Robert Darnton, "The Great Cat Massacre

1. When and where does the action take place?

2. Who was Jacques Vincent?  How did he treat his workers?

3. According to Darnton, why don't we "get" the joke about the slaughter of the cats?  How can we learn to understand it?

4. How does Darnton critique older historical accounts of artisanal culture with the evidence he provides?

5. What is a charivari, and how does it help us to understand the role of cats in early-modern society?

6. List four elements of the significant role of cats in early-modern society.

7. How do these elements help enlighten the modern reader of Contat's text of the massacre?

8. On page 14/119 column 3, Darnton states, "[Contat] selected details, ordered events, and framed the story in such a way as to bring out what was meaningful for him. But he derived his notions of meaning from culture just as naturally as he drew in air from the atmosphere around him."  What does this mean?  How does it help us to understand the goals of cultural historians?

9. In the end, what is the lesson and significance of this great massacre of cats?