Tried assigning debate roles before we even picked the book for our club and it actually worked

So my book club has been struggling with the same 3 people dominating every discussion. Last month I suggested we all pick roles before we even read the book - like one person finds historical context, another tracks character motives, one looks up author interviews, etc. We had 7 people in the group so I wrote roles on slips of paper and we drew them randomly at the meetup before choosing the book. Figured everyone would just ignore them but it worked way better than I expected. The quietest person in our group ended up being the "themes tracker" and she came with a whole list of notes. Nobody talked over her because she had a specific job. We got through 3 big debate points in 45 minutes instead of the usual hour and a half of arguing about whether the protagonist was likeable. Anyone else tried structured roles like this or got another way to keep discussions balanced?

2 comments

2 Comments

coran6329d ago

Oh wait, I gotta push back a little on something. You said the quiet person became the "themes tracker" and nobody talked over her. But really it sounds more like she just had a reason to speak up without feeling like she was interrupting. The roles didn't stop people from interrupting, they gave her a clear slot to talk. See what I mean? It's a small thing but it changes how you think about why it worked. The historical context person in my group just read Wikipedia summaries which was fine but not super deep. Did anyone in your group actually do research beyond like a quick google search?

matthewgonzalez29d ago

Hmm, I actually see it a little differently than that. When you give someone a specific role like "themes tracker," it does more than just give them a slot to talk. It changes how the group sees them. Suddenly they're not just the quiet person, they're the person responsible for noticing patterns. That shift in social standing makes people less likely to talk over them. In my group, the "research person" actually went beyond Wikipedia. She found a couple old academic articles from JSTOR through her university login. It was nothing crazy but it gave us some solid sources to point to. I think having her hold that title made her feel like she had to bring something real to the table, not just quick Google results.