Kite Runner Socratic Seminar Reflection #2

    The seminar influenced my thinking about Amir and how he changed as a person.  Several comments were made about how his relationship with Baba changed when they got to the US.  One thing that was said which made me think of something that I hadn't before was that his and Soraya's inability to have a child was a punishment to him.  I can see why that would be the case. He had betrayed Hassan as a child, and the failure to have a child was payback.
   
In general, I agreed with the statement that Amir and Baba switched roles when they got to the US.  In Afghanistan, Baba was taking care of Amir and Amir was doing whatever his father wanted him to do. When they arrived in the US, Amir was the one taking care of Baba, especially when Baba got sick. I didn't disagree with a statement that was made.  If I could go back, I would ask one of my level 3 questions because the discussion did not go very far.

Once we got going, it turned out to be a good seminar.  People were sharing their ideas more and were more willing to jump into the conversation.  We all did a very good job of listening to each other.  There were a lot of questions asked when we did get going, so that was good.

It took us a long time to have a good conversation.  We needed a halftime less then 10 minutes in because there were too many awkward silences.  We had to be pushed to talk, myself included.  We also didn't ask any Level 3 questions, so the conversation was not very deep.  It stayed around the same topic and it mostly revolved around the book.  Outside ideas were not brought in.

Kite Runner Socratic Seminar Reflection #1

      The seminar influenced my thinking because it made me consider the consequences of Amir's actions in greater detail. It made me wonder if it was worth it to give up the respect of someone he had a good relationship with in order to win the respect of someone else.  Someone asked whether you would rather have Ali or Baba as a father, which was a deep question. They both have their pros and cons.Ali is more nurturing, while Baba emphasizes tough love.
   
      I agree with the fact that Amir acts selfish and doesn't do anything to change it.  He mentioned it himself several times in the book.  He doesn't use rationale when faced with tough decisions, he goes by his gut feeling, which isn't always the best idea.  There wasn't a single remark that I disagreed with a lot.

      One thing that worked well for the seminar is that the questions were more focused around the book.  That is a positive because previous seminars were more focused on Level 3 questions, and the actual plot was not discussed as much.  Everyone in the circle was able to get a greater understanding of the book as a result of this.

      One thing that needs improvement is that there were some long pauses in the conversation.  Oftentimes, someone would be waiting for someone else to respond or ask a question.  Eventually someone would jump in, but people need to do a better job of jumping in with a question or something to ensure a better flow.

Socratic Seminar Preparation #4

   Part I.

  Winston is arrested, interrogated, and tortured by the prison guards as well as O'Brien. For a long    time, Winston refused to give up his beliefs.  Finally, after going to Room 101 and being tortured with his fear of rats, he betrays Julia and recognizes his love for Big Brother.

Part II.

Level 2:

-Why does Winston not know when he is being arrested?
    There are two scenarios that could be possible.  One is that he was most likely knocked out by the guards, so therefore he would have no sense of time.  Another possibility is that the Party manipulated time so that people would be confused as to what day it was.  Those are two scenarios that are possible.(Logos)

-What does Orwell mean by "unexpected movements" on page 201?
    The term "unexpected movements" refers to any movement that does not include someone sitting still with their hands in their laps.  For instance, when Winston put a hand in his pocket, he was promptly yelled at by the telescreen. This shows that the government controls the movements that the prisoners make. (Logos)

-Why do the common criminals in the book act badly, but political prisoners don't?
     The criminals act badly because they most likely already had behavioral problems which led to them becoming criminals.  The political prisoners didn't commit a huge crime, it was just thoughtcrime. They are also not used to going to jail, whereas the common criminals most likely are.  (Logos)

-Were all of the political prisoners beaten to rid them of intelligence?
      It is very likely that all of the political prisoners were beaten.  The interrogators were trying to get the political prisoners to believe in what the Party wants them to believe in, so they beat the prisoners' true beliefs right out of them. (Logos)

-Why is O'Brien inflicting pain on Winston?
       O'Brien is an interrogator for the Party.  He is trying to get Winston to drop his old beliefs and adopt those of the Party.  Every time Winston said something that O'Brien didn't like, he was in pain. . This is a way to "cure" Winston. (Logos)

-What does Winston's refusal to adopt the thinking that O'Brien wants him to show about him?
       It shows that Winston wants to stay true to himself and who he is. He doesn't care what anyone else thinks about him, even if he could potentially be persecuted for it.  He is more interested in staying true to himself then thinking about what everyone else wants him to think. (Pathos)

Level 3:

-How would you feel if you were a parent and your kid turned you over to the police?
        I would feel betrayed because I had raised the kid and done so much for them, and they turned me over to the police.  Especially if I felt that I hadn't done anything wrong, I would be hurt.  However, if I was living in that society, I would expect it because that was the norm in Oceania. (Pathos)

-Would prison guards be able to get away with injuring someone so badly in our society?
        Prison guards in county jails would not be able to get away with beating someone up so badly because they could get in trouble.  However, the guards at a facility such as Guantanomo Bay would be able to get away with it because they are dealing with possible terrorists, so they would be allowed to  torture the suspects. (Logos/Ethos)

-In Oceania, the Party watches its citizens almost all the time.  How is this evident in society today?
    In the US, Edward Snowden leaked information from NSA.  NSA has records of phone calls and Google searches done by people, so they know what a lot of people are doing.  Google tracks the searches done on a computer by a certain person, so certain ads pop up advertising something similar to what the person is searching online.  Also, the US has spied on officials in other countries, such as Russia. (Logical)

Part III.

