The second Socratic seminar on The Kite Runner allowed me to understand what my classmates thought was most important to take away in this section of the novel. I had never really thought about the symbolism in the eight chapters, especially what the kite and Sohrab's name represented, because I had focused more on the relationship between the different characters. I was prepared for an in-depth discussion on the changing dynamic between Baba and Amir, or the intricacies of the relationship between Amir and his new wife Soraya. However, most of the questions asked in the seminar were unrelated to this because they focused more on symbolism and on emotional appeals. Although this made it more difficult for me to participate in the discussion, it also gave me more insight on what my peers had been most impacted by in the novel, and what ideas and concepts were most important to them.
During the seminar, I agreed most with Connor's statement that Baba would be too proud to kill himself if Amir died. When I was thinking of the question, I knew immediately that Baba would never kill himself for two reasons: first, because it would mar his precious honor, and second because it would show weakness. Even when Amir cries at a sports match where a man dies, Baba is furious at him for not acting like a man. Especially in a society where committing suicide carries great stigma, Baba would not want people to talk badly about him after his death. One of the statements I disagreed with most was when Stewart said that he believed that the kite represented freedom. Although I understand how he came to this conclusion, I felt as though the symbolism of the kite was much more nuanced. It is not purely a happy symbol; after all, the kite is what leads to Hassan being raped, and at the same time it shows the class imbalance between the two boys, where Amir is able to fight with the kite while Hassan is only allowed to chase after it. I would say that the kite is a symbol of stratification; as an ideal that neither of the boys can really reach, but that Hassan feels intuitively as seen by his uncanny ability to predict where the kite will land, while Amir associates it more with stressful feelings and failure as he feels that winning the kite competition is the only thing that he can do to win the trust and respect of his father. At the same time, the kite also represents the innocence of the childhood memories between Amir and Hassan before Hassan is raped. This is seen because the kite, once pristine is beautiful, becomes dirty and ugly after Hassan's rape. I wished that we could have talked more about the change in the relationship between Baba and Amir during the seminar. Although one of my peers did bring it up, I felt as though the discussion mostly skimmed over the surface of the issue instead of really getting in-depth. In particular, I would have liked to have a deeper conversation about the impact on Amir's future parenting skills that Baba has had. One of the most interesting quotes for me was when Amir says that if he is a father, he wants to be just like Baba and at the same time nothing like him. It would have been nice to hear what my classmates thought about this quote, and whether they believed that Amir would be more or less like his father if he were to have a child.
I thought that one thing that went well during this Socratic seminar was that no one person dominated the discussion. Because the group was made up of people that usually were apprehensive about talking during seminars, everyone was very polite and nobody talked over each other. Although this had some negative results as well, it also made the discussion feel much more welcoming because it seemed as though nobody was going to judge anyone else for what they said, and everyone shared the same feelings of apprehension about speaking. I felt as though this created a better environment, especially for more introverted people, than a contentious discussion where everyone is talking over each other.
One thing that could be improved in the next Socratic seminar is the depth and level of conversation. Throughout the seminar, there were many awkward silences and pauses where nobody wanted to talk-- Sean counted eight in the very first half. Because of this, the conversation felt very disjointed, and no ones' comments seemed to be directly related to the person who spoke before them. This is understandable because the seminar was made up of people who feel less comfortable with speaking during class discussions. However, it seemed as though the problem went deeper than that because no one really engaged the ideas that their classmates presented. Many times someone would ask a question, one person would answer it, and then the next person would ask a completely unrelated question. Spending more time on each question instead of skipping around while really only dealing with the surface issues would greatly improve the level of the conversation by allowing us to actually discuss the most important ideas.
During the seminar, I agreed most with Connor's statement that Baba would be too proud to kill himself if Amir died. When I was thinking of the question, I knew immediately that Baba would never kill himself for two reasons: first, because it would mar his precious honor, and second because it would show weakness. Even when Amir cries at a sports match where a man dies, Baba is furious at him for not acting like a man. Especially in a society where committing suicide carries great stigma, Baba would not want people to talk badly about him after his death. One of the statements I disagreed with most was when Stewart said that he believed that the kite represented freedom. Although I understand how he came to this conclusion, I felt as though the symbolism of the kite was much more nuanced. It is not purely a happy symbol; after all, the kite is what leads to Hassan being raped, and at the same time it shows the class imbalance between the two boys, where Amir is able to fight with the kite while Hassan is only allowed to chase after it. I would say that the kite is a symbol of stratification; as an ideal that neither of the boys can really reach, but that Hassan feels intuitively as seen by his uncanny ability to predict where the kite will land, while Amir associates it more with stressful feelings and failure as he feels that winning the kite competition is the only thing that he can do to win the trust and respect of his father. At the same time, the kite also represents the innocence of the childhood memories between Amir and Hassan before Hassan is raped. This is seen because the kite, once pristine is beautiful, becomes dirty and ugly after Hassan's rape. I wished that we could have talked more about the change in the relationship between Baba and Amir during the seminar. Although one of my peers did bring it up, I felt as though the discussion mostly skimmed over the surface of the issue instead of really getting in-depth. In particular, I would have liked to have a deeper conversation about the impact on Amir's future parenting skills that Baba has had. One of the most interesting quotes for me was when Amir says that if he is a father, he wants to be just like Baba and at the same time nothing like him. It would have been nice to hear what my classmates thought about this quote, and whether they believed that Amir would be more or less like his father if he were to have a child.
I thought that one thing that went well during this Socratic seminar was that no one person dominated the discussion. Because the group was made up of people that usually were apprehensive about talking during seminars, everyone was very polite and nobody talked over each other. Although this had some negative results as well, it also made the discussion feel much more welcoming because it seemed as though nobody was going to judge anyone else for what they said, and everyone shared the same feelings of apprehension about speaking. I felt as though this created a better environment, especially for more introverted people, than a contentious discussion where everyone is talking over each other.
One thing that could be improved in the next Socratic seminar is the depth and level of conversation. Throughout the seminar, there were many awkward silences and pauses where nobody wanted to talk-- Sean counted eight in the very first half. Because of this, the conversation felt very disjointed, and no ones' comments seemed to be directly related to the person who spoke before them. This is understandable because the seminar was made up of people who feel less comfortable with speaking during class discussions. However, it seemed as though the problem went deeper than that because no one really engaged the ideas that their classmates presented. Many times someone would ask a question, one person would answer it, and then the next person would ask a completely unrelated question. Spending more time on each question instead of skipping around while really only dealing with the surface issues would greatly improve the level of the conversation by allowing us to actually discuss the most important ideas.
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