Discussion Question Guidelines
From UCSB English Department Knowledge Base
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DISCUSSION QUESTION GUIDELINES
By Jessica C. Murphy
As part of your grade for section, a number of you will provide the rest of us with a discussion question each week to help get us started talking about the material. These guidelines are meant to help you write meaningful discussion questions that will help us deepen our understanding of the material.
- Your question should be composed in such a way as to promote discussion. For example, "Marie de France concentrates on an encounter between Tristran and Ysolt rather than the event of their deaths. What effect do you think this has? Why might she choose this moment rather than another? How does this moment in their romance compare with the moment in the excerpt from Thomas of England?" will get people talking, whereas "When did Marie de France live?" will solicit only a factual answer.
- Your question should consider material we have read for the Thursday and Tuesday that precede section. For example, the questions on October 11th should be about the reading from October 5th and/or October 10th.
- If your enrollment in the course changes, please notify me so that I can find someone to write a question in your stead.
- Because these questions are necessary for our section discussions, no late work will be accepted. If you miss your question, then you will not receive credit for it.
- Here are some things to consider as you write your questions:
- What are some themes you noticed in the readings?
- Are there any issues raised in Thursday's lecture that you find specifically relevant to the following Tuesday's reading?
- Are there lingering considerations from the last lecture that you would like to explore?
- Is there a particular passage or line that you find interesting? Why?
- Is there something in the reading that puzzles you? Interests you?
