Guidelines for Socratic Seminar: 1984 & Brave New World
The Socratic method of teaching is based on Socrates' theory that it is more important to enable students
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. This
process encourages independent thinking and close analysis. This is the goal of our Socratic Seminars.
Basic Setup of the Socratic Seminar
 Before the Socratic Seminar, the instructor will provide students with an essential question that
will provide the basis for a sound discussion. Students should prepare tangential open-ended
questions that may lead to dialogue on the given subject. They need not prepare answers—a
Socratic Seminar is never “scripted.”
 On the day of the seminar, all students will sit in a circle with the instructor on the outside.
 Two students will be elected as leaders to facilitate and help monitor the group discussion.
 ALL STUDENTS SHOULD BE TAKING NOTES ON THE DISCUSSION RELATED TO THE QUESTIONS.
 The Socratic Seminar will conclude at the end of the class period.
Guidelines for Participants in a Socratic Seminar
1.
Refer to the text 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
text.
2.
It's okay to "pass" if asked to contribute.
3.
Do not participate if you are not prepared. A seminar should not be a bull session.
4.
Do not stay confused; ask for clarification.
5.
Stick to the point currently under discussion; make notes about ideas you want to come back to.
6.
Don't raise hands; take turns speaking.
7.
Listen carefully to each other and be incredibly respectful.
8.
Speak up so that all can hear you.
9.
Talk to each other, not just to the leader or teacher.
10.
Discuss ideas rather than each other's opinions.
11.
You are responsible for the seminar, even if you don't know it or admit it.
Expectations of Participants in a Socratic Seminar
When I evaluate your Socratic Seminar participation, I will ask myself the following questions.
Did the student….
Speak loudly and clearly?
Cite reasons and evidence for their statements?
Use the text to find support?
Listen to others respectfully?
Stick with the subject?
Talk to each other, not just to the leader?
Paraphrase accurately?
Ask for help to clear up confusion?
Support each other?
Avoid hostile exchanges?
Question others in a civil manner?
Seem prepared?
ESSENTIAL QUESTION: Like 1984, Brave New World presents a picture of the future gone wrong.
However, in Huxley's vision of the future, we are not undone by our fear of pain; rather, we fall prey to
our desire to be entertained. Which paradigm of the future are we approaching in modern-day society?
Which warning for the future—the threat of Orwell’s foreboding Big Brother and government
surveillance, or Huxley’s indulgent, infantile, consumer-driven world—is more insistent?
There are three steps to preparing for a successful Socratic Seminar:
I. Questions
Keeping in mind our essential question, please prepare 4 questions for the Socratic Seminar at DOK levels
3 or 4. Avoid speculative (“what if?”) or closed-ended questions that could be easily answered with a
yes/no or questions that can cleared up definitively and directly from the text. You do not need to
respond to these questions.
II. Research Recap
In addition to our reading of the two novels you will be expected to conduct research on the parallels
between modern society and Huxley’s and Orwell’s visions. You will do this by reading two outside
articles. Please choose articles from well-respected publications. For each article, you will be expected to
complete the following:



A brief summary
A connection to the article
Two more elements of your choice from the “Responding to the Text” handout (label them)
You will submit your questions and your research recap to turnitin.com by 11:59 PM the day before the
Socratic Seminar. Please plan ahead. I am not responsible for last-minute computer failure—have a backup! Late work will receive a zero.
III. The Seminar
On the day of the seminar, bring your copy of the article you read, your questions and your notes (which
should include the Research Recap).
There are two ways to earn points—you must speak at least twice by


Posing an intelligent, higher level question to the group
Specifically responding to a question posed by your peers
**Your responses should reference the text or your notes
Do not assume that you have earned full points simply because you have opened your mouth the requisite
number of times. I am looking for depth of response and understanding.
Research Recap & Questions – 30 points
Socratic Seminar participation – 20 points
To help you prepare:
On 1984
Spend some time at http://www.studentsfororwell.org/, Students for an Orwellian Society. Keeping in
mind that this site is supposed to be satirical—but that the events linked are all true—consider how
contemporary society parallels that of Orwell’s fictitious Oceania. Take notes below & cite additional
sources:
On Brave New World
Think about what values are sacrificed for the sake of stability and “happiness” in Brave New World.
Mustapha Mond outlines these in chapter 16 of Brave New World. Where do we see this forfeit of values
manifest in society today?
A. Feelings, passions, commitments, and relationships
- Such relationships produce emotional (and therefore social) instability, strife, and unhappiness.
- While it is easy to think of ways that relationships make people unhappy, it may be difficult for the
reader to understand why Mond thinks these relationships fundamentally create instability, when
common sense and tradition dictate exactly the opposite (the family is one of the stabilizing institutions of
our society)
B. Equality
- Mond is quite forthright about the fact that social stability depends upon inequality.
- Most of society is going to have to perform uninteresting tasks most of the time.
…This might even be possible to argue that our own society has as much inequality as the World State,
and that Mond is just more honest about it, refusing to pay lip service to the ideal that all humans are
created equal.
… However, the complete abandonment of the ideal of equality leads to horrifying results.
… The majority of human embryos in the World State are altered so that their potential for excellence or
growth is stunted.
… When the comparison is made between the novel’s world and our own, we are left with troubling
questions rather than distinct conclusions.
- Given that economic and social stability depends upon an unequal distribution of labor, does this create
destructive contradictions with our democratic ideal that individuals are equal?
- This theme is clearly indebted to the writing of Karl Marx, whose ideas are part of the intellectual
background of this novel.
* It is no accident, for instance, that the dissident Bernard’s last name is Marx.
C. Truth
- Mond says that science has to be suppressed because a society that is predicated on the search for
happiness cannot also be committed to truth.
- He may mean that science, and the search for truth more generally, has an irresistible tendency to
overthrow old, established ways of looking at things.
…Authority and conventional wisdom both contribute to the stability of society, and in the search for
truth both of these are liable to come under interrogation.
D. Art
- Art is not a consumer product, and great art draws its subject matter from feelings, passions,
commitments, and relationships, which are discussed above.
E. “Problems”
- Huxley might argue that we value problems (old age, death, doubt, even suffering), because we value
the responses that they produce in human beings.
- These Mond dismisses as the “overcompensation for misery.”
… One criticism that the reader might be inclined to level at Mond’s entire line of argumentation is that it
is self-serving.
… Mond is at the very top of the ruling class and enjoys exemption from the laws that he makes.
… One could easily dismiss everything he says on the basis that his real interest is the stability of his own
position, and not the stability and happiness of his society as a whole.
… On the other hand, it would be a mistake to simply dismiss his argument out of hand, because it does
possess considerable power and subtlety, challenging the reader to dispute it on its own terms.
Other parallels between Brave New World and contemporary society (please cite sources!):
(Please take your own notes below)