Grapes of Wrath Socratic Seminar Final Reflection

      Grapes of Wrath Socratic Seminar Final Reflection

 

 

      The Grapes of Wrath Socratic Seminar influenced me to think of The Grapes of Wrath more than just a book about a families struggles but rather a bigger struggle in society and the lessons learned throughout the novel are life lessons that you can carry with you through minor struggles or major struggles like these. One thing said that I hadn't thought of so much in depth is the drought at the beginning and the flood at the end representing that destruction ultimately leads to revival of certain things that have died.

        One statement I agreed with the most out of my peers is the opinion about the conception of the "American Dream" is different to everyone. The statement that I agreed with the least is that the "American Dream" is unattainable. If every one perceives the "American Dream" differently, then most likely they set it to a standard that is attainable. I said all that I wanted to in the Seminar so there is nothing that I wish I would've said.

        What really worked for the seminar is the fact that we split the chapters to 1-15 to 15-30 and we had different objectives so we wouldn't be redundant when one group goes after the other. Also another thing that worked well is that we all had different questions and different ideas. It was smart to make up our own questions so we aren't limited to questions that perhaps aren't as in depth as we want them to be, but rather we show our creativity and our own opinions through our questions as well.

        What needs improvement in the Seminar is focusing on the topic. When in a seminar we tend to get carried away and off topic which wastes time rather than talking about what's really important and having a beneficial discussion.

Chapters 23-27: Family Discussion Reflection #4

Part II: Research
1. Topic: "What the Great Recession Has Done to Family Life"
2. The Article tells about the recession that was recent, which was in 2007, when jobs were hard to find and wages were tight. It also gives statistics of how unemployment was at its highest and skyrocketed what they were after WWII. Also it states that people are given more hours than ever at this time, women have shorter maternity leaves, and divorce-seeking couples stay together for financial stability.
3. This text connects to the assigned reading by it relating to the concept of jobs being tight and a lot of people are looking for jobs. This article about the recession in 2007 can not even compare to the Great Depression for the Great Depression was far more worse. Grapes of Wrath and this article both talk about the hardships they come across and sacrifices made to maintain financial stability.
4 MLA Citation: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/magazine/08FOB-wwln-t.html?_r=0

Part III: Philosophical Questioning
1. What can be seen by a mans ability to survive a struggle as difficult as the great depression tell about his spirit?
2. What do you think motivates this man to struggle and make it through?
3. Would you be strong in this situation if you had nobody to live for but yourself?

Part IV: Discussion
Discussion with my mother

Part V: Reflection

      The most memorable part in my discussion is how relatable my mom is to the situation of struggling and making it through the struggle for her kids and it truly shows what kind of woman she is and what women are capable of. She tells about stories of her struggling to find a job but she worked all the jobs she possibly could to take care of us until she was more financially stable, which being a single mother of three is especially essential. My questions were good this time but they could be better by connecting more with the text and more well thought out.

Socratic Seminar Final Reflection

      The Socratic Seminar influenced me to think about the text in a more in depth way. The Seminar helped me to get my peer's point of views which influenced my answers because I then realized which questions were wrong and the reasoning for those I got wrong. One thing that was said that made me think more in depth is the meanings of certain phrases and how significant they are. Also the Seminar made me think more in depth because I am always falling for "the distractor" so thinking more in depth helps me choose the best answer instead of the vaguely right answer.
      A statement I agreed with the most among my peers is  that its essential to look back in the text. When I completed the PIA I didn't really look back in the text, I was almost rushing, so doing the Seminar I could actually take my time and dissect the answers and have a better chance at getting the correct answer. One of the statements that I don't agree with among my peers is when one of them said a strategy to use would be to read the questions first. That would throw me all the way off because then I wouldn't actually read the story, I would read it just for the answer; and plus, the questions that are asked are more along the lines of analysis rather than word for word in the text. I said everything that I wanted to say in the Seminars, so there is nothing that I wish I said.
     What worked well for the Seminar was a sharing of opinions because a lot of people shared their answers with confidence and gave reasonable reasoning which helped other people open up to different ideas which is always a good thing because you can compare and contrast answers and eventually come about with the correct answer.
     I don't think anything about the Seminar needs improvement.

Chapters 18-22: Family Discussion Reflection #3

Part II: Research
Topic:  Real Stories written by people in the Great Depression
Summary: These real entries about the Great Depression discuss personal experiences with pay getting cut low,  the effects of malnutrition, and the difficulty to find a job which causes them it migrate to places where they can find better than what they are experiencing.
Evaluation: These article(s) connect to the reading because in chapter 18 it focuses on what personally goes on in the Joad family just as the people who write these entries focus on what personally happens to them during the Great Depression also. They both talk about migrating, finding jobs, and being able to support their families and survive through this hard time.
MLA Citation:  http://teacherweb.com/IL/Northwood/MrJanzensHumanitiesClass/Great-Depression-Articles.doc (PDF)

Part III: Philosophical Questioning
1. How far would you go to feed your family in a time like this? Steal? murder? lie? Cheat? How far would you go.
2. Going through this crisis what would be your greatest fear, and what would be your biggest wish?
3. Going through hard times like these, how would you manage your money? Would you live day by day or conserve it?

