Socratic Seminar Reflection #1

Socratic Seminar Reflection #1

The Socratic Seminar as a whole was something that allowed my understanding of the text to be extremely influenced. It allowed me to see how others thoughts about the text, and also see how they analyzed certain scene, and or explain what they thought was symbolized through key events and figures. It helped me to see that there is more to offer in this book than just a story about a dystopian rule, but that with the state of society in 1949 Orwell thought that this was where the society was headed. When Lina went more in depth about the children in the book of 1984. Someone asked about whether our generation was going down the same path that the children in 1984 were on. I hadn't before then ever thought that maybe this could have been a possibility.

One statement that I agreed with was that 1984 was based off of the totalitarian regimes during World War II. I thought that the book was based off of the totalitarian regimes such as the ones in Germany, Russia, and Spain, especially since Orwell wrote the book shortly after World War II, Animal Farm. I just feel that Orwell like to use a lot of symbolism as a writer, to often get a certain reaction in people. The statement that was said that I agree with the least, was when someone started to explain that they felt that the use of too much power can't lead to an end to societies. While I think that this is very possible do to the masses feeling overpowered, and wanting to rise up in an effort of rebellion.

I think the thing that worked the best in the seminar was the fact that mostly everyone came well prepared with great discussion questions, which allowed everyone to participate and give their opinion on subjects. I feel that also the use of rhetorical appeals was very well, though we used the same ones, I feel that we did well, due to the fact that it was our first time, and I feel that like overtime we will be great at using rhetorical appeals.

The thing that I feel could have been better in our seminar would be the flow of the discussion, I just feel that it didn't feel real. It didn't seem that people were just trying to get points, its just that I don't feel it was good. Maybe it was who was the discussion leader, and the way that he did everything Ms. Hunter said not to do, but I just feel it could have been so much better, especially with the great questions and people within our discussion.

Othello Dramatic Reading Words and Actions Video

Othello Dramatic Reading Words and Actions Video 

Statement of Intent

Over the course of producing my dramatic reading I thought that it would be best to see how others have portrayed Iago in many other self productions, with countless broadcasts of the comical aspects of Iago, I choose to do a more riddled and questionable tone. This then apples to a more emotional approach which would lead the viewer to more suspense of what's to come in the following scenes. I utilized pauses in my reading, also to evoke a mysterious and dark nature, which also showed what I felt was Iago's tone was during this soliloquy.

From becoming the character that is Iago, I found that you truly do become a dark and malicious person when you have to reenact the same parts of any type of dramatic text constantly, to a point when you feel that you are no longer playing a part, but evoking something that is now a part of you and is slowly rising to the surface. I also learned that it is truly not easy to just say lines, but that you truly have to use specific tones and utilize pauses to convey what you want an audience to feel.

I feel that the soliloquy that I choose is something, truly gave the reader a key insight into the character that is Iago, with showing that he is not only conniving and malicious, but that he truly thought out the steps to take before executing his ideas in his master plans. This soliloquy showed how he would develop the plot into its climax, and how he would use many events to further complicate situations "from behind the curtains" in the same way that a puppet master does. I feel that with my effective use of pauses and shifting tones, I effectively furthered the conflict as did Iago, with increasing the mystery and suspense.

Chapter 8 : Surrounded ~ 2000 and Title Justification Essay #3

Chapter 8 : Surrounded ~ 2000 : Theme Tracking 

Quote 1 :  "Y’all know there is a reward for Tony and Wes if you just tell us where they are.  It’s a lot of money.  You sure you don’t need that money?’”
Analysis : This quote shows a police officer bribing some of Wes’s friends and family assuming their disadvantaged financial situations.  It illustrates a gap between the rich and the poor in Baltimore, and shows that richer people, such as the cop, believe that they can exploit the lower classes.


Quote 2 :  “The truth is that there are two Baltimores.  Almost every other major city in this country leads the same double life.  Those who brag about Baltimore often ignore these substandard areas.  Yet these were the areas Mayor Schmoke knew would determine his legacy of success or failure.”
Analysis : This quote explains how Baltimore and other U.S. cities are divided between a rich and middle class section and a poor, less developed section.  The quote shows that it is crucial to integrate these areas, especially under a political leader such a Schmoke, so that all of the people in a city can thrive.


