Survival: A Matter of Life and Death Socratic Seminar Questions

We will be using the following questions in our Socratic Seminar. The Socratic Seminar is one of your
summative assignments for this reading unit. Come up with assertions (verbal topic sentences/claims)
that directly answer the question. Write notes with evidence to support your claim. The evidence is
REQUIRED because it will help back up your assertion and it will help keep the conversation centered
around the novel. The talking points are equally important. They allow you to elaborate on the so what
of your assertion and evidence. Without this verbal matters, your conversations will seem flat and
boring. Not all of the questions will be used but you need assertions, evidence, and talking points for
each one.

1. Make a clear, logical generalization about the way(s) people adapt for survival.

Assertion Evidence Talking Points/Matters

They do what they think is most
needed to help them survive in
that exact moment.
I used words in many ways
during the genocide-to plead,
intimidate,coax,cajole, and
negotiate I said whatever I
thought it would take to keep
the people in my hotel from
being killed (Rusesabagina
162-168).
The hotel manager would do anything to keep his
residents alive, resorting to having to plea, or intimidate
people to accomplish that. He had to do that with the
people trying to take over, the people he despised, and
he had to negotiate with to stay alive.

2. Make a clear, logical generalization about the way(s) people adapt for survival.

Assertion Evidence Talking Points/Matters

They persevere through their
worst times.
An example of this is Julie Julie Moss persevered through this emotional moment
Moss, she collapsed feet from of defeat, and finished the race 2nd, even in her pain,
the finish line in her and embarrassment, she still accomplished her goal to
marathon, and ended up finish the race.
gaining 2nd place in the race
after being in the lead for the
majority of it.

3. Make a clear, logical generalization about the way(s) people adapt for survival.

Assertion Evidence Talking Points/Matters

They use their instincts and let it
take over in order to survive.
An example of this is Julie
Moss, when she collapsed she
heard her instincts telling her
to get up and finish the race.
This shows how Julie allowed her instincts to take over
and convince herself to persevere and finish the race.
Even though she was hurt, and tired, her instincts
allowed her to survive and gave her the will to finish the
race.
Write your own open ended question for Socratic Seminar. This should not be something everyone
will agree on and should be connected to the play or the themes/ideas the play brings up. It should
not be the same as your peers, so think of this on your OWN.

Original Question: Why do people give in and turn sides easily to the point that they hurt their friends and
family?______________________________________________________________________

Assertion Evidence Talking Points/Matters

People give in and turn sides
easily because they have fear, and
that fear is what makes them think
that theyre on the wrong side,
and makes them want to switch.
They switch with self-preservation,
even if their friends and/or family
are on the first side.
Peter was just a cool guy;
so nice to children, very
gentle I saw him that
morning wearing a military
uniform and holding a
machete dripping in
blood (Rusesabagina,
123-125).
This shows how a regular guy can go from being
friendly and a good neighbor, to savage-like and totally
change his personality. He went from a cool guy to a
killer in the military, showing how deeply a person can
change.

Write your own open ended question for Socratic Seminar. This should not be something everyone
will agree on and should be connected to the play or the themes/ideas the play brings up. It should
not be the same as your peers, so think of this on your OWN.

Original Question: Why do people make the biggest goals even if it means risking their life for
it?________________________________________________________________________________

Assertion Evidence Talking Points/Matters

I feel people risk their lives to join
marathons and races, for example
because they want to run and they
arent actually aware of the
dangers of running the races. They
train, and know what to do, so
many feel theres no threat of
death in the marathons or races
they compete in.
Patrick went on a ten day This shows why people make the biggest goals even if it
world trip on a bike. He risks their life because it shows many times they dont
would only get an hour of even know their lives are in danger in their goal.
sleep each day and began to Patrick didnt think of the risks, until it struck a friend
hallucinate that there were and caused him to die.
people chasing after him with
guns. After finding out that
one of his friends, who was in
the race, died by getting hit
by a truck, he quit.

Write your own open ended question for Socratic Seminar. This should not be something everyone
will agree on and should be connected to the play or the themes/ideas the play brings up. It should
not be the same as your peers, so think of this on your OWN.

Original Question: Do you think mentality is a big factor in

survival?____________________________________________________________________________
Assertion Evidence Talking Points/Matters

I do think that mentality is a big
factor because if you tell yourself
that you cant do something or
youre not good enough, you wont
be encouraged to do it. You have to
believe in yourself to be able to push
yourself.
One day, he said to me: "It's over. This shows how mentality is a big factor in survival as
God is no longer with us." And as this man lost his faith in God, which caused him to lose
though he regretted having uttered faith in the fact that he could survive. His mentality
such words so coldly, so dryly shifted from that of confidence in God, and belief, to a
(Weisel, 76) loss of faith and a distrust that leads to him dying, with
no hope for survival.

Write your own open ended question for Socratic Seminar. This should not be something everyone
will agree on and should be connected to the play or the themes/ideas the play brings up. It should
not be the same as your peers, so think of this on your OWN.

Original Question: Do you think words or weapons are stronger?

Assertion Evidence Talking Points/Matters

I think words are stronger because
you can encourage people by the
simplest words to convince people to
do the most powerful things. If you
are able to convince one person to
do something, it could start a chain
reaction, allowing others to follow
their lead and continue what they
believe in.
The entire world has gone mad
around me. What has caused this to
happen? Very simple: words.
(Rusesabagina, 127-129)
This shows how words are stronger than weapons as,
weapons werent the cause of a war in Rwanda, words
were. They started a massive war, that eventually led to
weapons being involved, but words were the cause and
most dangerous thing that was created and started in
the war.