Socratic Seminar Reflection: 1984 Seminar One

The Socratic seminar on 1984 made me see the novel in a completely different light. While before I had viewed it as an allegory to the totalitarian rule of Nazi Germany, Stuart’s comment near the end made me consider the possibility that the novel could actually be about prominent political figures in Russia during the same time. I had never thought about the connections between Stalin and Big Brother, or Goldstein and Trotsky, who both were former allies of their country’s political leaders before they were turned on as traitors and banished. I enjoyed the different perspectives introduced in the discussion that allowed me to see the possible historical context of the novel. 

I think that I probably agree most with Lina’s statement about how life in the United States today is frighteningly similar, though not to the same degree, to life in Orwell’s dystopian society. While reading 1984, I also thought about the similarities between the surveillance of Big Brother and the current scandals occurring in the United States with NSA privacy invasions and illicit information-gathering. Many people in our class defined a dystopian society as one where there is widespread poverty and the voices of many people are silenced—but in fact that is going on today in our very country, including a few blocks from the Capitol where poorer DC residents are being exploited and forced out of their homes by gentrification. I disagreed most with Khanh when she said that she didn’t think that Winston’s life was that bad. I know that at least I was taken aback by the lack of freedom that Winston has in 1984—not only can he not remember his former family, he is not even allowed to write in a book or experience physical pleasure. Living with virtually no personal liberties, even those that we take for granted in our own society, is not something that I would wish upon anyone. One thing that I thought should have been touched on during the seminar was the issue of revising information and history in today’s society. I know that most people were taken aback when they read the first three chapters of 1984 at the idea that a government could exert so much control over its citizens, but in reality this happens in our own government without us even knowing it. For example, primary and secondary school curriculums cover very little about the genocide of Native Americans that occurred on domestic soil not too long ago, simply because it would make the United States look bad.

The seminar got off to a bit of a rocky start, but I thought that after the initial awkwardness one of the best components was the depth of each participant’s questions. No one randomly inserted their questions into the circle just to get points; instead, it seemed like it flowed fairly naturally and each question led into the next quite well. I also thought that it was a great idea for people who were asking questions to share their own answers with the group before opening the idea up for discussion. This allowed people who hadn’t prepared for that exact question an opportunity to gather their thoughts, as well as a well-thought-out point that they could then respond to.

One of the parts of the seminar that needs improvement was the role of the discussion leader. Although the leader did a great job in stimulating conversation, they did not ensure that every person was participating, and as a result there were some participants who did not get a chance to speak a full three times while others almost dominated the conversation. This meant that a fewer amount of opinions were able to be shared in the seminar, and voices that could have added different perspectives and ideas to the discussion were drowned out by more confident participants. In the future, I think that the discussion leader should try harder to make sure that everyone is included and able to share their thoughts on the matter.

Othello Dramatic Reading Video: Emilia's Monologue

Othello Dramatic Reading Video: Statement of Intent

In reading Emilia's monologue, I chose to use a tone halfway between serious and joking. Emilia is alone with a close friend during the scene, and at some points in the written language it seemed almost as though she is exaggerating her statements for humorous purposes. I identified with this because when I am with my good friends, even when we're talking about subjects that mean a lot to us we often joke about them or act as if they aren't as big of a deal as they actually are. However, as the monologue continues Emilia's tone becomes more and more serious. I saw this as her own realization that what she is really talking about is her own marriage and her anger towards Iago for being a bad husband. For this reason, I tried to start the speech more humorously and end on a more solemn note as Emilia's true thoughts and feelings really come out. I think that this was also the reason why I chose to take a longer pause before the section where Emilia is describing the things that men do that women also do. For me, this was where she really transitioned from a more jovial tone to talking about feelings that are very close to her, and the pause I took symbolizes her own mental pause to gather the courage to say what is really on her mind. Finally, I attempted to emphasize the words and phrases that I thought were most important to Emilia, such as "treasures" in the line "And pour our treasures into foreign laps." The word "treasures" in particular means a lot to Emilia because she feels as though Iago does not appreciate everything that she does for him-- in other words, he disregards the treasures that she gives him, among them the very treasure of having her for a wife.

