Name: Jordan Period: Date:

MatterofLifeorDeathSocraticSeminarQuestions

We will be using the following questions in our Socratic Seminar. The Socratic Seminar is one of your summative
assignments for this reading unit. Come up with assertions (verbal topic sentences/claims) that directly answer
the question. Write notes with evidence to support your claim. The evidence is REQUIRED because it will help
back up your assertion and it will help keep the conversation centered around the pieces we have studied. The
talking points are equally important. They allow you to elaborate on the so what of your assertion and evidence.
Without this verbal matters, your conversations will seem flat and boring. Not all of the questions will be used
but you need assertions, evidence, and talking points for each one. If needed, you may use a separate page to
answer the following questions. You will submit this for a grade!

1. Based on all the information we have read in A Matter of Life or Death, explain your reaction to Victor
Frankls quote: But what about human liberty? Is there no spiritual freedom in regard to behavior and reaction
to any given surroundings? Most important, do the prisoners reactions to the singular world of the
concentration camp prove that man cannot escape the influences of his surroundings? Does man have no choice
of action in the face of such circumstances?
Assertion (Topic Sentence) Evidence (Says-quotes) Talking Points/Matters

Depending, on our
surrounding, it can affect the
way we grow up, the
personality we have, the
actions we do and the way we
think.
I did not fast. First of If you live in poverty, then you may see the
all, to please my father world as hard and harsh, while if you lived
who had forbidden me it in wealthy, you might see it as easy. It
to do so. And then, there may also cause us to change if we were to
was no longer any change the surrounding that we live in.
reason for me to fast. I
no longer accepted
Gods silence

2. Words have a major impact on the individual. The power of words can both hinder and motivate individuals
to react or commit to certain ideological principle. Explain your thoughts and use textual evidence.
Assertion Evidence Talking Points/Matters

Now everything is mostly
people see about you. It causes
us to care about the way we
look, act, think and do.
On the other hand,
were told to put our
oxygen masks on first,
and not jump in the
water with a drowning
victim. But then the
people who ignore
those edicts and
survive to tell the tale
are lauded as heroes.
And people who do the
smart thing are
sometimes criticized
quite heavily after the
fact (Wallace 61-65)
- Depending on what a person says, it
can harm us or motivate us to get
better
- It makes us has second thoughts
even if the action we did was
nothing wrong
- When criticized, words affect our
better judgement, and often leads
us to do the smart thing rather
than the right thing
Name: Jordan Period: Date:
3. Selfish or not? By providing textual evidence explain your reactions to the concept of if ones personal
survival over the lives of others is considered selfish or not.

Assertion Evidence Talking Points/Matters

It is not a selfish act to save
yourself because in most
survival situations, most
people will panic, or the will
be calm and be able to get out
of the situation.
People were frozen and
screaming, but nobody
was moving toward the
emergency exits, even as
smoke began to fill the
cabin. After realizing
that the people were too
paralyzed to react, she
took direction, crawling
over several rows of
people to get to the exit
(Wallace 47-50)
- In a large group, its almost
impossible to save everyone
- It makes people feel guilty for
saving themselves even though,
again, its pretty much impossible to
save everyone
- Not everyone stays calm in
dangerous, life threatening
situations

4. Elie Wiesel explains his view on oppression with: We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor,
never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When
human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become
irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that
place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe. Explain your reaction to Wiesels view and
support your reasoning with examples for this collection.
Assertion Evidence Talking Points/Matters

Wiesels view is that, as
people, we must look out for
each other even though there
can be differences between us
whether it is racial, political
or religious views. We should
also be standing up for each
other.
Neutrality helps the In times of danger, we should be working
oppressor, never the together to stop whatever threat is coming
victim. Silence our way. We should also come to realize
encourages the that we should not support a person who is
tormentor, never the giving the wrong action.
tormented
Very often we cant tell
each other apart just by
looking at one another.
But the difference
between Hutu and Tutsi
means everything in
Rwanda. In the late
spring and early summer
of 1994 it meant the
difference between life
and death

5. Explain how motivation plays an important role in encouraging a reaction from the individual. Based
on our study and personal experiences, what have you learned about motivation.
Name: Jordan Period: Date:
Assertion Evidence Talking Points/Matters

Motivation can come in We do have faith - Motivation keeps us going into

different forms and is used in
many different situations.
For example, motivation
doesnt always have to be
within a big competition or
race, it can be within simple
things like doing work or just
to get yourself up in the
morning.
because we do make a doing things we think that it would
difference. And we could make us give up
not make that - Motivation makes us push past our
difference-or begin to do own limits
our job-without the - It makes us realize that we can do
fixers, drivers and the things that seem too
translators, who face the dangerous or impossible
same risks and die in
appalling numbers they
kept the faith as we who
remain must continue to
do (Colvin 85-90)

6.
Question: Many people have the questioned the act of survival to be a selfish act, but what about when
people come to have the ability to save others? Do you believe that the act of survival can also be a
selfless act?
Assertion Evidence Talking Points/Matters

Although the act of survival can In many survival stories,

be seen as a selfish act to some, I especially in ones where there
believe that it can also be a was a large group, the survivor is
selfless act. The choice is really often seen as selfish to save
up to us whether we are willing themselves, even if they didnt
to save and sacrifice ourselves have the power to save
for a family member, friend, or everyone. In many survival
even a stranger. stories however, we hear and
read about how many survivors
also try to sacrifice themselves
to save others. Personally, I
believe that the act of survival
can be just as selfless as it can be
selfish from the amount of
stories we hear of people
dragging another victim with
them to survive and to help the
other person survive.