Socratic Seminar Expectations

Socrates believed that it is more important to enable others to think for

themselves than to merely fill their heads with “right” answers. Therefore, he
regularly engaged his pupils in dialogues by responding to their questions with
questions instead of answers.

We are going to hold our very own Socratic Seminar where you will bring your
thoughts, connections, and interpretations which you will present to the class
for discussion We will be discussing our unit of study: Culture, Identity, and
Community, with an emphasis on gender.

You will be expected to call your peers by name, and make 2-3 thoughtful comments during the seminar.
Everyone must speak before you can share your second and third comments. Evaluate what others say
and then either challenge or build off of them. Show that you are listening to your peers (“I agree with
Sarah because…”). Be respectful and kind, yet share important connections.

Seminar Guidelines
1. You must come to the seminar with 5 questions and answers. If you do not have this finished, for ANY
reason, you will lose 50 points but can still participate in the seminar.
2. Refer to texts when needed during the discussion. A seminar is not a test of memory. You are not
“learning a subject”; your goal is to understand the ideas, issues, and values reflected in the unit.
3. The seminar is YOUR seminar so be sure to guide it in the direction you want it to go. Stick to the point
currently under discussion; make notes about ideas you want to come back to.
4. Don’t raise hands; take turns speaking. Be respectful, listen carefully, and speak up.
5. Discuss ideas rather than each other’s opinions. In other words, DO NOT engage in “yelling back and
forth at each other” or making people feel bad.

Absolutely NO cell phones/electronics or talking to your neighbor. If this happens you will
automatically receive less than half credit on the entire seminar.

Grading Rubric
● 5 questions and answers – 50 pts
● 2-3 comments throughout the Seminar (cite evidence, give examples, build off others) – 50 pts
● Respectful comments/disagreements and use of appropriate language is EXPECTED
Creating Questions

Assignment: Write five questions in relation to our current unit of study: Culture, Identity, and
Community. How is gender influenced by those factors? Your questions should be open-ended and
thought provoking. Don’t write questions that have an obvious answer and don’t be tempted to use
Google for “inspiration.”

Answer all of your own questions. Your answers should be thoughtful discussions of the topic and will
require at least a paragraph explanation. Each question and answer should contain specific references to
texts studied this term that support your claims.

Use the following categories to assist you in creating quality questions:

● WORLD CONNECTION QUESTION (text to world): Write a question connecting the text to the real
world.  Example:  What social problems would you attempt to eradicate if you lived in the Puritan
society? How would you do this? What form of government, if any, would your society use?
● TEXT TO TEXT CONNECTION QUESTION: Write a question connecting the text to another text the
class has read. Example: How does “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” correlate to The Crucible’s
puritan beliefs?
● OPEN-ENDED QUESTION: Write an insightful question about the text that will require proof and
group discussion and "construction of logic" to discover or explore the answer to the question.
Example: Why did the Giver opt to remain in the Community rather than leave with Jonas?
● AUTHOR’S CHOICE QUESTION: Write a question dealing with HOW an author chose to compose a
literary selection. How and why did the author manipulate point of view, characterization, literary
techniques, etc. Example: In The Giver, why is it important that the story is told through a limited
omniscient narrator? Why is diction important to the meaning and theme of the novel?
● UNIVERSAL THEME: Write a question dealing with a theme(s) of the text that will encourage group
discussion about the universality of the text. Example: Much of our reading this year has focused on
the internal journey – or the individual quest for identity and meaning. How is this theme reflected in
the world today?

SEMINAR DAY: Bring a hard copy of your questions and responses to class.

REMEMBER, THERE IS NO “RIGHT” OR “WRONG” ANSWER TO THESE QUESTIONS. IF YOU CAN

TEXTUALLY SUPPORT YOUR ANSWER, AND YOU DO SO IN A THOUGHTFUL WAY, YOU ARE RIGHT. IF
YOU CAN’T, YOU ARE WRONG.

IT’S ALL ABOUT CONNECTIONS TO THE TEXTS STUDIED!

A Doll’s House and Their Eyes Were Watching God both had to do with relationships involving 2 different
genders. How do old, preexisting, and new gender roles affect modern-day relationships of all
sexualities, and what issues might stereotypes and roles bring up in the relationship?

Gender roles from all time periods still affect relationships today, as many gender roles are
incredibly applicable to relationships, and the fact that so many people have different opinions on how
gender roles should be can make relationships complicated. Simple gender roles like paying for dates,
being more nurturing, etc., can all affect how a relationship takes course, but I think that the mindsets
that come from implemented gender roles play a bigger part in romantic relationships because It can
completely change the dynamic of the entire relationship. We see in Janie and Tea Cake’s relationship,
the gender roles at the time affected their relationship immensely, and those gender roles were followed
almost all of the time because that was just the way of life. However now, some may say that ideas
surrounding this are more progressive and less strict, so roles change and loosen up over time. The
issues this may bring up in relationships could include disagreements over how things should be done,
relationships with 2 of the same gender may have conflicting actions, and really just the mindset that is
obtained from both parties based on their gender stereotypes

While reading the poem “Barbie Doll,” I found that the character by the end of the poem could be
compared to a pretty car that no longer works. This is because of the consistent asks of everyone in her
life telling her to “sit still, look pretty,” until all of her kind and genuine traits were gone (aka the machine
part of the car) because no one appreciated them because they only cared about her appearance. (aka
the outside of the car). What are ways this happens to men, where good qualities within them are run
down because only other parts are valued?