Quote 3 :  "Two masked men had run into J-Browns Jewelers waving guns at the customers, ordering them to the ground. Costumers screamed in fear and quickly followed the orders as two more masked men entered."
Analysis : The crimes revealed here demonstrate the affect of the convict over the victim. Wes' life drastically changed from the beginning of crime as a drug dealer to something more grand of trouble. Since this crime was going to be Wes' last job on the streets, I suppose his motivation was to go hard or don't do it at all. He rather go all out for it with his brother because he knows it's going to end bad anyways.


Quote 4 : "Crime in Baltimore and its suburbs had spiraled out of control, particularly in the city proper." 
Analysis: This quote shows how crime in Baltimore has escalated to another level. The author chose to write this to tell the reader how Wes' life in Baltimore has become very dangerous. This is a serious issue that should have been dealt without Wes involved. Never should he have associated himself with the wrong crowd because it started upheavals in Baltimore affecting other people. 

Quote 5 :"Look, I just found out that my sons are wanted for killing a police officer. If I find anything out, I will tell you, and I will cooperate however I can."
Analysis: The author demonstrates here how the crimes have grown much dangerous that not only has he brought himself down, but he's gotten his mother involved as well. He should have stopped while he had the chance and take the opportunity to be out the drug game. Instead the drug game influenced him to participate in even worse crimes such as murder. He could have at least left his family out of it, but then he starts conflict for her mother with the police.

Title Justification Essay

The third and final part of the book is entitled " Paths Taken and Expectations fulfilled".  This part of the book was very dramatic and filled with many life choices that would dramatically change the life of the characters forever, whether that be bad or good. From the beginning, the reader knows the fates of the two Wes Moores, but they are intrigued on how their lives will play out.  While chapter seven breezes over author Wes’s military recognition and the other Wes’s return to drugs, chapter eight is when the final life-altering murder occurs and the other Wes is sentenced to life in prison.I believe Wes Moore entitled this part of the book "Paths Taken and Expectations fulfilled" because he wants to show the true way that our choices shape out lives, no matter how big or small.

For "Paths Taken"  I believe the author means what the characters  chose to do with their lives. For example, Author Wes chose to continue with his life in the military momentarily, until going to college and working with the mayor of Baltimore. Now he is bettering his life. Unlike the other Wes Moore. For him life is going poorly. He has four kids and two baby mother and is min jail for the robbery and will be for the entirety of the rest of his life . Trying to better his life always ends up ruining it. Committing murder and getting jail for life was a great example of "Paths Taken", for "Expectations Fulfilled" it is a different story. In a way it is shown that both of the Wes Moores' have met someone's expectations whether they were great aspirations that were expected from a teacher or mentor, to the expectations of a person who saw the very worst in them. Overall, I feel that the  author used the appropriate title for this collection of chapters, due to the content within them. 

The third part of the book "Paths Taken and Expectations fulfilled" was a powerful part of the book due to the fact that we were able to see character development to its full potential. We are able to see, as readers, how the characters became who the are they are today, and get to see how the story ends. These few chapters are able to shows the good and the bad choices made and further goes to shows where the Wes Moores' are going with their lives. Although the question still remains, could their stories have been interchanged?  Who is there to blame for ruining the life of one Wes when another Wes with a parallel childhood excelled?  Perhaps Wes Moore leaves these questions to suggest to the reader that maybe the person who controls our lives, is not always entirely ourselves.

Chapter 7 : The Land That God Forgot ~ 1997

Chapter 7 : The Land That God Forgot ~ 1997 : Theme Tracking

Quote 1 :"I looked around at who'd had the biggest impact on my life"Analysis : He stresses the importance about the people. They changed his life.  A role model is very important and near necessary for certain people. Wes would most likely not have been nowhere near as successful as he had been without the role models and their positive influence and drive on his life.

Quote 2 : His quick success had Wes thinking differently about his life"
Analysis : The importance of education is an idealized thing today as well. In the book Author Wes is displaying how book smarts is not the only important trait of an educated person. In today's society many people would not think Wes is smart because he solely has a GED. On the contrary the author and Wes himself are showing the importance of education as a will to work.

Quote 3 : "... Powell gave me another way... to think about my own life." 

