Socratic Seminar

Part 1: Vocabulary: Wangero - After discussing “Wangero” in the Socratic Seminar, it was Dee renewing herself, becoming someone she wanted to be; a start over. Quilt (noun)- “a warm bed covering made of padding enclosed between layers of fabric and kept in place by lines of stitching, typically applied in a decorative design." When discussed in the Socratic Seminar, the quilt was something that was passed on to add their memories, it meant something to the family. Part 2: Strategies or Techniques for Comprehension and Analysis: Dee - We discussed how Dee was ashamed of where she came from. She did not want her friends to go over to her house, she did not like both houses that they had lived in, she changed her name, she moved out, and towards the end of the reading, she wanted to keep the quilts. Dee thought the quilts were just for decoration, Mama and Maggie saw the quilts differently; they knew the meaning behind those quilts, it meant something to them. The quilts reminded them of their Grandma Dee. Part 3: Reflection on Performance: How would you rate your preparation for this Socratic circle? Why? From a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate myself a 10. I had read Everyday Use by Alice Walker and I understood it well. I also tried to involve everyone in the discussion and took lead. How would you rate your contributions (both the number of times you spoke and the quality of what you said) to the conversation of the inner circle? Why? As I stated before, I tried to take the role of a leader and talked most of the seminar in order to keep everything fresh keeping everyone on their toes. How would you rate the level of teamwork you displayed in the inner circle? Why? I would rate my level of teamwork a 10 because i tried to involve everyone in the conversations. Part 4: Reflection on Content: The meaning of Everyday Use by Alice Walker, is heritage. It shows how Mama and Maggie appreciate heritage; then Dee makes the reader believe that she does not accept her African roots. Dee seems to be ashamed of where she came from. I believe, Dee wants to seem like she is into the heritage, but she doesn't seem to fully understand it. She sees the quilts and the other objects she wants to take, like it's art; Dee wants to put them up on her wall like a museum. Mama knows what they really signify, each object has a meaning to mama. For example the quilts, they were stitched by Grandma Dee and they have bits of clothing from Grandma and Grandpa. The quilts are passed on to add memories and Mama passes them to Maggie because she knows Maggie will add memories and Dee is going to have them up on her wall to collect dust. In addition, I have a cousin that used to say she was Hawaiian and she was going to change religion and everyone in the family was in shock like was she that embarrassed of where she came from. Now she accepts of who she is and where she came from.