MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Location: file:///C:/DA846E6C/THEREADINGJOURNALexpl.htm Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii" THE READING JOURNAL

THE READING JOURNAL

 

Please understand and remember that this is a critical reading journal, NOT A PERS= ONAL RESPONSE JOURNAL.  This journa= l is designed to help you develop critical thinking and reading skills so that y= ou can both develop and articulate legitimate readings of a text.  As you attend carefully to how you= read and to what you personally make of your reading, I believe you will be charmingly surprised to find that such things can improve your enthusiasm f= or reading and your participation in the classroom.  By watching your own readings move= from puzzlements through approximations and misreadings to more and more satisfy= ing readings you will gradually develop a more realistic sense of what valid and legitimate readings of texts are, and in class discussions more readily sha= re your readings and build on each other’s perceptions instead of worryi= ng about who is right and who is wrong.

 

You will need a separate notebook for this journal- NO EXCEPTIONS!  It is essential that you complete = the required reading and the right-hand side of the journal before class.  When reading a full-length book, t= ake notes on a very regular basis and indicate page numbers as you take notes.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>  You will also be required to add journal notes in class.  Use only the right-hand sides of t= he pages while you read.  Leave t= he left-hand side blank for later.  The basic difference is that the right-hand sides are for comments on the text, while the left-hand sides are for assessments of your reading.  Keep the difference clear and make= use of it.

 

What to Put on the Right-hand Sides of the Pages:

-      =     Times when your reading changes:

o        You see something you didn’t see before

o        You recognize a pattern- the images start to overlap, gestures or phrases recur, some details seem associated with= each other.

o        The story suddenly seems to you to be about something different from what you thought.

o        You discover that you were misreading.

o        The writer introduces a new context or new perspective.<= /span>

-      =     Times when you are surprised or puzzled:

o        Something just doesn’t fit.

o        Things don’t make sense- pose explicitly the questions or problems that occur to you.

-      =     Details that seem important and that make you look again and reread= .

-      =     Ways in which the story makes you speculate about life or a connect= ion to another text or even another academic discipline.

-      =     Your first impression of the ending- what “ended”?=

-      =     Rhetorical devices that you notice- how do they enhance meaning?  Other devices you’re having trouble pinpointing in the story but you know must be there.

 

This list is only designed to get you started.  Once you get comfortable with the process, you’ll find that you will make the list YOU need.  In the beginning, I will sometimes= give you specific questions to guide you in the journal, although the ones above= can always be reflected upon as well.

 

When writing in the journal, use full sentences instead of phrases= .  The demands of the sentence will h= elp you draw out your thoughts fully.  Be explicit about the nature of your change or surprise or puzzlemen= t- what caused it in the text?  T= he journal will seem less of an intrusion in your reading if you follow the natural rhythms of reading.  P= ause at the end of a chapter.  Auth= ors include these breaks for a reason.

 

You will draw on your journal entries regularly in class discussion, and in turn you will work out in your journals new issues that come up in class.  More formally, I will ask a student chosen at random to begin the day’s discussion with a selection from = his or her journal from the previous night’s reading.  From time to time you will share j= ournal entries in groups.  Often, dis= covery and answers to questions you posed will be answered through discussion and sharing with others. 

 

You are expected to add to your journals during our discussions.  You will find that some of your pe= ers have answers to your questions or have noticed something you didn’t.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>  Make your additions on the RIGHT-H= AND SIDES of the pages.  We will d= iscuss ways to organize your additions during class.  THE LEFT-HAND SIDES are for a comp= letely different purpose.  Keep readi= ng.

What to Put on the Left-hand Sides of the Pages:

 

When we finish a story or a full-length text, please= do the following things:

  1. GO BACK AND USE T= HE LEFT-HAND SIDES OF THE PAGES TO COMMENT ON YOUR ORIGINAL OBSERVATIONS = AND TO MAKE SOMETHING OF THEM.  Is there a pattern to the changes you experienced?  Does the ending tie them together?  Why did you mi= sread when you did?
  2. NEXT, REFLECT ON YOURSELF AS A READER- what do you tend to focus on?  What do you care most about w= hen you read?  What do you disregard?  Where do you = have to strain to follow the story sympathetically?  What did you miss?  What did you get? 
  3. FINALLY, as you m= ake these reflections on your reading experience, discuss your emerging se= nse of how the story works and what it’s about. 

Follow these 3 steps for writing on the left-hand side of the journal.  Occasionally, I will vary the spec= ific description of what to include with different works.  That way I can adjust the pattern = of observation and the skills I am emphasizing with each work.

 

Journal Conferences

 

As described in the course description, your work in= the journal, culminating in the quarter-ending conference, will account for approximately 10% of your total grade.&nbs= p; At times I will check in the journals just to be certain you are kee= ping up with the work, so these checks will count as total points in the class; however, the journal conference constitutes 10% of the grade.  We will engage in an 8-10 minute conference and you will present to me the contents of your journal with a specific focus in mind.  Your fundamental task with the journal is to demonstrate your growth as a reader.  You’ll want to prepare by reviewing the journal, selecting what you made of the text for yourself.  Basically, you are guiding a conversation with me.  As in any conversation, you should be prepared for my asking you questions and making comments.  Remember tho= ugh, this is a conversation guided by you.  You will probably want to mark specific pages to reference for our discussion.

 

The focus here is to make sense of your reading process.  The conference will allow us to ze= ro in on the major successes you’ve had as well as the problems.  You will see how your journal writ= ing becomes a type of dialogue with yourself, in essence teaching yourself how = you read and hopefully learning from the experience, applying the gains to the = next text. 

 

You may be wondering exactly what I’m looking for with this, but as you s= ee the process develop, you’ll become more confident in what you must do= to improve your skills as a close reader and as a student comfortable with self-reflection and analysis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*The concepts expressed above have been adapted from work by Toby Fulwiler, Ann Berthoff, Gary Lindberg, and Cathy D’Agostino.  I have molded them to work with st= udents at this campus at this time.