SS Reflection

     The socratic seminar influenced my thinking about the book 1984 by George Orwell by showing different sides of the narration. One thought from the seminar that I had not thought about before in so much depth was a comment made by one of my peers. They said that when Winston was writing in his diary he was taking a risk of losing his life or losing his mind. I thought that this was an interesting concept because the more I thought about it the more it made sense. If Winston had or hadn't started writing in his diary eventually he would loose his life anyway because he would loose his mind from not being able to express his feelings.   

     During the Socratic Seminar, a statement said by Ryan brought up a lot of emotional appeals. She talked about todays sensitivity to violence versus the people in 1984. We were all able to build off of that and we had a nice discussion on that. I didn't find a statement I disagreed with, which could be a possible readjustment to the socratic seminar. 

     One thing that worked well during the seminar was utilizing a discussion leader.  I was the discussion leader for my group and I think that it really worked. I tried to make sure that people were able to talk and make appeals and I tried to keep the discussion on track. Another part that worked efficiently was having a half time. Although my partner was rarely there, the half time break seemed to be beneficial to the other students in the seminar.

A way in which the seminar needs improvement is the amount of questions that each person gets to ask.  I felt as if some people got to ask two or three of their questions while some people did not get to ask any.  Some of the people I talked to had really good questions that I think they would have liked to share but they were not given the time to share those questions because other people took up time by asking more than one of their questions.

Othello Dramatic Reading Found At https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNlG-3gwP9s&feature=youtu.be

I chose to perform Desdemona's monologue from Othello. Othello is angry because he thinks she is being unfaithful. is getting prepared to kill his wife, Desdemona. This particular monologue is filled with emotion and conflicting feelings which helped me to determine where tone, emphasis, and pauses, should be. During this scene, Othello is very angry with Desdemona because he was tricked into thinking she was unfaithful to him, but he is also overcome admiration of her beauty and the love that they shared. In her monologue, I decided to put an emphasis on phrases such as, "I know not how I lost him," and, "Here I kneel" because I felt she said them to convince herself that she feels she is responsible for his anger. I felt a sense of urgency in these lines where she wanted Iago to go to him. After saying, "What shall I do to win my lord again?," I paused before reciting, "Good friend, go to him," in order to put an emphasis on her sense of urgency. When delivering the line, "For by this light of heaven, I know not how I lost him," I used a gentle, sweet, and loving tone to portray how Othello still adored Desdemona and her sorrow that she knows hes mad at her. After "becoming" Desdemona for two minutes, I learned how hurt he was by the idea that Desdemona had cheated on him and how he suffered from the conflicting feelings of love, anger, and jealousy all at once. Before I had prepared for this dramatic reading, I solely thought of Othello as an overpowering man who made rash decisions based on questionable information, and put myself in her shoes. While part of that is true, I have now recognized Othello's true love for Desdemona and the grief and rage that he felt after being tricked into thinking she cheated on him. After finishing the dramatic reading, I realized how dangerous and detrimental jealousy can be. I also found that people really need to analyze important pieces of information judiciously before making a decision. This particular soliloquy really defined Desdemona's emotions and it defined her as a character. This scene was not the climax or the resolution, but the audience gets a better understanding of Desdemona's struggle and her confusion, all laced with her overwhelming love.

Title Justification Essay Chapters 7-8

    In the book, The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore the author's purpose is to examine the lives of two men who come from similar, difficult backgrounds and how they make different decisions that change the outcome of their lives.  The collection of chapters called, Paths Taken and Expectations Fulfilled, develops many issues related to the authors' purpose.  These chapters describe how each Wes Moore took a different path in his life, the factors that effected each man's life and how each man lived up to the expectations of those around him.

     In the series of chapters Paths Taken and Expectations Fulfilled the author examines the influences that have had an impact on each man's path in his life and how peoples' expectations effect the direction each man took.  For the author Wes Moore his life could have led to a path of destruction but it didn't because his mother removed him from a drug infested neighborhood that was effecting his life negatively.  Once his mother placed him in the military academy the direction of his life changed because he had many role models who had high expectations for his future.  Wes became influenced by these role models and began to realize his life could be different than he first expected.  The other Wes Moore had great difficulty in changing his life's direction.  He continued to deal drugs and did not envision a better future for himself.  At one point he tried to change his path but he wasn't successful. The expectations for a person like Wes in his neighborhood were very low, with most young men becoming drug dealers or ending up in jail.  After a while, even his mother's expectations for him became very limited.

     The author's purpose is to demonstrate how two men from similar backgrounds can end up with such different lives.  This connects to the collection of chapters Paths Taken and Expectations Fulfilled because each man ended up taking a different direction in his life.  Furthermore this influenced each man's expectations and his family and friends' expectations for what he could accomplish.  The book demonstrates how difficult it is for a person to change his direction if life and break free from the difficulties he faces growing up.

Chapter 8 The Other Wes Moore Theme Tracking

Theme Tracking

Crimes

"They barked orders over the screams of their victims" (Pg 147)

This quote shows how Wes's life has evolved from his beginnings of crime as a drug dealer. This was undoubtedly going to be his last mission on the streets. I suppose that Wes's motto was go hard or go home. The irony of it all was that he would be working alongside his brother, the one who had got him into this mess.

"He'd left his wife and five children, to work his second job as a security guard at the jewelers" (Pg 147)

The man that the robbery crew had killed that day was not only a police officer, but a man with a family that he cared about. Wes never once seemed to think about his or anyone else's family when he got involved in crimes, he never thought about the future consequences of anything. This is a contrast from when he seemed to show an interest in being a father for his daughters earlier in the book.

"This would be much easier on you if you would just say where those two are" (Pg 152)

This quote ties into the last one, Wes never considered his family members when he chose a life of crime. He never once thought about how hard on them it would be if he were to die or eventually be sentenced to a life of prison. It hurt his mother Mary the most, her boys had turned out as failures, and it was out of her control.

Prison

"The hands of the state would stay on him for the rest of his life" (Pg 157)

Wes's entire life seemed to lead up to this moment, when he finally went to far, and suffered the consequences. Unlike his previous offenses, there was no way around this one, no parole, no time to commit other crimes, it was over, Wes's free life was over.

"Finally, he could see his future" (Pg 157)

This quote is a very important one to the reader, because they finally see that there really wasn't any hope for Wes afterall, sadly, all along he knew his fate, and had come to accept it. He had never had a father that had been there for him, he never recieved the guidance he needed from his mother, and at this point the reader realizes that his entire life felt like a waste, he was just waiting for the moment that he was to be locked up in a penitentiary.