Reading Emilia's monologue helped me understand her thoughts and desires. When most people read Othello, they think of Othello, Iago, and Desdemona as the major characters-- but I think that Emilia deserves to be recognized as a character who is important and progressive in her own right. As I read her lines more closely, I realized that Emilia isn't just talking about women in general; she is venting to Desdemona about how she feels about being married to Iago. Despite the fact that Emilia is loyal and kind to Iago, always trying his best to please him (including betraying her friend Desdemona by giving him her handkerchief), Iago barely seems to recognize that she is there. In Act Two, he jokes about how all women are useless objects to her face without regard to how she feels about it. Putting myself in Emilia's shoes made me realize that it is no wonder she believes men are responsible for the bad things that their wives do-- she must want to leave Iago all the time and yet she stays true to him, even though he acts as if she doesn't exist. To some people, that might make it seem like Emilia is a weak character who will do anything to please a husband who obviously doesn't love her. But I thought about it differently; to me, this monologue proves that Emilia actually does have her own strong beliefs and perspective, and she realizes that Iago is not fulfilling his role as a husband. This idea gave me an entirely new perspective on the play Othello. Before, I had thought that the play was primarily about the complicated minds of men and what they will do for women. But reading Emilia's monologue and seeing the strength with which Shakespeare portrayed her made me realize that the women in the play often have the upper hand over the men. Although Iago is the person who makes Othello jealous, Desdemona is still the object of his desires; there is no jealousy without her, and he is powerless to do anything against her will until the day that he kills her. Emilia herself is the person who uncovers Iago's plot by revealing to Othello that she was the one who gave Iago the handkerchief and not Desdemona. More than the jealousy of men, the deeper meaning of Othello is that the greatest power is often found in unexpected places, like the traditionally inferior women of the play or even Iago, the lower-ranking soldier.

Emilia's monologue is connected indirectly to the conflict of the play and her own characterization. While Iago is telling Othello lies about Desdemona's unfaithfulness, this scene explores Desdemona's utter disbelief at the idea that any woman would ever cheat on her husband, to which Emilia's speech is a direct response. Thus the conversation in the scene that the monologue is a part of serves to complicate the conflict by clearing up any doubt the reader may have of Desdemona's innocence-- and thus increases the tension as Othello becomes more and more sure that she is indeed cheating on him with Cassio. The monologue alone also serves as an important moment of characterization for Emilia. For the first time, we get to hear what she really thinks about marriage and her own life. Where before Emilia seems like a minor character, her monologue establishes the strength of her convictions. Her assertion that men are always responsible for the actions of their wives characterizes her as the strongest feminist character in Othello, a woman who is unwilling to believe that women should be blamed for their own unhappiness in marriage, and who thinks that both marriage partners should have equal treatment-- even when it comes to being unfaithful. 

"Paths Taken and Expectations Fulfilled": Title Justification Essay

The Other Wes Moore is the true story of two boys who shared the same name and hometown, but very different futures: while one found success in business and academics, the other is serving a life sentence in prison for murder. The book is divided into three sections that tell the stories of how the Wes Moores's paths diverged in such dramatic ways. The third, "Paths Taken and Expectations Fulfilled" focuses on the consequences and ramifications of the choices that each Wes has made as seen in their journeys through adulthood. The two Wes Moores, who once shared similar childhoods and backgrounds, now see their paths radically diverge. The title "Paths Taken and Expectations Fulfilled" is appropriate for the author Wes Moore's purpose as it demonstrates his feelings about the role that societal expectations had on both Wes's futures.

The title "Paths Taken and Expectations Fulfilled" emphasizes the influence of an outside force on the life paths of the two Wes Moores. In the chapters that follow, it is clear that the "expectations" Moore writes about are not those of the two title characters, but instead those of a larger societal body. Early in the story, Moore writes about how Baltimore government used the reading scores of third graders to decide how many prison beds they need. This sets up an important theme that is present throughout the book, but especially in the final section: to the rest of society, the other Wes Moore is beyond saving. He is already gone. This idea is seen in the italicized section before the chapter "The Land That God Forgot," where the two men are having a conversation in jail. The other Wes Moore says, "'We will do what others expect of us... If they expect us to go to jail, then that's where we will end up too. At some point you lose control" (126). Wes truly believes that the reason he is in jail is that society has given up on him-- and he may not be far from the truth. The author leaves it open to interpretation whether or not Wes was actually guilty of the crime he is imprisoned for, but the fact that he was convicted when there was still considerable doubt about his innocence shows the extent to which he was profiled. It is almost as if the jury had already voted before he even walked in; Wes's assertion about expectations makes it clear that he thinks that he was imprisoned for his skin color and his reputation as opposed to any actions he actually made during the crime. For this reason, the "path" that Wes takes is one that goes directly to jail and will stay there for the rest of his life, because that is what society has expected from him all along and he feels powerless to do anything against it. The same idea can also be seen in the life of the author Wes Moore. At the beginning of his life, society had the same expectations for him as it did for the other Wes-- but this all changed when he joined the army. As an officer, Wes sets himself apart. He says that he was told upon being commissioned that "I was one of the youngest officers in the entire United States military" (134). Excelling in the army makes Wes more than just another hoodlum; he is above average, a man who leads other men. This has an obvious change on the way that society must view him. He has become a role model instead of a man to look down upon, someone who has broken through the mold and should be rewarded with scholarships and honors. Society now expects Wes to succeed, and so he does. Thus the path that the author Wes takes to South Africa on a Rhodes Scholarship and then back to America to become a business leader and well-known author began in military school when he turned around society's expectations of him, and in fact was only possible because of the aid of members of society (such as the assistant director of admissions at Johns Hopkins, Paul White) who had faith in his ability to do well. The final two chapters of "The Other Wes Moore" provide an interesting discussion on the effect that societal expectations have on the path that a person takes through life. 