Part IV: Discussion
Discussion with my mother.

Part V: Reflection
      The most memorable part in the discussion with my mother is when she got passionate (and increasingly loud) about how when you have children you'd do whatever it takes to feed them and make sure they're okay and put them before yourself and she states that the kids are your motivation to survive and also the motivation to work. She also says that she would manage her money because you obviously don't want to spend it all in one day especially in times like this you don't know when you'll get paid next. What was surprising is how into it she was, as always, because she is a mother and she has had her times of struggling so she knows how it can be having a limited amount of money and managing it to fulfill all of the necessities. I can improve my questions by making them more related to the reading rather than the research, but also incorporating the research as well.

Chapters 10-17: Family Discussion Reflection #2

Research
Topic: Children in the Great Depression

Summary: Children during the time of the Great Depression were malnourished and often times didnt go to school to work for their families to survive. At this time, the infant mortality rate was at an all time low related to malnourished children and insufficient healthcare.

Evaluation: In Chapter 13, the man at the gas station tells about how one families daughter traded in a doll for gas and that really stood out to me to the point where it inspired me to find an article about children effected by the Great Depression.

Citation: "What Were the Effects on the Children of the Great Depression?" WiseGEEK. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013. <http://www.wisegeek.org/what-were-the-effects-on-the-children-of-the-great-depression.htm>.

Philosophical Questioning
1. Do you feel that it is necessary for a young innocent child to work for their families survival?
2. Would you allow your child of 6 years old to work if there was a situation like the Great Depression among America a second time? 
3. How would you respond to your child if they ask why everything they've ever known and loved is being taken from them?

Discussion: 

AaaA discussion with my Aunt

Ref.    Reflection:

   T. The discussion with my Aunt about the children in the Great Depression was actually pretty relatable to her. With being a child with a crisis among you and no where to go you tend to give up what matters most for survival. She talks about how when she was 18 she went to University of North Carolina and her boyfriend went to Duke and she got pregnant when she was 18. With her technically still being a "child", not being able to sustain herself alone, she gave up her college and future to raise her kids and it surely was a sacrifice, which was a memorable topic. What was very satisfying is how open she was about her situation, and how heartfelt she felt about kids having to work and they were uneducated. She feels as though education is essential for a child in their most formative years but them having to work is unfortunate because they experience the hardships of life before living a life of innocence and having a real childhood. I can improve my questions by trying to make them more elicit to the information I am trying to get from the person I am doing my discussion with. 

Chapters 1-9: Family Discussion Reflection #1

Part II: Research
 1. Topic: "Want to Avoid another Depression?  Try understanding the first one."
2. Summary: In the article Robert S. McElvaine talks about the causes of the Great Depression. The author talks about the Great Depression as if it's eventually going to happen again because of the weak government and believes that what caused the Great Depression is the cutting, spending, and avoiding tax increases rather than making an effort to make a full recovery. He is analyzing that the drastic cuts in federal spending that some Republicans are demanding, in exchange for an increase in the debt ceiling, would be a repeat of the mistakes that prevented a full recovery in the 1930s and then caused another collapse in 1937.
3. Evaluation: This article connects to the reading because the writer of the article talks about how cutting jobs and cutting spendings doesn't really help a recovery from the depression because it keeps the debt ceiling at a steady place so it can't improve or get worse. So while the people in the Great Depression are jobless, it really isn't necessary because the economy needs those jobs to recover the economy. Just like how Tom Joad in Grapes of Wrath doesn't have a job anymore and lost his house, he really needed that to pay the government so that the debts could be paid off and eventually recover. The whole point of the article is that the economy tried to restore the money in the Great Depression but did it the wrong way.
Citation: McElvaine, Robert S. "Want to Avoid Another Depression? Try Understanding the First One." Washington Post. N.p., 10 July 2011. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. <http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2011-07-10/opinions/35267544_1_great-depression-new-depression-economics>.

PartPart III: Philosophical Questioning

1. 1.  1. Did you feel as though the author of the article was wrong about his opinion that the Great Depression was handled in the wrong way by the economy and their approach to recover it?

22222. Do you think that it was nessesary for Americans to lose their houses, elements in their lives that they  desperately invested in, and valuable belongings to contribute to recovering the economy? Why?

33333. If you were in the Great Depression, would it seem reasonable to work twice as hard for half of the deserved money because of money depletion? How would you react? Would you still work? 

2.2.
Part Part IV: Discussion
DiscA discussion with my mother.

Part Part V: Reflection
1. 111. The most memorable moment of my discussion is how my mother was relatable to how interest rates work and she emphasizes that if interest rates were lower then people would be able to pay off their items. She says that because of interests rates being so high and expensive, those who can no longer afford it don't pay for that item anymore which gets the economy in debt because they loaned money to get the item and it's not paid off.
22222. The most satisfying part of the discussion is how involved my mother was. I expected her to be this involved though because she is very passionate and intelligent I knew she would know a lot about the Great Depression. She really contributed to the discussion and I learned some things from her such as interest rates and her own experiences with owning housing and making car payments and how she related to them to the economy and how the economy is effected when loans are made and are not paid back.
33333. I need to improve my questions by making them more focused and I also need to find a better article that relates to the concept more.