Analysis : Powell opened up a door for him that no one else could have; Wes did not just have to stick to what he had always thought he would do, now he was actually thinking about what he wanted. This new thought process of his was further expanded by another role model of Wes', Colonel Bill Murphy, who during his departing speech from Valley Forge, brought up that having a meaningful life was one of the most important things to accomplish before dying.

Quote 4 : "My next decision was clear. I wanted to stay at Valley Forge.... I wanted to lead soldiers" 

Analysis : Which was the defining moment for Wes getting to where he was in the aircraft.  All of this shows how Wes was able to find role models at his disposal during his toughest times.  Even when he did not know it, he was finding role models, which is something that people have difficulty with.  In times of need it is natural to look for someone that can help with the problem or just with advice, but it is not always easy to do so.

Quote 5 : "In both places, young men go through a daily struggle trying to navigate their way through deadly streets, poverty, and the twin legacies of exclusion and low expectations."

Analysis : The above passage highlights both the similarities and differences between the life that the author Wes has experienced and that of the other Wes Moore. Wes is talking about boys who have undergone the ritual manhood ceremony in Africa and how this affects the way they carry themselves and how they are seen in society-- how while their increased pride and confidence is seen as a good thing in their home villages, it is something to be feared in the United States. 

Chapter 6 : Hunted ~ 1994 and Title Justification Essay #2

Chapter 6 : Hunted ~ 1994 : Theme Tracker

Quote 1:“Seventy-six percent of high school students who began high school in Maryland completed... But in Baltimore City, where Northern High School was located, it was a dismal 38 percent.”

Analysis of Quote 1:This quote shows a theme of the importance of education, and the way that Baltimore lacked teens that felt that intelligence was important. This quote shows that though in other places in Maryland there were high graduation rates, in places like Baltimore full of poverty, crime, and drugs this was not necessarily the case. People felt that joining the workforce or doing things that were illegal like selling drugs, would benefit them more than actually going to school and furthering there education.

Quote 2:“Woody thought about White Boy, his boy from the neighborhood, who picked up a job working at a restaurant called Poor Folks. He was tired of school and decided joining the workforce was a better option.”

Analysis of Quote 2:This quote shows a theme of life choices, those choices being  leaving school to join the work force. Though "White Boy" was a student at one time, with the growing poverty of the city, and his mother's condition, he had made the choice to provide for his mother in order for her to survive. Showing that though these teens were young and very naive, they still withheld the ideal of going to work and making a honest living.

Quote 3:“Wes returned to Dundee Village six months after being locked up for the incident in which he shot at Ray.”

Analysis of Quote 3:This quote shows a theme of life choices, those choices being that though Wes was just released from prison he felt that going back to the streets would be the only way that he could provide himself and his family.

Quote 4:“At their peak, his team brought in over four thousand dollars a day. He wasn’t one of the main players by any stretch, but he was not doing badly in relation to others in the neighborhood.”

Analysis of Quote 4:This quote shows a theme of crime. this crime being drug dealing. This shows that with the growing poverty, and lack of good mentoring in the inner city teens felt that crime would be the only way they would ever survive in the world.

Quote 5:“The even more devastating piece of news was that Justin’s mother was dying.”

Analysis of Quote : This quote shows a theme of overcoming obstacles, this obstacle being the growing illness of a family member. This shows that Justin would soon have to overcome the obstacle of soon having to go through life without his mother. Which is arguably a death that is the hardest over all deaths that a person can experience. He would soon have to overcome an obstacle that most people never are able to conquer.

Title Justification Essay #2

Over the course of the chapters in The Other Wes Moore, many things occur with the author and the non-author Wes Moore. Including the author Wes Moore going through life with the obstacles that come from being in military school, to The Other Wes Moore going to jail, and also finding that his short-term current girlfriend is pregnant. Which leads to explaining, why this collection of chapters of chapter 4 to chapter 6 is titled "Choices and Second Chances".

With the title of the chapter being "Choices and Second Choices", this is appropriate given what occurs throughout the chapters. Such as the way that the author Wes Moore had many times to get his act together in school and do better in classes in attempt to overcome his learning disability, while he instead let it over take him and he gave up in the process. Which then drove his mother to feel that taking him to military school would be the only way to resolve Wes's problems. With  explaining what occurs to one Wes Moore,  the other has to be explained as well. From the author Wes Moore going to military school and having to overcome many obstacles, the non-author Wes Moore also went through many things that were the events that followed his bad choices. Such as him stabbing someone and also selling drugs as a "full-time drug dealer". This would then lead him to a life of crime resulting in him going to jail and being arrested twice. Although the fact that he is a minor it is not counted in real court, and therefore goes to a juvenile detention center. When he is released he then is given a form of a "second chance", by the way that not only is he released from prison, but also that he is now a father and is able to in a way make up for the time that his father never spent with him. Thus seemingly showing a theme of mentors, in the way that hopefully Wes will protect and care for his child in the way that his father never did.


