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WORLD LITERATURE 271 COURSE JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT World
Literature 271 is a ‘W’ course because one of its goals is to help you
improve your writing. Regardless of
what writing instruction I can give you, the best way to improve your writing
is to write and write often. Simply writing lots of words, sentences, and
paragraphs can lead to surprising improvement in your writing--the more
words, the better. The magic is that the words you write don’t have to be
read by anyone else to help your writing skills improve. To understand
how this works, compare writing a great number of words to practicing
the piano between piano lessons. The piano teacher does not have to listen to
each practice session in order for the student to improve; in the same way,
someone else (an instructor) does not have to read the words written for
the writer to improve. But in each case the student will improve in
proportion to the practice time that he or she invests. Therefore,
dedicating yourself to this assignment can do more to improve your writing
than anything I or any book can do.
THE
COURSE JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT The goal of a Course Journal entry
is to consider the literary work in question and write as many sentences and
paragraphs as possible within the time limit.
Your journal response might include your general reaction to the
literary work, questions you have about it, your reaction to class
discussions, or reflections on your earlier thinking after having the benefit
of class discussion and additional time to reflect on the piece of
literature. Writing a
journal entry requires a special
time set aside to write original sentences and paragraphs about the readings
we’ll be covering. Plan on about fifteen to twenty minutes per journal
entry, with about two to three entries per week. To make a journal entry, first read the
selection in question and then write an honest reaction to it. What did or didn’t you understand? What did you agree or disagree with? What questions would you ask the author,
given the opportunity? What inferences can you draw about the culture in
which the selection was written? Did you enjoy the selection? Why or why not? Go deeper than deciding whether a selection
appealed to you or not. What’s
important is WHY you found it appealing or unappealing. Responding to this second-level question
can refine your thinking, your knowledge of yourself, and your values. One key to
being successful is to let the words flow quickly. Disregard spelling and punctuation; just be
sure you can make out what you have written at a later time because I may ask
you to share a general sense of a journal entry or you may want to return to
an entry to revise it. Also please
keep in mind that since I will not read in detail any of your entries, you
can be absolutely honest with yourself.
No one but you will read the content of your journal entries without
your permission. It’s best to view
your journal entries as conversations with yourself, the author, and the
selection. SPECIFICS You need not
worry about correcting spelling/readability/sentencing errors, nor be
concerned that someone else will read what you have written. Just be sure you
can make out what you’ve written. Ø A minimum of
fifteen minutes minimum per journal assignment. (Please see the tentative list of journal
assignments below). Ø You may hand-write and/or type your journal entries. Please be sure
to accurately number and date each journal entry. Ø Keep all pages
together in a notebook or on a USB thumb drive—I will ask you to show me your
journal in progress at various times throughout the quarter. Ø Please bring
journal writing materials with you to each class. Occasionally, we’ll write a journal entry
together. Ø As you write a
journal entry, please remember the goal is to produce a large quantity of
words within the time limit. Since I
will not read the content of your entries, poor spelling and punctuation will
not be a factor in your journal grade; only the number of words will. Ø At first, expect to sit a bit, waiting for
the ideas to come. If you are patient,
in time your mind will begin to generate content that your pen can
record. A fifteen to twenty-minute
writing session can yield from half a page to several pages of writing
depending upon your mood and perseverance. Ø Note:
Your journal must demonstrate that you have read the readings, attended the
discussions, and made an honest attempt to meet the requirements of this
assignment. Journals that appear "fabricated" will not be
accepted. Ø No one but you will read the actual
sentences you write—only the quantity you write will be checked. Tentative Literature Journal Entries (Some of these literary works will also provide topics for online postings. Please see our ANGEL calendar.)
You
can use the following questions as journal prompts: What
was your initial reaction to the selection? What
did or didn’t you understand? What
did you agree or disagree with? Why? What
questions would you ask the author, given the opportunity? What
inferences can you draw about the culture in which the selection was written?
Did
you enjoy the selection? Why or why
not? Where
do you think the story will go next?
Where would you take it if you were the author? What
theme does the selection suggest? In
other words, what does the selection suggest about the nature of life and
experience? Try to state this in a sentence. Does
the selection respond to any of our beginning questions? How does the world work? In-depth
responses can refine your thinking, your knowledge of yourself, and your
values. |