Socratic Seminar Reflection

After Ms. Huff gave me the assignment of the "Socratic Seminar", I became very nervous. Public speaking and being watched by my entire class is undoubtedly one of my weak points. However, once I sat down and researched my topic, I realized that the seminar was nothing to be afraid of. I found myself really getting into the topic that I was talking about, and I enjoyed getting to hear the opinions of what other people had to say. Also, unlike some people, I absolutely hate debate, thus getting to agree with my classmates and discussing a common topic was perfect for me.

Preparing for the Seminar took a lot of time and effort. I had to re-read specific parts of the book, relate the book to sources outside the text, and I had to find questions to ask that made my group mates go into a deeper meaning of thought. To be honest, the first seminar I didn't feel very prepared for, mostly because I didn't spend quite enough time on it. My fellow classmates really helped me out on this, in that they gave me a whole new opinion and new ideas to think about on my question. I learned more about the book, and I really enjoyed talking to Lauren Cambias about whether we as an individual are a John or a Mustapha Mond(I had Question 1.)

Question Two opened my brain to more of a "question-asking" technique. My topic was well researched, I had prepared an inordinately large amount of questions, and I was coming into the Socratic Seminar with a fresh mind. My favorite about this particular Seminar was getting to have more of a say in the conversation. I came out of my shell and was not afraid to put in my own two-cents.

Overall I highly enjoyed this assignment. I learned more about the novel, Brave New World, and I found a new confidence in myself that I had not yet experienced. At the beginning I was worried that I would have nothing to say, but after I got started the conversation became much easier. The only part that I would have changed about it would be to do Socratic Seminars throughout the reading of the novel. It would keep our attention towards the book, and we wouldn't have to go back and retrace our reading steps as much.