Just to throw in a completely different
thing, but to continue the idea about Griffin
testing out new ideas about history, I want
to know what you make of a metaphor she
uses at the beginning and end of the
essay.

She plays around with the image of a train.
Remember? The train is like history in that
it goes forward, but she also wants it to
circle back--very untraditional idea of
history, I think. People are seen and
seeing, connecting with and ignoring each
other. I think she is offering a provocative
way to rethink what history, as a study, can
do.