SEMINAR isn’t like other classes. First of all, the teachers are some of the most famous authors, thinkers, leaders, painters, scientists, musicians, and mathematicians who ever lived; second, they are usually dead. And since they aren’t there to tell us, no one has the final, or right, answer to questions about their books or paintings or songs or ideas. So it’s up to all of us to work together to discover things we might never discover on our own; and so gain a very deep and multifaceted understanding of each author’s or creator’s ideas. The works we will study in Seminar are interesting, difficult, and often profound; they have changed the world. They are worth reading more than once!

Seminar Hints

Before & During Your Reading:

1. Look over the Active Reading Checklist.
2. Talk Back to the Author as you read!
3. Ask Questions, Look for Proof, Demand Evidence, Question Assumptions!

During Seminar:

1. Don’t raise hands; take turns.
2. Talk to each other, not just to the teacher (or teachers).
3. Listen respectively and actively to what others say. No side conversations!

1. Support your answers with EVIDENCE (a quotation) from the text — but not from your own life because the rest of us haven’t shared your experience. A great way to start off is: “Well, on page 10, in the second paragraph [then wait for class to catch up], the author says… ”
2. A good question is as helpful as a good answer. Ask a question if you do not understand something.
3. Expect disagreement and do not take offense. When someone disagrees with you they are attacking your opinion, not you.
4. When you disagree with something someone else said, try to express your problem with what was said in the form of a question: “Don’t you think that…?” or “But doesn’t the author say…?”  Rather than: “No, that’s wrong!”
5. Silence is OK. When you aren’t talking you get a chance to listen. Every Seminar we will appoint one student (or teacher!) to be the “Silent One,” who is allowed to listen as hard as s/he likes but may not speak. Many students say they learned the most the day they were the Silent One.
6. When in doubt, reread the text. Reread the text. Reread the text! And: “At least pretend to think to think for a few seconds before answering!”*