Kite Ruuner Socratic Seminar #2 Reflection

     The socratic seminar influenced my thinking about the innocence of Amir. At first I had the mind set that Amir was using Baba's illness as a supplement to help be able to be able to get married with Soraya. But after having the discussion with the group, I realized that instead it was also a way to make his father happy before his father passed away. I realized that Baba actually wanted to see Amir grow up, and by getting married to a women shows how a male has improved and grown as a man. Because the group I was in wasn't as talkative, there wasn't really anything that was said or brought up that I hadn't thought of before. Except for the various ways that Amir was considered innocent, that I hadn't thought of before.
     The statement that was made by Connor where he stated that adjustment and adaptation really depends on the person themselves and the past experiences they've been through. You can't possibly just say that an adjustment to a specific area is going to be the same for all individuals. Because Baba and Amir were so used to the lifestyle of an upperclassmen, the way they were able to adjust to America was definitely much harder, than an average person whose moved from a place like Canada. If I had the chance the say anything else in the socratic seminar, it would be for me to ask the rest of my peers what they think would happen next and why? I would also ask, if Hassan's mother had never came back, how do you think the plot of the story would've changed?
     Something that worked really well in the seminar is the appeals we were able to establish. I feel as though we were able to accomplish alot of emotional appeals especially towards the end of the seminar where more people started to contribute to the discussion and were able to put out their thoughts and opinions on the topics that were brought up. Although we had a few dominators (emphasis on a few) we were able to give everyone who wanted to speak, a chance to speak.
     Something that definitely needs improvement is more people contributing to the discussion and answering more questions or even posting more questions. So many people were either shy or didn't feel like talking which made the discussion 10x less interesting than the potential that we had for it to be. I also feel as though we did alot of on-surface talking and didn't quite go into too much depth into any of the good ideas that were brought up.

Kite Runner Socratic Seminar #1 Reflection

     The seminar influenced my thinking about Amir and why he does what he does. At first my view of him was very negative, I almost hated him. My anger towards Amir was so strong due to the fact that he never stood up for Hassan. But after people brought up the fact that its not completely his fault, it was just 1. he was still a kid, a very non-confident one 2.the way he was raised and taught from his society about Hazaras greatly impacts the way he treats Hassan. 
     When Sasha said that the only reason she'd understand Amir or feel sympathetic for him is the fact that Amir himself can barely stand up for himself and with people around him saying negative things about Hazara's, it pretty much made him become hesitant to jump in for his friend. That is one statement that I agreed with the most. I agree, because that pretty much opened my eyes and almost convinced me that maybe it isn't completely Amir's fault for walking away when Hasan was getting raped. Yet, i still find it petty that he wouldn't stand up for a friend of his that he'd grown up with and had gotten breast fed from the same breast. If there was anything else I could say in the seminar is, i would of posted a question asking, "how do you think that the story so far has depicted the title, the Kite Runner". I feel like i would really like to get the insight of what people think and how they've interpreted the story so far.
     Something that worked really well is that i feel like we definitely were able to establish our logical appeals much more clearly now without having to actually say which appeal we were trying to use. I feel as though, the appeals are getting much more obvious but not to the point where you'd have to state what appeal you were trying to get at. I also believe that something that went well was how when there was an awkward silence, someone was always there to jump in to continue on the conversation, which is something I was really pleased with.
     Something that needs improvement is probably just being able to establish more emotional appeals. I feel like we aren't really emphasizing the emotional vibe as much as we are capable of. I feel as though we are more so just evenly answering and establish each appeal equally rather than raising the emotional appeal. And not only that, I feel like once there is an emotional appeal posted, we didn't go in much depth into it as much as we could have. 
     

     

1984 Book3 Prep sheet4

Part 1: Summarization 

O'Brien is an operative of the Ministry of Love, he comes to visit Winston in his cell. Winston is tortured in the cell and O'Brien informs Winston about different pieces of information. Winston is then brought to Room 101 but subjects Julia to a torture instead of him and is then released free.

