Reading Journal “E”
Your Reading Journal
You’ll find many ways to read a text. But keeping a journal as you read is one of the best ways of exploring a piece of writing. Take in every detail, every description.
1. Begin each new novel, play or poem without prejudice (the book is boring, strange, does not meet my interests). If you decide in advance that all good art uses realistic settings and promotes your personal moral values, you close out the possibility of new experiences. You do not have to, nor should you, enjoy every work of literature that you read. But you should be willing to recognize that the imagination is limitless.
2. Read slowly. This suggestion can’t be stressed enough. If you rollerskate through an art museum you won’t see the paintings.
3. Read with pen in hand. Underline key phrases, speeches by major figures, or important statements by the narrator. But don’t limit yourself. Underline or highlight anything that seems important or striking. Take notes on ideas or questions (don’t trust your memory). Write in the margins. Keep a list of the characters and/or major events on the inside of the front cover. Circle words used in special ways or repeated in significant patterns. Look up words that you don’t know or words you think you know but seem to have a special weight or usage.
4. Look for those qualities that professional writers look for in real life: conflict, contrast, contradiction, and characterization.
5. Look for rhythm, repetition and pattern.
6. Ask silent questions of the material as you read. Don’t read passively, waiting to be told the “meaning.” Most authors will seldom pronounce a moral. Even if they do, a work of literature is always more than its theme. Use the questions devised by reporters: Who, What, When, Where. Why and How may take more study–such questions probe the inner levels of a text.
7. Keep a reading journal. Record your first impressions, explore relationships, ask questions, write down quotations, copy whole passages that are difficult or aesthetically pleasing.
1. Write first. Write what you see in the text.
2. Next, write what you feel about what you see.
3. Finally, write down your thoughts and feelings. This step helps you develop perceptions.
taken from http://www.gmu.edu/departments/writingcenter/handouts/puller.html
Phrases you might need:
After reading this chapter, I could remember best that…
I could see the …right in front my eyes. Even if the author didn’t describe…I think it looked like…
This chapter tells me something about…
I think Harriet Beecher Stowe wanted us to see/hear/experience….while reading.
I believe that when white people were reading this chapter they might have thought…
This special incident shows us how…
This certain detail…explains us how…
I was touched by…
I learned from this chapter that…
When Eliza did ….I thought/it came to my mind../I wondered if…
I still don’t understand why…
Tom seems to..
George is..
It was/wasn’t easy to get into the chapter, because…
The chapter started with a /dialogue/description/action. It had the effect that…
The main characters in the chapter are..They are described as…
What has happened so far?
Is the contents of the chapter what you have expected?
I think, George/Tom is going to…
I would like to ask the character the following question:…?
What has changed about the characters?
I am pretty sure that the story will end like that:…
I was surprised to read…
Harriet Beecher Stowe creates atmosphere/tension by using words like…
The chapter made me feel…
I enjoyed reading this chapter because…
I was really sad when I read…
I ask myself if…
I just loved this paragraph/sentence/dialogue: … because…
* What do you remember?
* What did you hear?
* What was the “talk” about?
* Who is the focus of the reading?
* What was the most important idea in the reading? What are the next important ideas?
Please choose one chapter, read it, make notes right away and use the phrases above to express your thoughts.
I am going to love reading your next post.
Please try to write as much as you can.
C. Holitzki
