Day   1-4 Plot-check quiz (handout) and discussion of four basic questions on the novel.
  Day  5-6 Make notations while viewing the film version of the story.  See Guidelines (64).
  Day     7 Discussion of major differences between film and novel. 
  Day      8 Essay Exam 

1.  Focus:                           Journal writing: In war, is there anything worth dying for?  Is there anything
                                           worth killing for?  Why has violence and endless war plagued humanity?  Why
                                           are we unable to avoid war?

2.  Objective:                    To solve several basic questions of interpretation about the overall meaning of the 
                                          story. 

3.  Purpose:                       o  To increase our mutual understanding (comprehension)
                                           and, as a result, our enjoyment of the story.

                                           o  To develop the habit of independent and critical thinking.

4.  Input:                          Begin with a factual quiz to check that everyone has read the novel (Rule 1: No
                                          one may participate who has not  read the selection).  The quiz should be ten
                                          factual questions,  short answers (not true/false).  Those with 60% are in the inner
                                          circle; those with less are in the outer circle. 

                                          Two to four basic questions of interpretation.

5.  Modeling,                    During discussion the co-leaders model the four rules of 
Checking, and                 discussion, check for understanding by asking follow-up 
Guided Practice:             questions for clarification, substantiation, consistency, 
                                          relevance, implication, resolution, and to get more opinion.

                                          Guided practice is the discussion.
 

6.  Closure:                      Oral or written resolution of one or two basic questions just discussed.

NOTE:  During Socratic Seminar day(s), in a full ninety-minute period, four pairs of student co-leaders each lead a fifteen-minute discussion of the reading.  It is important that the teacher approves the student co-leader questions before discussion to avoid wasting time on questions that are not clear, not specific, factual, or are evaluation. 

Source:                             Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front.  Fawcett Crest, New York.  1975

Film:                                 Richard Thomas, All Quiet on the Western Front VHR (1980) 130 min.
                                          Lew Ayres, All Quiet on the Western Front VHR (1958) 100 min.

Letters:                            ìWhy War?î  Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud (1932) 

Research:                        Great Books Index:       http://books.mirror.org/gb.home.html