Part 2: Question Development

6 Level 2 questions:

1. What does the action of Winston's neighbors getting thrown into the cell due to their own children turning them in for committing thoughtcrime, say about this society? It just tells reveals how controlling and successful Big Brother is at teaching the new generation (the children) to have society's back in his rule and turn anybody in whose even thinking anything too intelligent since it can lead on to the act of rebellion. (pg193) Logical Appeal
2.Why was Winston given a  physical beating consequence for his thoughtcrime action rather than just killed?
I believe it is because of his position that he had in the community that first played a role in what his consequence what be. Winston isn't just any ordinary guy, and he had quite a good amount of responsibilities in the way this society runs. I also think its because of the connection that he had built with O'Brien earlier, that also lessened what he would of gotten in the aftermath. Because O'Brien knew Winston and also because he knew that him and Winston had shared some pretty unique critiques about Big Brother and also the community they live in. (198-199) Ethical and Logical appeal.
3. What influence does O'Brien make on Winston when he tells Winston things such as how the Party has perfected the system practiced by Inquisition or how Julia was immediately betrayed Winston? It helps to almost persuade Winston to forget his old mindset of going against the Party and come back to the mind set that Big Brother is best for him and that he should follow the footsteps that Big Brother has to offer for everyone else in this community. O'Brien is able to do so by explaining how great the Party is and how they were doing this and that and perfecting society, while saying all the bad things that Julia was oding to him such as betraying him. It makes it seem almost as if Big Brother understands that Winston has made a huge mistake and is willing to give him another chance.(pg203,213) Logical and Emotional appeal.
4.What does Winston's dreams about Julia, his mother, and O'Brien in the Golden country reveal about Winston as a person ? It just simply emphasizes the different characters in the book that Winston values and explains how no matter how hard the society tries to condemn this idea of ignorance and value only yourself, that deep down this people in the book have still yet to adapt to this. ( pg227-229) Emotional Appeal
5. What is the process they go through to slowly almost hypnotize people into thinking that Big Brother is the best option for everyone? They torture then they just simply continue to say things such as "You must love Big Brother" they do this until the person themselves has develop that mindset due to the torture they;ve been through. And once they slowly show that, that's what they truely believe the torture lessens, (All of of part IV) Logical appeal.
6.Why does just the simply action of Winston's betrayal to Julia, lead to something as big as his freedom and him being released from this torture?Winston had a pretty big role in this society, so something as his decision to betray Julia, shows how the Party was able to turn Winston against his own thoughts of the act of rebellion against the Party. (All of V) Logical appeal.

3 Level Three Questions:

1.If we were to have places such as Room 101, do you think our society would advance even more or do the opposite? I feel like due to how our society was raised, if we were to start having the use of places such as room 101 it won't be as effective. Having features such as the option to let someone get tortured instead of you, or having you just mysteriously be gone is definitely not what our citizens would be used to at all. And if anything, if our leader really were to come up with such a thing like this, I feel like citizens would rebel until this action is put to an end. ( Emotional and Ethical)

2. Is it really possible to completely turn yourself against someone you truly even worse, your first true love? I feel like it may not but then again, it varies on the type of situation. If what the two partners have been through were truely truely the worst, then maybe they could completely turn against each other. But there had to be a reason why the two loved each other, so I don't think that you can COMPLETELY turn against each other, you may just deep deep deep down still have feelings for them without even realizing it. (Emotional)

3. You've made a wrong decision, you were punished for it then you were forgiven. Would you commit that crime again? I think it depends on how harsh you were tortured and what the bad action was. Sometimes you could stop for years, but then end up doing it again. But some may be so frightened by the torture they received, they would never commit that crime again. (Emotional and Logical)

Part 3: Tracking Evidence

"A needle slid into Winston's arm. Almost in the same instant a blissful, healing warmth spread all through his body. The pain was already half-forgotten." (pg208)

"We have beaten you, Winston. We have broken you up. You have seen what your body is like. Your mind is in the same state. I do not think there can be much pride left in you." (pg225)

1984 Socratic Seminar Reflection #3

      The seminar influenced my thinking in which the different things that could of happened to Syme was brought to my attention. After reading the book by myself, I just thought that Syme was killed by the Party. But after talking with my seminar group, the idea that he may have not been really gone came up. He could of just been trapped in some place or taken to some concentration camp, helped my ideas spread a little more abroad about Syme. Also i was able to get a more insight of how others had reacted to when readers were exposed that Mr.Charrington was actually a thought police.
     A statement  that I agreed with the most was made by Victoria when she answered my question. Her statement was when she said that Winston most likely wasn't only attracted to Julia just because she met his sexual needs, but because he had developed stronger and deeper feelings for her. The statement that i disagreed with the most was that O'Brien was considered an innocent character. Because as I'm analyzing the story of 1984, I feel like he may turn out to be one of those surprising antagonists where he may even turn out to be Big Brother if anything. I say this because the fact that he knew how to turn off the telescreen and magically turn it back on, is definitely something unusual.
     Something that worked well for this seminar was how focused and on-topic everyone was throughout the conversation. I felt as though the fact that everyone was so eager to start the seminar even though Ms.Hunter was not there should definitely mean something. I also feel like because there was so many interesting plots to talk about, everyone wanted to start.
     Something that needs improvement within this group is probably just the idea of getting more in-text conversation in the discussion. I feel as though we've done lots of text-to-world connections and that we've kind of gotten a bit away from the book itself and discussing more about how the situations in the book relate more and play a role more in our society today. Now, dont get me wrong, the fact that we are able to make a connection should also show our understanding, but I think if we could talk a bit more in depth about the things happening in the book more would be great.!

