Asking questions

As an audience member during class discussions, symposiums or Socratic Seminars  you are not simply expected to sit back and listen. Your job is to actively — provocatively — work toward a dialogue in which audience and presenters together explore topics,  issues, and problems. A "good" question opens discussion rather than closing it down, Good questions come out of engaged, active listening. 

To prepare for class discussions you need to be able to formulate good critical questions. “Critical,” in this sense means “analytical.” Since there are many types of questions which produce a variety of answers, it would be helpful to go over the difference between a “critical” question and a “simple” question:

A simple question...
  • can be answered with a “yes” or “no” (this is not helpful when trying to elicit further questions, discussion, or analysis). 
  • contain the answers within themselves. 
  • can only be answered by a fact, or a series of facts 
A critical question... 
  • leads to more questions
  • provokes discussion
  • concerns itself with audience and author intent
  • comes from a critical or careful reading of the text
  • moves you out of your own frame of reference (“what does this mean in our context?” to your author’s (“what was the author trying to convey when he/she wrote this? how would the audience have responded?”)

Answering Questions

  1. Give yourself a moment to think. No one expects on-the-spot genius. And even the briefest delaying tactic (“Huh, I’ve never thought of it that way, but you’re right: that could be an interesting approach. Let me begin to answer by…”) can give your brain a chance to process the question.

  2. Ask the questioner to elaborate on their question. A well-meaning question is an invitation, not a test. Take some time to examine the question with your questioner ("Can you clarify your question?"). A question is itself an example of thinking out loud, and they may appreciate getting another chance to frame it  properly. They may have an example or comparison in mind they haven't revealed (“That’s interesting: what made you think of that?”). Or there may be a question behind the question (“Have you been working on a related project that inspired your question?”).

  3. Acknowledge the limits of your own research and knowledge. No scholar has enough time to explore every nook and cranny of their subject. It’s fine to be more interested in some things than others (“That wasn’t where I focused my research. I was more interested in…”). But it’s also wise to accept questions that point out your limitations for the gift that they are (“Why, no, I didn’t come across that information/writer/approach in my research: tell me more”).


(Some contents of this page are adapted from The George Washington University)