SOCRATIC SEMINAR DATES and READING ASSIGNMENTS
(all due-dates & assignments subject to change by teacher)
Practice/Teacher-Directed Seminar on Wednesday, October 19th - "A Hanging" by George Orwell
and
"Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell
1.)Wednesday, November 02nd ~ Please read “Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His Ability to Alter Public Space” Brent Staples (pdf) (all three hours)
and "Godzilla vs. the Giant Scissors: Cutting the Antiwar Heart Out of a Classic" by Brent Staples (all three hours)
and "What Adolescents Miss When We Let Them Grow Up In Cyberspace" by Brent Staples (2nd hour is NOT reading this third one, but 3rd & 4th hour are)
Student Leaders: (2nd hour: Leaze, Mowbray, & Roberts) (3rd hour: Sloan, Haughie, & Smith) (4th hour: Parks, Portelli, S. Thomas, & Wheeler)
2.) Wednesday, November 16th ~ Please select two or three of the following pieces for your discussion and be prepared to share those titles with your class no later than Wed., Nov. 02nd:
"Homeless" by Anna Quindlen (2nd Hour)
"The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society" by Jonathan Kozol (2nd & 4th Hours)
"Lifeboat Ethics" by Garrett Hardin (2nd & 4th Hours)
"On Compassion" by Barbara Lazear Ascher (pdf) (3rd Hour)
"On Dumpster Diving" by Lars Eighner (3rd Hour)
"The Singer Solution to World Poverty" by Peter Singer (3rd & 4th Hours)
Student Leaders: (2nd hour: Diroff, Gross, & Purdy) (3rd hour: Piper, Reader, & K. Thomas) (4th hour: Gohl, Kulpanowski, Telando, & Trosin)
3.) Wednesday, December 07th ~ Two or three pieces from National Geographic's Special Issue "Water Our Thisty World"
* Please be prepared to share the titles of the pieces your classmates need to read no later than Wed., Nov. 16th
Student Leaders: (2nd hour: Glasco, Grezeszak, & Meaney) (3rd hour: Coy, Neal, Reinert) (4th hour: Curtis, King, & Stuenkel)
CHOSEN READING ASSIGNMENTS:
Second Hour: "Get the Salt Out" by Karen E. Lange
"The Last Drop" by Elizabeth Royte
"The Burden of Thirst" by Tina Rosenberg
LINK to a PDF of all three of the above articles
4.) Wednesday, December 21st ~ ALL HOURS, Please read "Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus" by Francis Pharcellus Church
AND please select TWO of the following pieces:
"I Just Wanna Be Average" by Mike Rose (pdf) (Second & Third Hours)
"Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan (pdf) (Third Hour)
Two Ways to Belong in America by Bharati Mukerjee (pdf) (Second and Fourth Hours)
What’s Wrong with Animal Rights? by Vicki Hearne (pdf) (Fourth Hour)
*Please be prepared to inform your classmates of this required reading no later than Wed., Dec. 07th
Student Leaders: (2nd hour: Piper & VanHuesden) (3rd hour: Bidus, Cook, & Halonen) (4th hour: Johnson, Kesterson, & Schwartz)
5.) Wednesday, January 11th ~ Please select two or three of the following pieces and please share these titles with your class no later than Wed., Dec. 21st:
"Stranger in the Village" by James Baldwin (2nd, 3rd, & 4th (ALL/EVERY) Hours)
"On Being Black and Middle Class" by Shelby Steele (2nd and 4th Hour)
Class Division Among African Americans by Shelby Steele (3rd Hour Only)
"My Dungeon Shook" by James Baldwin (Fourth Hour Only)
Student Leaders: (2nd hour: Grosso, Haight, & Pengelly) (3rd hour: Breece, Pichan, & M. Thomas) (4th hour: Bailey, Kittell, & Quinn)
6.) Wednesday, February 08th ~ Two or three pieces by Stephen Jay Gould (please be certain you are selecting pieces written ONLY by Stephen Jay Gould, as other writers' pieces are also featured on this site).
