We then began to discuss how to craft meaningful questions that would be of use during a Socratic Seminar. Some questions are more valuable than others because some questions give answers that are more valuable. Below is an information page regarding levels of questioning.
As you can see, there are three levels of questions: recall, analysis, and synthesis.
Level I: Recall questions are questions that can be answered directly from the text. They are questions the author explicitly or directly gives us the answer to. These questions do not take much thought to answer and usually only have one right answer. We do not have to draw conclusions or make inferences, because the text will say straight out what the answer is.
For example,
What is the name of Kira's sister who becomes pregnant?
Answer: Madison.
The author tells us that Madison is Kira's sister and that Madison is pregnant when Madison announces it to Kira.
Level II: Analysis questions are questions the author doesn't directly answer for us, but instead leaves clues that we put together to come up with an answer. These questions may take more thought because we have to prove our answer with text evidence and our interpretation of that evidence. Because we are interpreting the text to come up with an answer, there are a few possible correct answers to a Level II question depending on the reader's perspective.
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| A somewhat nonsensical level II question :) |
For example,
What was Lady Macbeth's reason for killing herself in Macbeth?
Answer: Lady Macbeth killed herself because she was overwhelmed with guilt for participating in the murder of Duncan and it eventually drove her to believe that such a life was not worth it. Lady Macbeth expresses this when she says "What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?" (5.2.30-31) Lady Macbeth points out that she shouldn't feel bad for her actions because of the reward of power, but she is constantly reminded of her guilt despite it all.
OR
Answer: Lady Macbeth killed herself due to her mental instability, which she shows from the very beginning of the play when she openly expresses her desire to help her husband commit murder. Macbeth eventually stops caring about what Lady Macbeth does, which only makes her worse. Without her husband's care, Lady Macbeth begins to have hallucinations while sleep walking and the doctor mentions that "This disease is beyond my practice. yet I have known those which have walked in their sleep, who have died holily in their beds" (5.2.47-48). The doctor remarks that Lady Macbeth's condition isn't physical, but that something deeper is behind her sleep-walking. If we assume the doctor does not know what Lady Macbeth has done, he may assume her sleep-walking is being caused by some mental disturbance.
The ultimate reason for Lady Macbeth's death is not communicated directly, but it can be inferred from her statements prior to her death and her behavior throughout the play.
Level III: Synthesis questions are questions that go BEYOND the text. These are questions that involve the thematic subjects and thematic statements of the text, but are questions that could also be answered by someone who has never read the text before. Answers to Level III questions can be used to further your understanding of the text as a whole, the value in reading it, or its application to the real world. Level III questions take the most thought to answer and there are many possible "correct" answers because they rely primarily on the reader's understanding of the thematic subjects rather than just the plot. Students should still use text evidence to connect to their answers for Level III questions to make a connection back to the text.
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| A wonderful example of a level III question! |
For example,
How do you know if love is true?
Answer: Love is true when the people in the relationship are completely open and honest with one another. They should have expectations for how they are treated, but not for what kind of person their partner must be. If two people in love expect a big change from one another, the relationship most likely won't last. True love is also not just falling in love with the idea of someone. For instance, in The Importance of Being Earnest, the relationship that Algernon and Cecily have can't possibly be true love because Cecily only loves Algernon for what she thinks he is, not for who he truly is. For her to be in love with someone so selfish and flighty seems unlikely, especially since she seems to be a committed, yet naive person.
You may also use personal experiences to answer Level III questions, but you must still find some way to connect it back to the events, characters, symbols, or references within the text.
Below is the story we read aloud in class today. Below that are the example questions we came up with in each class.
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