Pre-Seminar Question-Writing:



SOCRATIC SEMINAR ON

“THE THINGS THEY CARRIED”

Your exam grade will consist of three parts. You will receive a grade for each part.

1) A list of ten discussion questions (2 for each category listed below). And two selected passages with explanation and response.

2) Participation in Socratic Seminar (both listening and speaking).

3) Completion of Written Reflection handout.

Before you come to class for the exam (Socratic Seminar), please make sure that you have finished writing your questions (see the question categories listed below) and are ready to talk about “THE THINGS THEY CARRIED”.

QUESTION CATEGORIES

WORLD CONNECTION QUESTION

Write a question connecting the text to the real world. 

Examples: 

If you were a slave like Frederick Douglass and you witnessed a family member being whipped (as Douglass witnesses his aunt’s being whipped), what would you do? What would be the results or consequences of your actions?

If you were the child of a Southern slave owner and knew that some of your family’s slaves were your half brothers or sisters, how would your feel or what would you do?

Do you think we still have forms of slavery today? If so, what are they? Explain.

(After reading Frederick Douglass).

CLOSE-ENDED QUESTION:

Write  a question about the text that will help everyone in the

class come to an agreement about events or characters in the text. This

question usually has a "correct" answer.

Examples: 

How did Frederick Douglass escape?

Who was rumored to be Frederick Douglass’s father?

What was the difference between being a slave on a plantation and being a slave in the city?

OPEN-ENDED QUESTION:

Write an insightful question that does not have one specific answer. This question will require the group to think, speculate, and look to the text to create or construct a logical answer.

Examples:

Why did Andy ask for beers for “each of his co-workers” when they were tarring the roof of the jail. (after watching Shawshank Redemption).

Why doesn’t Douglass stop his aunt from being whipped?

UNIVERSAL THEME/ CORE QUESTION:

Write a question dealing with a theme(s) of the text that will

encourage group discussion about the universality of the text.

Examples:

After reading Douglass’s narrative, how would you define the word freedom? What is the value of freedom?

What is the American Dream? How does Douglass’s narrative relate to the concept of The American Dream? Does the American Dream change over time?

What do you think the film Shawshank Redemption says about friendship? Why is friendship important to us? What are the codes of friendship?

 

LITERARY ANALYSIS QUESTION:

Write a question dealing with HOW an author chose to compose a literary piece.  How did the author manipulate point of view, characterization, poetic form, archetypal hero patterns, for example?

Examples:

In Douglass’s narrative, why is it important that he writes the story from a first-person point of view? How does this make his story more credible and convincing?

How does Douglass use repetition to make his argument against slavery more convincing?

Why doesn’t Douglass tell his story in chronological order?

In Shawshank Redemption, how does the filmmaker use setting to set the tone of the film?

In Shawshank Redemption, what is the pet raven symbolize? Are there other symbols in this film? What are these symbols and how are they used to communicate information about the film’s theme?

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