Gillian Justice

Mrs. Storer
Block 4, English 3 Honors American Literature
September 20, 2019

Socratic Circle Reflection on the Crucible

The Socratic Seminar pertaining the Crucible play tested my knowledge and required me
to explore my thinking on a deeper level. I would rate my preparation for the Socratic Seminar a
9 because I had answered all of the questions and had gone in depth for most of them, pondering
each question and providing two possible opinions for them, backing up those two opinions with
evidence from the text. Though I had done this for many of the questions, I feel that I could have
provided more in depth thinking for the questions pertaining Miller’s message and how the
meaning of crucible fit the play. Even though I had provided ideas, they were more surface ideas
that did not help me as much when we were discussing the questions in class. I feel that my
performance in speaking during the discussion would be rated an 8 because I provided insightful
information, but I did not deliver it as well as I would have liked to. I believe that I spoke
enough times, regarding how much total time was provided for the discussion. I would rate my
level of teamwork in the discussion a 9 because in each of my points, I had agreed with someone,
backing up theirs and my opinion on the question by adding more ideas and evidence. During my
time in the outer circle, I believe that I did a fairly good job in telling my partner what she could
improve on by telling her to back up her opinions with direct quotes from the play and by
speaking a little louder to give a more assertive tone. Therefore, I would rate my feedback a 9 as
it was helpful to her and I could see a change the next time she had contributed to the discussion.
I could have improved what transpired in the Socratic Circle by giving differing opinions to help
challenge my classmates and myself. This would allow the discussion to go more in depth. Next
Socratic Seminar, I would like to contribute more clearer and shorter statements to get the point
across in a more effective way. Overall, my performance was positive and insightful.
The group discussion in my Socratic Circle was well thought out and many people came
prepared with insightful ideas and strong evidence. I would rate my group’s preparation a 10
because everyone contributed in depth ideas and came with lots of evidence to support their
ideas. I would rate the quality of the overall discussion an 8 because ever though everyone
provided advanced thinking, there was little contrasting opinions which did not help the group go
even more in depth. If the group had contributed more differing opinions, I feel that the
discussion could have been a little more engaging. I would rate the level of teamwork displayed
in the circle an 8 because I feel that we did a good job in helping back each other up in their
opinions, providing more evidence to support the idea. I rated it an 8, though, because I feel that
we could have helped those who had not participated a little more in urging them to speak their
opinions. I believe that the quality feedback my group gave was insightful, earing a rate of a 9.
The reason I give a 9 is because even though my group had provided much feedback on how the
discussion could be improved, when it was our time to discuss, we did not take a lot of our own
feedback and had the same problems that the first group had. For example, we did not give as
much differing opinions and spoke softly, which were the exact feedback we had given the first
group. Overall, I believe my Socratic Circle helped me gain a deeper understanding of the
Crucible.
An imaginary thesis I would provide about the meaning and importance of ideas in the
crucible is the idea that preserving one’s reputation can lead to unlawful and deceitful actions
which can result in harming others. My thesis would look something like this: Throughout the
Crucible, Miller contributes the idea that many people will do what is necessary for self-
preservation, ignoring the consequences their actions could have for others, which can be seen
through the characters Abigail, Paris, and Mercy Lewis. Some points I would provide in backing
up this idea would be that Abigail accused the old women of witchcraft in order to hide her
involvement with witchcraft and her affair with Mr. Proctor. Though none of these older women
were guilty of witchcraft, Abigail created a death sentence for them in order to save herself from
severe consequences, even death. Another person I would use to back up my thesis would be
Parris because the only reason he backs up his niece is to save his reputation as a Reverend. If
Abigail was punished for witchcraft, this would look bad on Parris’ reputation and he could lose
the respect from his town. Last, I would support my thesis with Mercy Lewis because just like
Abigail, once she started being accused of witchcraft, Mercy lied and blamed it on Mr. Proctor
controlling her with the devil. This would result in Mr. Proctor being punished, just like the old
women had. All in all, in order to save themselves, Abigail, Parris, and Mercy acted upon greed
for self-preservation, ignoring the consequences it had for others.
Some connections this text has with my own life is that it brings back memories of when
I was younger and how I would use my siblings as scapegoats to get out of trouble. Since I was
the youngest, just like Abigail was, my parents would believe me, and my older siblings would
get blamed for a lot of things they did not do. Just like Abigail was the youngest, even though
she was the one guilty, the authorities believed her, and this resulted in the death of many older
women. Though my experience was much feebler, this shows how even today we always look to
preserve our own reputation over others.