1984 Socratic Seminar Reflection 2

                                                      1984 Socratic Seminar Reflection 2

     This socratic seminar caused me to think more about the government of dystopian societies. I had not really thought of the fact that poorer people or people known as the "proles" in 1984, could have more freedom than minor party members in the story. During this socratic seminar, I began to think about that the people who are most intelligent in dystopian societies, are the ones most feared and disliked by the government. The intelligent people are more monitored than the poor and uneducated because the government feels most threatened by them. I had not really thought in depth before that the more educated you are in dystopian societies, the less freedom you have.

     One statement made by one of my peers that I most agreed with was about sexual activity in the society of 1984. I agreed with someone who said that the reason why the government allows sex is for the purpose of producing the next generation of party members. I agreed with this statement because I think the party is trying to continue its rule for many generations to come. There was nothing I recall completely disagreeing with. I pretty much agreed with what everyone had to say. I cannot really think of anything else I would have said during the seminar because I spoke a lot and think that I said everything that I wanted to say.

     I think the fact that we had a discussion leader worked well for the seminar. I think that the discussion leader did a good job of keeping the discussion on track. Also, the discussion leader did a good job of making sure that everyone got the chance to participate. I thought it was really great that everyone got the chance to participate in the seminar because it enriched our discussion.

     One thing that could use improvement for our seminar is possibly using the rhetorical device of ethos more. I thought that we did a good job of incorporating our pathos and logos rhetorical devices. However, next seminar we should work on incorporating more ethos appeals. I think that the biggest thing we could improve on for our socratic seminar is having a balanced discussion where we use all rhetorical devices equally.