The third and final section of "The Other Wes Moore" is written primarily to explore the relation between societal expectations and the futures of the two young men. "Paths Taken and Expectations Fulfilled" thus refers to what society believes that each Wes Moore is capable of, as well as how this affects their thoughts and actions as adults. At the end of the story, it is clear that although the two Wes Moores's lives eventually diverged in more and more radical ways, the most important is in how they see themselves and how society sees them. Societal expectations can often be a good thing; for the author Wes Moore, they were largely what gave him the opportunity to succeed. But Moore also understands that there is a darker side. When society expects a man to do nothing with his life, sometimes he feels as though he has no choice. 

"Surrounded" and Parallel Life Stories

Theme: Parallel Life Stories

"'The hands of the law would stay on him for the rest of his life... he'd never figured this. Maybe it was because he'd never thought long term about his life at all. Early losses condition you to believe that short-term plans are always smarter. Now Wes's mind wandered to the long term for the first time. Finally, he could see his future." (page 157)
In the chapter "Surrounded," both Wes Moores experience a life-changing experience. For the first Wes, it is the moment he is convicted to life in prison after being accused of killing a policeman. Not only does this take away all hope for him to have a successful future-- he will be spending the rest of his life in jail with no hope of parole-- it also forces him to change his outlook on the world, similarly to how the second Wes changes his outlook after his experience later in the chapter. Before this point, Wes never considered the long-term impact of the choices that he was making. He grew up in a rough neighborhood where getting the money to eat dinner in a few hours was more important that thinking about plans a month or even a week in advance. Learning that he is going to prison changes all this for Wes-- now he doesn't have to worry about what he's going to do day-to-day to survive, because his meals and protection will most likely be provided for him in jail. Instead, he is forced to consider how he is going to spend the rest of his life-- as Moore writes in the chapter, "he could see his future." This line emphasizes the fact that for the first time in what is perhaps a very long time, Wes has begun to think critically about his life and what he is going to do with it. Because of an incredibly negative experience, his entire outlook on life has changed from one that focuses solely on the short term to one that considers long-term effects.

"We went to school together at the University of Cape Town and studied culture and reconciliation-- a subject for which post-apartheid South Africa had become a living laboratory. Aside from the formal curriculum at the university, we would spend our lime learning the language, learning the country, and learning more about ourselves than we ever imagined." (page 164)
Just like the other Wes Moore, the author Wes has a life-changing experience in the chapter "Surrounded" through his trip to South Africa. The opportunity for him to take the trip means more than just another vacation-- he says that it was a place for him to "[learn] more about ourselves than he ever imagined." While the other Wes Moore's life outlook is changed dramatically because of being sentenced to life in prison, the author Wes also changes his outlook on the world because of the experiences he is able to have in South Africa as a result of his Rhodes Scholar grant. Later in the chapter he describes the things he has learning about race and the luck and privilege he has had even during his childhood in Baltimore after he sees the considerable more run-down shantytowns that impoverished South Africans are forced to live in. He talks about how being in South Africa makes him feel as if he is a small part of a much, much bigger world, where no one would even care if he disappeared. Before his trip to South Africa, Wes isn't quite sure what he wants to do with his life or what his place in the world even is-- his travels and experiences there are ultimately what make him decide what he wants to do and what give him the motivation to ask critical questions about the society he is a part of. In this way, just like the other Wes's experiences changes his life by making him think about what his role is and his future, the author Wes also begins to think about his future and what he really wants to do as a result of his trip.