Student Leaders: (2nd hour: Gallant, Ganzak, & Gusfa) (3rd hour: Caswell, Devitt, & Klopfenstein) (4th hour: Krolczyk, McAllister, & Nicklin)
Second Hour Reading Choices: "Dinomania" and "Size and Shape"
Third Hour Reading Choices: "Opus 200," "Size and Shape," and "Will We Figure Out How Life Began?"
Fourth Hour Reading Choices: "Evolution as Fact and Theory," "September 11, 1901," and "Size and Shape" ~ LINK to PDF of all three readings in a packet
7.) Wednesday, February 22nd ~ "The Eleventh" by Henri Barbusse (pdf), "The Moral Equivalent of War" by William James (1906), and The Subjective Necessity of Social Sentiments" by Jane Addams
Student Leaders: (2nd hour: ) (3rd hour: Parker, Schwartz, &Treadway)
(4th hour: Griffin, Salvati, & Schira)
8.) Thursday, March 08th (4th hour) or Wednesday, March 14th (2nd & 3rd hours) ~ Two or three pieces by Eric Schlosser
*Please be prepared to inform your classmates of the titles of their assigned reading, for your seminar, on Wed., Feb. 22nd
Student Leaders: (2nd hour: ) (3rd hour: Cesarz, Ford, & Laird)
(4th hour: Siefert, Smith, & Wistinghausen)
2nd Hour's Titles: "The Freak Show," "The Prison-Industrial Complex," and "In the Strawberry Fields"
9.) Wedneday, March 21st ~ Please select two or three of the following pieces:
"Earliest Impressions" by Jane Addams (2nd & 3rd Hours)
"Four Traditions of Philanthropy" by Elizabeth Lynn and D. Susan Wisely (pdf) (4th Hour)
"The Gospel of Wealth" (1886) by Andrew Carnegie (pdf) (3rd Hour)
Reverend Henry McNeal Turner's “I Claim the Rights of a Man” (1868)
(4th Hour)
"Salvation" by Langston Hughes (2nd & 3rd Hours)
Student Leaders: (2nd hour: Boulton & Pumford) (3rd hour: Lovay, West, & Wozniak)
(4th hour: The Garretts and Schutz)
2nd Hour: "Earliest Impressions" by Jane Addams, "The Gospel of Wealth" (1886) by Andrew Carnegie (pdf) AND "Salvation" by Langston Hughes
3rd Hour: "Earliest Impressions" by Jane Addams AND "Salvation" by Langston Hughes
4th Hour Titles: "Four Traditions of Philanthropy" by Elizabeth Lynn and D. Susan Wisely (pdf) AND Reverend Henry McNeal Turner's “I Claim the Rights of a Man” (1868)
10.) Wednesday, April 04th ~ Please select two or three of the following pieces:
"The Lost Boys" by Sara Corbett (2nd, 3rd, & 4th hours)
"Personal Best" by Atul Gwande (2nd & 3rd hours)
"Speed Demons" by Karl Taro Greenfeld (4th hour only)
"Toil and Temptation" by Michael Kamber
Student Leaders: (2nd hour: Nylander & Seekely) (3rd hour: Hull, Jennings, Miller, & Robinson) (4th hour: Martin & Vitta)
11.) Wednesday, April 25th ~ Any combination of two to four Dave Barry and/or David Sedaris pieces
Student Leaders: (2nd hour: Ballor & Means)
(3rd hour: English, Henneberry, & Parks)
(4th hour: Copeland, Sochacki, & Stone)
2nd Hour Pieces: "Boy Genius" and "The Source of America's Discontent" by Dave Barry
3rd Hour Pieces: "Boy Genius" and "Science: It's Just Not Fair" by Dave Barry
4th Hour Pieces: "Laugh, Kookaburra" by David Sedaris and "Breaking the Ice" & "Pick-up Lines Will Save the World" by Dave Barry