"'You don't think they'll shoot me, do you, old chap?  They don't shoot you if you haven't actually done anything-only thoughts, which you can't help?  I know they give you a fair hearing.'"(Page 207)

"The beatings grew less frequent, and became mainly a threat, a horror to which he could be sent back at any moment when his answers were unsatisfactory."(Page 215)

Socratic Seminar Reflection #3

The seminar influenced my thinking about the text because it made me consider why there were

restrictions on relations in the society.  I learned more about the restrictions on sexual relations as well.

I hadn't thought a lot about why the laws were the way that they were.  Camilla's comment that the

Party considered love to be a problem, not cheating, was really insightful because I hadn't thought

about it in a lot of depth.
           

I agreed with the fact that cheating was not considered to be a huge problem because love was

forbidden.  The only valid reason for having sex in that society was to create more Party members.  I

didn't disagree with anything that was said.  If I could say anything, I would have asked at least one

more question.  I think some of them that I had would have generated interesting discussion, but I held

back.


The discussion was really insightful and everyone had great ideas.  Everyone contributed to the

conversation at least once, and everyone was receptive to each others' ideas.  We talked a lot about the

book which was good, because there was too much level 3 discussion.  Everyone left the seminar with

a better understanding of the book.
             

The seminar had some awkward silences, which was mainly because people were waiting for others to

talk.  I did that too.  Some of us were hesitant to share our ideas.  We need to be more confident and

willing to take the lead in the conversation, and not defer to whoever the discussion leader is.

Socratic Seminar Reflection #2

    The seminar influenced my thinking because my perspective on the chapters that we had to read

changed.  We talked about a lot of Level 3 questions.  We were able to connect what was going on in

the book to our own lives.  The questions that asked how the reader would feel if they were in certain

situations of the book were the questions that generated a lot of discussion.  The connection to our lives

helped us see what Oceania was like.  The question about why the Party didn't allow sex except for

creating more members made me think a little bit because I hadn't thought about it a lot before.

    I agreed with the statement that the Party members felt threatened, which is why they were a

dictatorship.  They were afraid that an uprising would occur.  I disagreed with the statement that even

though vocabulary was decreasing, it did not affect the thought process of a person.  Thoughts lead to

speech, so if the vocabulary was decreasing, it would also affect how someone thought.  If I could go

back to the seminar, I would have asked a question because I had several that might have sparked good

discussion, but I couldn't bring myself to ask them.

     The seminar flowed very smoothly.  There were no interruptions and everybody listened to each

other.  Because of that, people built off of others' ideas and the discussion was thought-provoking.  No

one disrespected another person's ideas, if someone disagreed, they did it respectfully.  Everyone had

good ideas and contributed to the discussion.

      For the next seminar, we could do a better job talking about the book itself.  It seemed like the entire

discussion consisted of Level 3 questions.  Those kinds of questions are great, but we kind of got away

from the book a little bit.  It would be good to talk about the book so everyone could have a good

understanding of it.

1984-Socratic Seminar Reflection #1

       The seminar influenced my thinking about a topic because I gained some more insight into how

Oceania's society functioned.  I learned about how it connected to the real world as well, since there

have been histories of people with authoritarian governments.  Several examples of this are Germany,

during the Nazi era, as well as North Korea.  To start the seminar, I asked, "Why does everyone call

each other 'comrade?'"  I thought that it was a result of the country always being at war, but the

responses I got were that it was just a word used to address each other, just as Mr. and Mrs. would be

used.
 
      I agreed with the idea that the citizens had to be careful about what they said and thought because

they were being watched by Big Brother and his regime.  The citizens could be arrested for saying or

doing anything that the government viewed as a threat.  I didn't really disagree with anything that was

said, because I thought that everyone's ideas made sense.  I should have told the group my response to

the question, because it could have presented an opportunity to take the conversation in another

direction, but I didn't.
       
 Everyone had good ideas and the discussion was thought-provoking in general.  Everyone shared their

insights and views on certain topics.  People were attentive and engaged in the discussion.  Sasha did a

good job of facilitating it and making sure that everyone was involved.  Some questions were really

good, as well, I had to think for a while to come up with the answer several times.
     
  The main thing that people should work on is making their questions clear and relatively easy to

comprehend.  There were several times that I had no idea how to answer a question because it was

either too complicated or it didn't get to the point.  In both cases, I had no idea what some of those

questions were asking, which might have limited some opportunities to make a really insightful

comment.  That is the main thing that people should work on.

Statement of Intent-Othello Dramatic Reading

   The excerpt that I chose to read is Iago's soliloquy in Act 1, when he reveals his revenge plan to carry out against Othello.  In the first sentence, the tone is sinister, since he is showing how he can manipulate Roderigo to help him carry out his master plan.  From "I hate the Moor" until "Cassio's a proper man,"the tone reflects resentment because he is revealing his reaction to being denied a promotion. There are pauses after "Let me see now" and "Let's see" because this is the time when he is plotting his scheme.  The last two lines, he is triumphant, because the details have been worked out and he is ready to carry out his plan.
   Throughout the recording of this soliloquy, I learned how clever and manipulative Iago is.  Almost every character was part of his master plan that led to the demise of several characters, including Othello and Desdemona.  While he is the antagonist in the play, he is very clever.  His plan was complex and planned very carefully, which shows both his cleverness and his intelligence.  I learned that if Iago wasn't clever and intelligent, the play would have ended differently because the plan could have backfired on him.
     The impact of the soliloquy on the text as a whole was huge.  It set the plot in motion and foreshadowed the events that would follow.  Without it, the play would have had a different outcome.  Iago would have taken a more rational approach to solve the problem. It affected all of the stages of dramatic structure because it shaped the entire outcome of the play.  It also further complicated the characterization because at first, Iago comes off as a loyal officer to Othello.  The soliloquy shows a completely different side to him, and it portrays him as a two-faced person.