"His lawyer argued that when Wes was questioned by Baltimore police the day after the crime, before he was announced as a suspect, he was calm, a clear sign of his innocence. His lawyer claimed the police were harassing people in the neighborhood, trying to drum up shaky evidence and confessions." (page 156)
Wes's experiences in the chapter "Surrounded" bear a striking resemblance to those experienced by the other Wes Moore. Wes is portrayed as having been accused wrongly of a crime-- in the passage before the chapter, he tells the author Wes that he was never even there on the day that his brother Tony murdered a policeman. Although the author does not take a strong stance on this position, instead choosing to report the facts more objectively, it seems very plausible that Wes was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. His racial background, his family relationship with Tony, and the neighborhood he lived in all labeled him as a potential perpetrator of the crime before he even stepped into the courtroom. In fact, the event that changes Wes's entire life is less a result of his own personal choices and more a result of his own bad luck-- arguably, he did nothing wrong in the entire crime, but he was the unlucky man who fit the description. For Wes, the bad luck didn't start the day he was convicted of killing the policeman. It started long before that, when he was born into the "wrong" neighborhood and the "wrong" race, labeled guilty before he even learned to talk by a system of institutional racism. Unlike the author of The Other Wes Moore, Wes's luck never changed-- he would wear that label forever. Here it can be seen that what on the surface looks like a random unlucky occurrence-- Wes being wrongfully accused of a crime-- has actually resulted from a long history of his own actions, his situation, and the racist system of law enforcement and criminal justice that purported existed to protect his own life. In the lives of both the other Wes, who is given a Rhodes Scholarship in part because his college adviser is friends with the director and arranges for them to meet, and Wes who is criminally convicted, the course of their lives seems to be decided by just a single event, but in reality the story is much more complex. While for the author Wes his "luck" started when he was enrolled in military academy and became tangible when he got the Rhodes Scholarship, the other Wes's "bad luck" started from the time he was a young boy on the streets and was painfully obvious in the ruling of "guilty" that sentenced him to life in prison.

"Having an advocate on the inside-- someone who had gotten to know me and understood my story on a personal level-- had obviously helped. It made me think deeply about the way privilege and preference work in the work, and how many kids who didn't have "luck" like mine in this instance would find themselves forever outside the ring of power and prestige." (page 160)
Here, Wes's thoughts mirror the experiences of the other Wes Moore as he is convicted for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The author Wes fully recognizes that he has had the opposite experience-- he was in the right place at the right time, and his mother's connections and choice to put him in military school were ultimately what allowed him to find success instead of having a future that mirrored that of the incarcerated Wes Moore. It is clear that Wes understands that this isn't because he worked harder or because he was ultimately a better person. Instead, it was because of "luck," which he explains in the form of privilege and power. Wes hasn't always been privileged-- at the beginning of his life, he was in exactly the same situation as the boy that shared his name. However, his mother's decision to put him in military school at an early age and his resulting experiences labeled him as a "good kid" in society; in essence, he was able to prove himself to be more than just another Wes Moore. This act of fate, or "luck," is ultimately what decides Wes's future as a successful writer who gets the opportunity to go to South Africa on a Rhodes Scholar grant instead of spending the rest of his life behind bars. Thus, though the lives of the two Wes Moores seemingly diverge radically due to their dramatically different life-changing experiences in the chapter "Surrounded," both are affected similarly by "luck" or a lack thereof-- the first Wes by being in the wrong place at the wrong time and thus convicted to life in prison, and the second Wes by being in the right place at the right time and becoming a published author with a bright future.

"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... Here, burgeoning manhood was guided and celebrated through a rite of passage. At home, burgeoning manhood was a trigger for apprehension. In the United States, we see these same faces, and our reflex is to pick up our pace and cross the street." (page 170)
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. Interestingly, however, Wes does not put himself in the shoes of these young boys when describing them, but instead in the position of one of the people who fear them: he says that "our reflex is to pick up our pace and cross the street" (emphasis mine) instead of distancing himself from the subject by using the possessive pronoun "their." This choice, though it seems simple, actually highlights the differences in the parallel life stories of the two Wes Moores. The author Wes no longer sees himself as the same boy he was in West Baltimore or the Bronx, a dangerous person to be afraid of. In his own eyes, as reflected through his description of himself as the subject that fears rather than the object that is feared, he is a respectable member of society just like everyone else. The same is not true for the other Wes Moore. Despite the fact that they have had incredibly similar childhoods, while the author Wes has separated himself from the boy he was "back then," the other Wes never has. He still sees himself as the same person: a drug runner, a gang member, a danger to the society that Wes is now a part of. Although they come from the same backgrounds, the same childhood conflicts, suddenly the other Wes has become a person that the author Wes would cross the street to avoid. This difference highlights a dramatic rift in the similar life stories of the two Wes Moores, the place where their two lives diverge even more than their separate experiences as a successful scholar and perpetual prisoner. The real change is in the way that they see themselves, specifically in the way that the author Wes sees himself in the chapter "Surrounded."