Michael Lopez

Ms. Storer
English 3; Block 5
November 26, 2019
Socratic Circle Reflection on Hills Like White Elephants and Winter Dreams

When I was in the inner circle, I feel as if we brought up many different thoughts that
other groups did not. This group brought up many different viewpoints on the ending of “Hills
like White Elephants” which created controversy amongst everyone. With that controversy came
a calm and powerful discussion. For example, Nellie talked about how she got the abortion and
others agreed with her, but at the same time, others disagreed and were able to provide counter
claims.
I personally believe this Socratic was much better than the previous one. I felt as if I was able to
voice my opinion and enter into a calm debate. When Nellie talked about the ending of “Hills
Like White Elephants,” I was able to disagree with her and provide evidence to why I believe so.
All members of the circle were able to provide their own opinion on the ending that I was able to
disagree with or elaborate on. For example, Victor talked about how she did not get the abortion
and I was able to agree with him and provide evidence as to why. I do feel like I was able to
explain my reasoning and provide evidence compared to the previous circle. Using that evidence
greatly helped me in explaining my thoughts.
Through the attitude of the girl, she did not get an abortion because of her demeaner, her
comments, and the ending.
The way she was acting throughout the story highlighted the fact that she did not want to
lose the baby. She talked in a very sad and annoyed tone. When she would speak, I was able to
visualize her sitting down, and looking like something is bothering her. She seemed like she
wanted to keep the baby but did not want to admit it since it is not what he wanted. When she
would respond to him, she would say things that would indicate that she is done speaking to him.
The only thing is that he would not get the hint and she would get bothered by it. At one point
she called him out on it. She would also say things that hinted at the fact that she wanted to keep
the baby and that that baby would be a great part of her life. She did this by mentioning the fact
that once you get rid of the baby, there is no way of getting them back. At the end, there was talk
about the train leaving very soon. She seemed to get very excited and happy that it was leaving
soon and to my understanding, using her reactions to everything before, it seemed like she was
going to follow through with the baby and the man will not go with her. She was very excited
possibly because she did not have to deal with that manipulative man anymore and she could live
a happy, beautiful life with her child.
This was a very interesting story to compare to my life. While I have never had a
relationship where someone is manipulative, I have said things that meant otherwise. For
example, I would say things like “I'm fine” or “don’t worry about me” when in reality I meant
for the other person to think oppositely. Reading this really made me realize how detrimental I
am to myself. I have many opportunities for people to help me but often times I feel embarrassed
to admit anything which is why I keep it to myself or I admit it after they ask multiple times.