Socratic Seminar (Inner/Outer Circle Method)
Why? Because, as Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Freedom of
expression is essential to enlightenment, and it’s high time many of you started down the
path toward enlightenment. I’ve talked for most of the year, and mostly at you; now, it’s your
turn to talk with each other. Take what you’ve learned (hopefully) and apply it.
Focus:
The past two weeks we have looked at Elie Wiesel’s Night, the articles from The
Sunflower and a number of other resources. How have these sources influenced
your understanding of forgiveness? Is forgiveness truly possible in our society or
was it ever truly possible?
Format and Instructions: I will divide our class into two circles---a smaller, inner ½ circle and a
larger outer circle. At the most twelve participants will be selected randomly for each session.
You will all have the novel, Night, the articles from The Sunflower and any other sources you
have used. You may also have a copy of your paper if you choose. Finally, you will need clean
paper on which to take notes.
Rules: A Socratic seminar is a discussion and not a debate. In other words, we are not looking
for a winner. In a Socratic seminar, every person in the room not speaking is expected to listen
respectfully.
Inner circle participants may:
 ask for clarification if a person’s comment confuses you.
 add to a comment made by another person.
 voice an opposing viewpoint.
No one may:
 criticize anyone’s opinions, comments, or beliefs.
 interrupt when someone is speaking.
 respond in a manner that is in any way contemptuous or derogatory.
General Responsibilities:
Before the Seminar:
Take time to organize your thoughts, sources, and questions in one place so that they can easily
be referenced in the discussion. Create a one page “cheat sheet” that you can easily refer to.
Use the pre-seminar question sheet to assist with this.
During class:
Students in the inner circle
1) Listen to the introduction by the designated discussion leader and consider the
discussion question(s) or issue(s) he or she raises.
2) Discuss (inner circle) or take notes on (outer circle) the issues raised, keeping to the
subject of the readings, attempting to analyze, criticize, and connect.
a. Analyze the readings to gain a deeper understanding of difficult concepts,
examples, the author's position, and the author's arguments.
b. Criticize the readings, articulating and defending personal opinions about the
adequacy of the author's presentation and arguments.
c. Connect the issues you have analyzed and criticized to material of previous
assignments in order to discern broader themes, similar concepts, and
comparable or contrasting opinions.
3) As you participate, make good use of the text, at times calling attention to specific
passages relevant to the issue at hand. When working with such a passage, cite the page
number and allow time for others in the class to locate it. Then, read it aloud.
4) Direct your attention to other students and regard the teacher as a recording
secretary on hand to take down information for use later in the course. The only role
the teacher will serve in this seminar will be to redirect discussion.
5) Take brief notes of points and examples that deepen your understanding; opinions
that differ from your own; and arguments that you find helpful, convincing, or worth
trying to refute. These notes may be useful when you want to contribute to discussion,
or when you participate in discussion. Do not, however, allow note-taking to cause you
to lose the thread of the discussion.
Specific Responsibilities:
Inner Circle:
 You engage in discussion, actively participating but not dominating. (Silence = consent,
and a lower grade.)
 You read aloud excerpts of the text to support or make a point, drawing our attention to
the words the author chose to use (diction).
 Listen to each other carefully.
 Look the speaker in the eye (eyes, shoulders, knees, toes!).
 Do not interrupt.
 Use each other’s names: “What Amanda said about Steinbeck’s uses of pathetic
fallacy...”
 Paraphrase what the speaker before you has said to respond responsibly. Support or
refute the prior speaker’s ideas.
 Stick to the text. Your point or opinion only matters if you can support your ideas.
 If you are confused about another’s point, question her/him.
 Discuss ideas; do not attack people. It is the dialectic, the debate, that makes us all more
informed. Changing your mind or adding to your understanding means that your mind
was open. We all win, if we learn from our discussion.
Outer Circle:
 You are silent but “talking back” by taking notes.
 When do you think the inner circle “sparked”? How did that happen?
 Track the person most directly in front of you. Did he/she contribute well (neither
dominate nor duck discussion)? Explain.
 To what idea were you dying to respond? What would you have said?
 What was the single most important idea that was discussed? Why?
 What was the single most important idea that didn’t get discussed? Why?
 What could have made the discussion even more constructive?
THE HOT SEAT:
This is an empty seat in the inner circle. Outer circle participants may “jump in” to make a point,
but then “jump out.” They may not stay and debate the entire point. They comment, and then
they leave! The discussion leader must acknowledge the hot seat as soon as it becomes pertinent
to do so. Students may not jump into the hot seat twice in a row. Another student must occupy
the hot seat before an outer circle participant is allowed back in.
YOU MAY ONLY OCCUPY THE HOT SEAT ONCE IN A SESSION, SO CHOOSE YOUR
MOMENT WISELY.
Grading:
A Basic Rubric that will be used is attached to this packet. It assesses both your participation
in the inner and outer circles.
In addition to this final rubric, the teacher will track your participation during discussion.
Pre-Seminar Question-Writing:
Before you come to a Socratic Seminar class, please read the assigned text (novel
section, poem, essay, article, etc.) and write at least ________ questions.
Categories for Potential Questions
 Facts and Conditions (What happened to ____?)
 Clarification (What was meant when ____?)
 Cause and Effect (Why did ____ do ____?)
 Multiple Causes (What else might have caused ____?)
 Empathy and Transfer (What would you do in ____’s place when ____?)
 Alternatives (What could have been done to change ____? or
What else could ____ have done when ____?)
 Principles, Values, Attitudes, Transfer (How did you feel when ____? or
What can be learned from ____?)
 World Connection Question:
Write a question connecting the text to the real world.
Example: If you were given only 24 hours to pack your most precious belongings in a
back pace and to get ready to leave your home town, what might you pack? (after reading
the first 30 pages of NIGHT).
 Close Ended Question:
Write a question about the text that will help everyone in the class come to an
agreement about events or characters in the text. This question usually has a
"correct" answer.
Example: What happened to Hester Pyrnne's husband that she was left alone in
Boston without family? (after the first 4 chapters of THE SCARLET LETTER).
 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 Gene hesitate to reveal the truth about the accident to Finny that first
day in the infirmary? (after mid-point of A SEPARATE PEACE).
 Universal Theme/Core Question:
Write a question dealing with a theme(s) of the text that will encourage group
discussion about the universality of the text.
Example: After reading John Gardner's GRENDEL, can you pick out its existential
elements?