40 points please answer! Socratic Seminar Response
In this assessment, you will be recording a 1-2 minute audio recording of yourself responding to one of the following essay
questions about All my Sons. You will need to cite at least two examples from the play in your recording. Make sure that before
you record, you have prepared what you are going to say in response. The essay questions are as follows. Remember, do not begin
recording your response until you have prepared what you are going to say and are ready.
1. Did Kate (Mother) know that Larry was dead? Did Chris know that his father was guilty? How might the actors and director of the
play keep these questions ambiguous or suggest that these facts were known all along? Did Miller possibly intend that the audience
never know how much Kate and Chris had suspicions, or is the play better if the audience gradually learns that Kate and Chris knew
the truth all along?
2. How does Miller introduce the past and show the effects of the past on the Kellers without employing flashbacks?
3. Several characters in the play believe in forces outside their control that influence the events of their lives. Kate turns to
astronomy and God, while Keller argues that the pressures of business forced him to act as he did. Examine the role of personal
agency in the play.
4. The tone of much of the second and third acts is accusatory, with a strong emphasis on questions and questioning. How do the
characters use questions to deflect blame? Or, how does Miller use questions to pace the dialogue and heighten the tension? What
counts as evidence of the facts?
5. When the action of the play is over, do you think Chris and Annie can have a future together? Why or why not?