Therefore, based on the author's purpose for writing the novel itself, it seems appropriate that this collection of chapters be titled "Choices and Second Choices". By the way that both Wes Moore's go through many obstacles that were caused by there choices. As well as the way that in society, both are given second chances.  Such as with the pregnancy of Wes's girlfriend, to him becoming a "full-time drug dealer"

Wes Moore Shakespearean Sonnets

Wes Moore Sonnets

The Author Wes Moore Characterization Sonnet

Doppelgänger thou hath been in life.

Devastated by death.

Full with strife been this young life.

Took time thou didd and took breaths,

To bleed thou needs,

To take the pain and send.
To plant the seed.

Strive thou did in the end,

Thou needed aid.

Thou needed love.

For the sorrow had cut him open like a blade,
But fly thou would soon like a dove.

So listen now for you may see,

That like this Wes Moore thou can always be who thou want to be.

The Other Wes Moore Characterization Sonnet

Thou hath been the heir,

Without a fatherly king.

Twas the blow of deathly air,

Twirled it thou had like string.

Full of fuel.

Full of lies.

Life was too cruel.

Crime thou saw in eyes,

Sought to put it in fruition.

Went to the streets,

But lacked the ancestral permission.

Reach thou tried such a great feat.

But don’t be fooled for they all tried,

But this Wes Moore cast them all aside.

Chapter 5 : Lost ~ 1991

Chapter 5 : Lost ~ 1991 : Theme Tracker

Quote 1: “This was my first morning at the military school.”

Summary of Events Leading to Quote 1: At this point Wes Moore is explaining what he went through his first morning of being in military school.

Analysis of Quote 1:This quote shows a theme of overcoming obstacles, by the way that at military school Wes Moore would now have to start following the orders of this above him. Instead of just being able to do what he pleased when he wanted to.

Quote 2: “The final straw came one evening while she sat downstairs... Bad grades, absence from classes, and an incident with a smoke bomb were just some of the reasons ..."

Summary of Events Leading to Quote 2: At this point in the text the author is explaining the things his mother went through, while contemplating what to do for her son.

Analysis of Quote 2:This quote shows a dual theme one of overcoming obstacles and also of life choices, by the way that Wes Moore had choose to do the things he did without thought of the consequences. Also, the theme of now overcoming obstacles was present by the way that now he would have to overcome the obstacle and burden of going to military school.

Quote 3: “She walked into my room, tired from her long day at work, disappointed by the conversation she’d just had with my dean, and furious after seeing her youngest with a split lip... She simply pulled her right hand back and slapped me.”

Summary of Events Leading to Quote 3: At this point in the text Wes Moore the author has just punched his sister in her lip, and she's running to tell her mother, intent on getting Wes in trouble.

Analysis of Quote 3:  This quote shows a theme of single mothers, by the way that Mary had to do what it took to make sure that Wes understood what was completely right. Even if she didn't know the whole story, she felt that she would have to go on and continue to take care of the rest of the family.

Quote 4: “She was losing her son, and she was not sure how to turn the tide.”

Summary of Events Leading to Quote 4: At this point in the text the author Wes Moore is explaining the things that his mother went through before sending him to military school.

Analysis of Quote 4: This quote exemplifies a theme of single mothers, by the way that at this point in Mary's life she feels that she as a mother can do the things for her son the way that a father could help in this particular situation.

Quote 5:“Within two months of their meeting, Alicia told Wes that her period was late. Four tests and eight matching plus signs later, it was confirmed. They were going to be parents.”

Summary of Events Leading to Quote 5: At this point in the text the author has just explained to the readers that Wes Moore #2 is going to be father

Analysis of Quote 5: This quote symbolizes a theme of life choices,specifically, the choice to have unprotected sex as a teenager, and what they will do now that they know they are pregnant. Whether it is getting an abortion or giving the child up for adoption.