fingered the money he glowed and talked, thinking wondrous things,
then suddenly remembering the concealed eight hundred, or his
father’s part of it, he added, “Yes, an’ whar’s that other eight
hundred, I’d like tuh know? He’s a-carryin’ it aroun’ with him er hidin’
it hyurabout mebbe!” Then eyeing the crumpled victim suspiciously,
he began to feel in the old man’s clothes, but, not finding anything,
desisted, saying they might get it later. The money in his hands was
finally divided: a third to Mrs. Queeder, a fourth to Jane, the balance
to himself as the faithful heir and helper of his father, the while he
speculated as to the whereabouts of the remaining eight hundred.
Just then Queeder, who up to this time had been completely bereft
of his senses, now recovered sufficiently to guess nearly all of what
had so recently transpired. With a bound he was on his feet, and,
looking wildly about him, exclaiming as he did so in a thin, reedy
voice, “They’ve stole my prupetty! They’ve stole my prupetty! I’ve
been robbed, I have! I’ve been robbed! Eh! Eh! Eh! This hyur land
ain’t wuth only eight thousan’—hit’s wuth twenty-five thousan’, an’
that’s whut I could ’a’ had for it, an’ they’ve gone an’ made me sign it
all away! Eh! Eh! Eh!” He jigged and moaned, dancing helplessly
about until, seeing Dode with his share of the money still held safely
in his hand, his maniacal chagrin took a new form, and, seizing it and
running to the open door, he began to throw a portion of the precious
bills to the winds, crying as he did so, “They’ve stole my prupetty!
They’ve stole my prupetty! I don’t want the consarned money—I
don’t want it! I want my prupetty! Eh! Eh! Eh!”
In this astonishing situation Dode saw but one factor—the money.
Knowing nothing of the second prospector’s offer, he could not
realize what it was that so infuriated the old man and had finally
completely upset his mind. As the latter jigged and screamed and
threw the money about he fell upon him with the energy of a wildcat
and, having toppled him over and wrested the remainder of the cash
from him, he held him safely down, the while he called to his sister
and mother, “Pick up the money, cantcha? Pick up the money an’ git
a rope, cantcha? Git a rope! Cantcha see he’s done gone plum
daffy? He’s outen his head, I tell yuh. He’s crazy, he is, shore! Git a
rope!” and eyeing the money now being assembled by his helpful
relatives, he pressed the struggling maniac’s body to the floor. When
the latter was safely tied and the money returned, the affectionate
son arose and, having once more recounted his share in order to
see that it was all there, he was content to look about him somewhat
more kindly on an all too treacherous world. Then, seeing the old
man where he was trussed like a fowl for market, he added,
somewhat sympathetically, it may be:
“Well, who’d ’a’ thort! Pore ol’ Pap! I do b’lieve he’s outen his mind
for shore this time! He’s clean gone—plum daffy.”
“Yes, that’s whut he is, I do b’lieve,” added Mrs. Queeder with a
modicum of wifely interest, yet more concerned at that with her part
of the money than anything else.