Students
will be placed in a group and will be given a specific topic for discussion in
the Socratic Seminar. A Socratic Seminar is when a group of students discuss a
topic with one another in a respectful manner. Students bring up topics and
present questions as others discuss different answers with textual support. Remember,
it is not a debate, but a dialogue.
From now till the Socratic Seminar, you will want to gather quotes, evidence,
and examples that will better help you to understand your specific topic. The
written requirement for this Socratic Seminar will be to have a notes page with
at least three different analysis
style questions, three different
quotes, and one epic quote with at
least seven sentences of analysis. When thinking of questions and quotes, look
to the following subtopics for ideas and focus:
1) Gender roles and expectations in Medieval England/ The role
of marriage in Medieval England. Consider…
a. The Wife’s Lament and
her struggle in Anglo-Saxon England.
b. The General Prologue
and the different characters who reflect strongly on gender roles in Medieval
England.
c. The Wife of Bath’s
prologue and Tale and her opinions on female roles.
d. The Clerk and
Franklin’s Tales and their messages and portrayals of men and women in
marriage.
2) Religion and Society in Medieval England/ the role of the
Church. Consider…
a. Beowulf, The
Wanderer, and The Dream of the Rood and how they display the contact between
pagan and Christian beliefs.
b. The Pardoner’s
Prologue and Tale and what Chaucer’s ultimate message about religion is.
c. The Wife of Bath’s
Prologue and her views on theology.
d. The Prologue and the
clergy members who are introduced.
e. The Shakespeare
History Monologues and how they portray religion in Medieval England.
3) Honor, War, and Chivalry in Medieval England. Consider…
a. Beowulf, The
Wanderer, and The Dream of the Rood and how they display warrior culture of
Anglo-Saxon England.
b. The Franklin’s Tale
and how honor and chivalry factors into the story.
c. The Shakespeare
History Monologues and how they portray the feelings towards war in the Medieval
Ages.
