Resources for Book Clubs and Discussion Circles

The Word in the Wilderness: Popular Piety and the Manuscript Arts in Early Pennsylvania is a wonderful selection for your book club or discussion circle—especially for groups interested in the history and material culture of southeastern Pennsylvania. 

You will find many resources on this website to facilitate your conversations, including hi-res, color images of artworks discussed in The Word in the Wilderness and episodes of Cloister Talk: The Pennsylvania German Material Texts Podcast that offer further insights into topics covered in the book.  Click the “Contact the Author” tab to inquire as to the possibility of inviting the author to present to your group. 

Copies of The Word in the Wilderness may be purchased directly from the Pennsylvania State University Press at a 30% discount off of the list price.  Learn more here.

Below is a list of discussion questions to guide your group’s reading of The Word in the Wilderness.


Discussion Questions
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  1. ​How are “Fraktur” manuscripts commonly presented and explained to visitors at museums, in Pennsylvania and beyond?

  2. What is the relationship between text and image on “Fraktur” manuscripts?   

  3. What is the connection between Pennsylvania German religion and the manuscripts the Pennsylvania Germans created? 

  4. What do you think can be learned about early Pennsylvania’s religion and culture from studying Pennsylvania German illuminated manuscripts?  What questions about religious life can the documents not answer?

  5. How do advances in information technology change the nature of youth education in reading and writing? 

  6. Penmanship instruction has changed radically over the years.  How were you taught handwriting?  Are young people today receiving sufficient instruction in cursive script?  What is lost when penmanship is not widely taught?  


​Image credit: Engraved image found on the “Katalog von schätzbaren Deutschen Büchern, herausgegeben und zum Verkauf bey Georg W. Mentz und Sohn...Philadelphia,” (“Catalogue of Valuable German Books, Published and available for Sale by Georg W. Mentz and Son...Philadelphia”), bound with Johann Arndt, Sechs Bücher Vom Wahren Christenthum..., (Philadelphia: Georg W. Mentz und Sohn, 1834), BR120 A74w, Winterthur Library.