What, Why, and How?

CRITICAL
1 READING:
Creating Text-Based Questions

Open-Ended Discussion Questions

Questioning Circles
 CREATING TEXT-BASED QUESTIONS

WHAT ARE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS?

After you have finished reading a text, whether it is an article, a chapter, or an entire book, you can
pose open-ended questions based on what you have read. Open-ended means that the questions do
not have only one answer and are not factual questions, but instead they invite discussion and
multiple opinions.

WHY USE THEM?

Discussion questions are useful in helping readers explore different levels of meaning and
interpretation in a text. Because there isn’t one answer, discussion questions trigger many different
angles and perspectives, promoting critical thinking and enhancing your engagement with the subject
matter. Also, answering good, complex questions can lead to strong and interesting thesis
statements.

HOW DO I CREATE THEM?

• Start by reviewing the text you have just read, using your annotation and marginal notes as well as
any notes you may have from classroom activities or from your own reading.
• Next, focusing on the main ideas and events in the text, think about what you don’t know but would
like to understand better and/or what you have an idea or a hunch about, but would like to explore
further.

• Then, start writing a series of questions that do not have one answer and are open-ended. Make
sure you are not asking factual questions; make sure they are questions that inspire more than one
perspective or opinion to answer.

• Use these words to begin your questions: Why, How, What, If. You can begin a question with Who
if there can be more than one answer.

• You can use these questions to deepen your own understanding by thinking about the way you
would answer them. You can share them with other students in the class in pairs or in groups.

EXAMPLE Here are some examples of open-ended discussion questions

based on Chapter VII in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass:
Why didn’t Fredrick Douglass accept his role as a slave and stop trying to learn to read and write?

How did Frederick Douglass create changes in his life?

If Fredrick Douglass hadn’t read Sheridan, would he have been a different person?

What makes a person decide to break out of a system that is oppressing him/her?

Who do you think was the most influential person in Douglass’ life?
WHAT ARE QUESTIONING CIRCLES?
Questioning circles are used to create complex, open-ended questions that involve different levels of
critical thinking.

WHY USE QUESTIONING CIRCLES?

When discussing a text/topic or when preparing to write an essay, beginning with a question has
several advantages:
1. Good questions lead to rich discussions that can strengthen understanding of a text/topic.
2. Questions require answers. Answering questions with opinion form thesis statements and lead
you to look for evidence which is necessary to prove a thesis.
3. A clear open-ended question calls for real investigation and thinking. Asking a question with
no direct answer makes research and writing more meaningful to both you and your audience.

HOW DO YOU CREATE THEM?

There are 3 areas to include when forming questions. Each of these areas is represented by a circle:

1) Subject-Text: represents the subject and/or text(s) under discussion or questioning

2) Personal reality: represents the individual’s experiences, values and ideas
3) External reality: represents the “world”: the experience, history, and concepts of larger society

Single question:
Non-Integrated question
from one category only
(no overlap of circles)
Double question:
Integrated questions using
two of the categories
(overlap of 2 circles)
Dense question:
Integrated questions using
all three of the categories
(overlap of all 3 circles)

While each circle represents a different domain of cognition, the circles overlap—as does knowledge—
and are not ordered. Further, in one area where all three circles intersect lies the union of the subject
being explored, the individual’s response and experience, and the experience of others. The intersection
of the three circles, the area we term “Dense,” contains the most significant (higher-order) questions.
 EXAMPLE

Using The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Single Questions
Subject-Text: What does Huck say when he decides not to turn Jim into the authorities?
Personal reality: When would you support a friend when everyone else thought s/he was wrong?
External reality: What was the responsibility of people who found runaway slaves?

Double Questions
Subject-Text/ Personal reality: Would you, like Huck, break the law for a friend?
Personal reality/External reality: Given the social and political circumstances in the U.S during slavery, to
what extent would you have gone against the law?
Subject-Text /External reality: What were the issues during that time which caused both Huck’s and Jim’s
action to be viewed as wrong?

Dense Question
Subject-Text/Personal reality/External reality: When is it right to go against the social and/or political
structures of the time as Huck did when he refused to turn Jim in to the authorities?

Using Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Single Questions
Subject-Text: What strategies did Douglass use after he was forbidden to read?
Personal reality: Do you think that educating someone can make them dangerous?
External reality: When else has denial of education been used to control people?

Double Questions
Subject-Text/ Personal reality: Would you, like Douglass, use the same methods to get your freedom?
Personal reality/External reality: Do you think that education in all circumstances is a positive thing or can
it in some cases lead to a less stable society?
Subject-Text /External reality: Why did Douglass risk so much to learn to read and why did slave owners
forbid slaves to read?

Dense Question
Subject-Text/Personal reality/External reality: Why was Douglass so determined to learn to read and how
do you think reading and education connect to self-realization and breaking free from societal control?
 PRACTICE

I. IN-CLASS EXERCISE: In groups, on a separate sheet of paper, create ONE question

type for each category but only write the question down and do not state what
question type it is.

Single question:
(Subject-text or personal reality or external reality)

Double question:
(subject-text/personal reality or personal reality/external reality or subject-text/external reality)

Dense question:
(subject-text/personal reality/external reality)

II. When you are finished, pass your questions to another group for them to:

(1) Guess the category type (i.e. if it’s a single question which area does it address?
Subject-text? Personal? External? Or if it’s double, which two areas does it blend?)

(2) The group will then answer your questions and your group will answer the
questions from another group.

(3) Take notes of good questions and answers as you can use these to create your own
thesis on the topic.