Response Journal Guidelines for
Students
- Take time to write down anything in relation to the text. If you're
intrigued by certain statements or if you're attracted to characters or issues
or problems, write your response. Try to take at least five minutes to write
when you've finished an assignment or when you've put your book down for a
break. You may want to write something that strikes you then.
- Make connections with your own experience. What does the reading make you
think of? Does it remind you of anything or anyone?
- Make connections with other texts or concepts or events. Do you see any
similarities between this text (concepts, events) and other texts (concepts,
events)? Does it bring to mind other related issues?
- Ask yourself questions about the text: What perplexes you about a
particular passage? Try beginning, "I wonder why..." or "I'm having trouble
understanding how...' or "It perplexes me that..." or "I was surprised when
...."
- Try agreeing with the writer. Write down the supporting ideas. Try arguing
with the writer. On what points, or about what issues, do you disagree? Think
of your journal as a place to carry on a dialogue with the writer or with the
text in which you actually speak with him or her. Ask questions; have the
writer respond. What happens when you imagine yourself in his/her shoes?
- Write down striking words, images, phrases, or details. Speculate about
them. Why did the author choose them? What do they add to the story? Why did
you notice them? Divide your notebook page in half and copy words from the
text onto the left side; write your responses on the right. On a first reading
you might put checks in the margin where the passages intrigue you; on the
second reading, choose the most interesting ideas, then write about them.
- Describe the author's point of view. How does the author's attitude shape
the way the writer presents the material?
These guidelines were developed in
collaboration with Anne Herrington and the faculty of the Bard College Language
and Thinking Program.
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