Reading Journal
As you read your assignments, you are to make a reading
journal entry. You may select from the following suggestions, all of which are
designed to help you reflect on the ways you react to the reading. Each entry
should be about 400-500 words. You should write two entries per week. If you
keep an electronic journal please print out your entries as you should bring
your journal to class in case you would like to use your comments during the
discussion. Make sure that each entry is numbered and dated.
- What do you find interesting
in this reading assignment? Summarize the point of interest and then discuss
why you find it interesting.
- What do you find unclear in
this reading assignment? Summarize the section you find muddy or foggy and
explain what you think it means but why you're still uncertain.
- What do you find
"linkable" in this reading assignment? Something may link up with
your previous reading in this class or in others. Perhaps it links up with
an experience you've had or a theory you're developing. Explain the linkages
you see.
- What do you find stimulating
or exciting in this reading assignment? Summarize the section and explain
why you find it stimulating.
- What do you find contradictory
in this reading assignment? The passage in question may seem to contradict
something else the writer(s) has said; it may contradict your reading in
another class or in another text in this class; it may contradict common
sense; it may contradict your experience or expectation. Explain the
contradictions and try to work out what you are going to think about the
ideas associated with it.
- What do you find debatable in
this reading assignment? Who would debate this passage and what arguments
would he or she bring to the debate? What do you think about the possible
positions one can take on the issue discussed in the reading?
- What do you find practical or
useful in this reading assignment? It might be useful in your daily life
now, in your professional life now or in the future, in your academic
research as you prepare to write a paper. What specifically is useful, and
how can it be used?
Adapted
from: Send
comments to mailto:tb0dxs1@corn.cso.niu.edu
All contents copyright (C) 1997. All rights reserved.
Revised: April 7, 1997
URL: http://www.engl.niu.edu/wac/readjrl.html