A few of these things that I can think of from an outsider’s perspective, is men having to
suppress their “delicate” feelings and instead show their “rough,” and “angry” emotions. Men having
different interests than what is expected of them through stereotypes is also an issue because everyone
should have the right to enjoy what they want as long as it doesn’t hurt others, and at the same time not
be pressured into liking something that they just really aren’t interested in. These issues are basic at the
front, but they are very complex, and they also create even bigger problems as a result. These pressures
put on men to have to act a certain way gets to a point where it doesn’t just affect them, but the people
around them too through their actions. I asked this question because I would like to get more input on it,
as I am not a man and simply can’t understand the issue completely because I’ve never gone through the
same thing as a result of my gender.

From the Barbie commercials, do you think that the Barbie brand truly cares about the progression
towards equality, Feminism, etc., or is their main reason for the shift in advertisements and products to
fit with the growing popular opinion to make a profit?

I think that yes, to an extent, Barbie does agree with the empowerment of women in our future
and spreading more productive and inspiring views to the people who play with their toys. However,
Barbie is still a brand, and you have to consider that when thinking about their motives in things. Sure,
they can agree to spread more positivity to girls, and this does benefit them because it is a. relevant, and
b, it, therefore, gets the profit. But without the issue in the first place, would they be able to thrive off of
this fact in the first place? If the issue of gender equality wasn’t brought up as much as it is, they
wouldn’t have the exigence to spread the inspiration in the first place. And I think that’s where things get
tricky because if Barbie is benefitting from the oppression of women in this way, then can you say that
they are 100% supportive of young girls’ dreams and the fact that they can do anything? I think this is
kind of a question with an answer that is even more questions, so you could never really get a correct
answer to this.

Do you believe that even if someday we do reach gender equality in many aspects, there will always be
actions that come from prejudice that put men ahead of women, never really resulting in true equality?

I think that absolutely, there will always be that prejudice that men are above women in some
sort of way. With how the state of the world is right now, this is something that is almost impossible to
EVER get rid of completely, even if we were to start the “system” all over again. There is no morally
correct way to just stop hurtful opinions from being spread to one another entirely. As a very broad and
non-specific way of putting it, men will always benefit from oppression against women. This means that
men simply existing hurts women, and women hurting benefits men. This isn’t a good formula of course,
so this is why the fight for equality is so important. No one’s existence should be actively contributing to
the oppression of another group, but this doesn’t mean that they are explicitly doing oppressing actions,
it just means that the society is structured in a way that the people who want power get/stay in power.
So yes, unless the entire system is rethought or we get closer to legal equality between men and women,
there will never be true equality.

Are there any positive gender roles and stereotypes that don’t come at the expense of others? Any roles
that are okay to pass onto the next generation to continue?

There are definitely positive gender roles by themselves, but there are no roles or stereotypes
that don’t contribute to some sort of oppression against some opposing group. Some may say that the
stereotype and gender role that women are emotional, could be considered good because it means that
they are good empathetic listeners and caring people. While this may be true on the surface, this
stereotype is still incredibly damaging because of several different reasons. This stereotype contributes
to the double standards women have placed on them, it could make a girl who maybe isn’t the most
emotion-rich person feel bad about herself, or it may contribute to insults towards women about how
they are sensitive and should “man-up.” The same thing can go for men, when they are told to, “be a
man!” or “stay strong,” when they want to do anything but that. This goes for almost every stereotype
and its counterpart. And as said before, if one group is contributing to another group’s oppression by
simply existing, (ex. men/women, white people/BIPOC, straight people/LGBTQIA+), then that shows how
society clearly needs to be changed. So no, I don’t think that any gender roles or stereotypes belong in
our world anymore and we should continue to educate ourselves and leave them behind because it takes
a step towards a more progressive world where anyone can make their own identity whatever they want
it to be, regardless of their gender.

Additional question to make up for not saying 3 comments:

Was it Nora’s responsibility to care about how her action of leaving her family affected those around
her?

I genuinely believe that it was not Nora’s responsibility to feel bad or any sort of guilt for how leaving her
family affected them, especially if she did not 100% choose to be in this relationship with Torvald. I am a
very strong believer over the fact that other people’s emotions are not your responsibility, and so in this
case, Nora doing what was best for her at the moment is all she should focus on. If Torvald was incredibly
sad because she left, that’s not her problem. I think it is extremely important to think about the situation
from Nora’s perspective, and I mean REALLY look at it from her perspective. She is an immature woman
with not a lot of experience, and at this point in her life, she just needed to look out for herself. I do think
that the question over whether she should have left her kids or not is a very good one, and I do agree
with both sides having to do with the fact that it is her responsibility to stay for her kids, but I also
understand why she left. Her and her children never seemed to have an incredibly close relationship in
the story anyways, and they had maids there that took care of them for the most part. Of course, having
their present mother in their life probably could have made their quality of life better for the future, but I
think that they will be able to get along just fine seeing as they weren’t super close to her in the first
place.