The Art of Literature
Socratic Seminar
In lieu of a final project or essay, YOU are going to conduct a Socratic seminar. The seminar will
last three days and it will be entirely student run. ALL students are to answer the following
twelve questions for Monday’s class; you should have a detailed paragraph concerning each
question. Be as thorough as possible! Your answers must be typed and brought into class with
you. You may not participate in the seminar without your answers in front of you.
On Monday, I will check that you all have your responses with you. I will then separate you into
two groups. The first group will discuss questions 1, 3, 5, 7, & 9 while the second group answers
observation questions that I will hand out Monday as well. On Wednesday, the second group will
discuss questions 2, 4, 6, 8, & 10 while the first groups works on the observation questions. On
the final day, Friday, the entire class will discuss the last two questions in addition to the
observation questions.
Reminder: this is 20% of your grade. I want to hear your ideas so please come prepared to
discuss! I also expect that you listen respectfully and respond thoughtfully to one another’s ideas.
I am so looking forward to hearing what you all think.
1. Our very first class discussion concerned Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use.” The
narrator in this short story is very deliberate with the information she gives her
readers and I want you to explore these details. In addition to the characteristics
directly stated by the narrator, what more did you learn about Mama, Dee, and
Maggie from their words and actions? Furthermore, what could you infer about this
community and time period as a whole? Lastly, how did this work serve as an
introduction to the course?
2. How is gender explored, both similarly and differently, in Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl,”
Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll,” and Sharon Olds’ “Rite of Passage”? What is the tone
for each work and how does the tone affect one’s reading? What is the literature
revealing about societal expectations of males and females? Are these expectations
accurate? Why or why not?
3. Toni Morrison explores race in her short story “Recitatif.” Why do you think
Morrison chose to keep the girls’ races ambiguous? What purpose could this possibly
serve? What greater message about race in this country could one find in this work?
4. James Joyce’s works “Eveline” and “Araby” both explore the idea of paralysis. What
does paralyze each of his characters? What other works have we read that explore this
same idea? Do the characters from these works succumb to the paralysis as Joyce’s
characters do?
5. Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem” poses the question: what happens to a dream
deferred? So I ask you, how are dreams explored in other works we read, such as
D.H. Lawrence’s “The Rocking-horse Winner,” Kate Chopin’s “Story of an Hour”
and the excerpt from Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye? What dreams do these
characters have and are these dreams realistic? Furthermore, what occurs when said
dreams go unrealized? What does in fact happen to a dream deferred?
6. Plays are meant to be seen, therefore there is a performance aspect that is lost in
simply reading works such as A Raisin in the Sun. What do you think is lost in
reading the play as opposed to seeing it performed live in the theatre? Is anything
gained in solely reading the work? How can an actor both enhance and hinder the
quality of a work? How did viewing scenes from the film version of the play affect
your initial reading of A Raisin in the Sun?
7. Works such as “My Papa’s Waltz” and “The Harlem Dance” deal with some pretty
difficult subject matter- what subjects are addressed in each work? What role does
figurative language play in presenting these subjects? (Identify uses of metaphor,
simile, symbolism, etc.) Do you find the use of figurative language to be appropriate
when discussing such content? Why or why not?
8. Waltz with Bashir explores the complex ideas of war, religion, children, memory, and
violence and it does so with minimal dialogue. Instead, the work relies on drawings to
portray these ideas. Choose an image that you think encapsulates each of these ideas
best and explain why you chose said image. What can images do for us that perhaps
prose cannot? (Please bring Waltz with you so that you may refer to the images
during your discussion.)
9. The setting for both All Souls and Falling Man is very specific and yet they both
explore universal ideas. What is unique about the time and place in which each work
is set and how does this unique setting affect the reader? Moreover, how does the
setting lend itself to the universal ideas explored and what are these ideas?
10. Define satire. Do you believe satire has a place in journalism and if yes, what is that
place? What fictional works have we read that could be considered somewhat
satirical? What is satire’s role in fiction?
11. What work did you find to be most intriguing this semester? Try not to focus on the
work you necessarily liked the best, but rather look to the one that challenged you the
most. What did you find provocative about this work? Why was it difficult,
interesting, frustrating, etc.? Would you recommend this work? Why or why not?
12. What genre were you most drawn to this semester? Did you prefer poetry or drama?
Short stories or the graphic novel? Or perhaps our journalism unit was most
interesting to you? What unique aspects did this genre contain that set it apart for
you? What can “your” genre do that others simply cannot?