1984 Socratic Seminar #2 Reflection

     The seminar influenced my thinking about  the way our society works today. The more people made connections to our world today to the dystopian society of 1984,  makes me realize how we do have some similar characteristics. Yet there are major features in the book that definitely differentiate our world to the society of 1984. One thing that  was brought up that made me think of something I had never thought of before, was how the Proles and the people of the Party were recruited. The more people talked about how the Proles may have the most freedom in the society, made me wonder how these people even became the Proles and how probably everyone wished they could be part of the Proles.
     A statement made by Rachel  is what I had agreed with most, she said that the society gives out newspapers to help supplement the illusion that the citizens do have some freedom in their hands and that they aren't just completely being over controlled and under surveillance. I agree with Rachel because, having newspapers not only helps the citizens feel like they live in a perfect society but it also helps the people of the Party and Big Brother help spread some information they would like the citizens to know. Although,  There was no statement that was said where I had disagreed with the most because the conversation within the group was basically just people building off of one another's ideas rather than overlapping ideas. If there was anything else that I could of said was probably agree with Rachel and her statement about the newspaper and I would of analyzed my ideas and thoughts about that situation as well.
     Something that worked really well for the seminar was how everyone was given the chance to talk as well as have their say on each of the topics that were brought up. I feel like nooone was really dominating the conversation this time. I also liked how our group was also able to get in more ethical and emotional appeals this time around, rather than just straight up logical appeals. Another thing that worked really well was how we started off by reading our summaries. I feel like by having us do this, we were able to all start off on the same page and know how everyone had taken in the information that we read about 1984 and  interpreted the events.
     Something that needs improvement is probably just the idea that we need more arguements within this group. This idea was brought up by Lina. She was saying how the conversation is getting a little boring since everyone is just agreeing with one another. So I feel like if we were to have added some spice into this group, having some arguements then using bits and pieces of information from the book to help support our statement would help make the conversation a bit more entertaining. But other than that, i feel like everything was good.

1984 Socratic Seminar #1 Reflection

   
     The seminar influenced my thinking about the future of the world and how our society has a possibility to  slowly  be turning into a society like in 1984. The thought of this is pretty crazy and oblivious. Yet the information of connection from the world in relation to the book, really has brought the attention to me that our society really could be changing and heading towards that path of  the society in 1984. One thing that was said before that I hadn't thought of before is the idea that freedom of speech is starting to lessen in our society. We still have the right and ability to say whatever we want, but just the result of what was said can either be positive where people are supporting you or negative where it's down to the point where you could get killed for to prevent the idea from spreading.
     One statement that I agreed with the most was the statement that the name, Big Brother truly does make a difference as to how the citizens look up to their leader. How the name, Big Brother gives the illusion of  less controlling over his citizens and more so of a caring leader that is willing to do anything for the happiness and comfort of his people. There wasn't quite anything that was being said that I disagreed on though, because the statements made in the seminar pretty much supported each other rather than overlap. If I had another opportunity to say something, is post a question to the group. I would of asked the question along the lines of "In your perspective are spies such as Junior Spies in this book, really needed? and without them do you think the overall plot of society would really be impacted by it?"
     Something that worked out really well for the seminar was how in sync everyone was. How great the first conversation about this book really flowed in together. And how everyone's different bits and pieces of information was brought together to make a whole conversation. Also, just how everyone was able to back up their statement with a supporting piece of evidence of text-to-world evidence was done really well.
     I think something that needs improvement was everyone getting a chance to talk. I feel as though the discussion leader didn't necessarily try to help those who weren't speaking as much (such as myself)  or help prop them to speak up. With the discussion leader lacking this feature of being able to atleast try to  incorporate everyone  into the discussion, we end up having those who are dominating the conversation.

Othello Dramatic Reading Words and Actions Video

                                                                                                                                                                                                                Statement of Intent: 

 For Roderigo, I choose to display his tone in a more of a shakey and non confident way. While for Iago, I choose to display his tone in a more happy and preppy way. Roderigo has much more pauses when compared to Iago's and that is because I wanted to make Roderigo's character more of a person who is confused by love and doesn't know what his next step should be. But fro Iago, in order for him to be able to convince Roderigo, he must sound supportive yet confident enough to be able to convince Roderigo into his plan.
     As I was "becoming" the characters I learned a few things. I learned Roderigo's perspective a little more. I saw how foolish he must've felt for falling for Iago's plans and not only that, his love story also failed miserably. That was something that must have been terribly depressing. But as of Iago, I haven't learned much, except for how easy it probably could of been for him to just play with Roderigo's head with such sensitive topics such as love.
            I feel like my example did further complicate the conflict. I feel like just this little snippet, further emphasized Iago's evil plan to sabotage Othello's love life with Desdemona. It also helped to show how innocent Roderigo was and how he actually was really in love.This example also helped to emphasize Iago's evilness as well as said beofre, the innocence of Roderigo and how this whole time he was willing to even drown himself due to this failiure of love. Also, how concerned he was to the point where he had to talk it out with iago also shows a characterization of Rodgerigo of how loving he is.