Journal Entries

Journals

Each entry must be handwritten, single-spaced, and equal to or longer than the minimum length listed (one page when not given). 


Journal 1: Choose any Greek or Roman god or goddess, and answer the questions given. 

Journal 2: Technology can get us in trouble...explain.

Journal 3: Opening Chapters of the The Hobbit (italicized when typed and underlined when handwritten: The Hobbit)

• How do Bilbo Baggins' shire surroundings mirror his personality in the opening chapters of the novel? 
• Include at least one parenthetical citation. 
• Length: One paragraph of at least five sentences
• What do you learn about the dwarves from their treasure song?  
• Include at least one parenthetical citation. 
• Length: One paragraph of at least five sentences

Journal 4: The Hobbit

• BGT - Context (ten notes)

* Journal 5 (one page or more): Write an overview of the plot of Esther* using the key elements you learned (Exposition, Complication, Rising action, Climax, Falling action, Conclusion.)  You may list each part, insert a colon, and then discuss what part of the story you chose to fit that part and why. 

• * Usually, book titles are underlined when handwritten or in italics when typed, but Bible books do not receive this as they are so well-known...even if they're not so well-known, actually.

Journal 6a: (West class only?)

• BGT -  Composition The Hobbit
• BGT - Distinction The Hobbit 

Journal 6: "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan: Characterization (answer each in two or more complete sentences)

• What are the two kinds of daughters referred to in the text? 
• Identify and explain two dynamic characters and two static characters in this short story. 
• Find a passage showing rather than simply telling the reading something significant about a character.  How does showing rather than telling (in this passage) produce a richer effect in the narrative? 
• What is the thematic significance behind the musical pieces on the piano?

Journal 7: Respond to each question together. Takes notes to help answer each question in your composition book: Beautiful, Good, and True.  For the last question, answer the "Judgement" prompt.  For questions 2-5, the key is to find good example passages from the book itself.  Make sure you note page numbers to make life easier for yourself when composing your paragraphs.  You will be assigned your particular paragraph later this week. 

Journal 8: "The Adventure of the Speckled Band"

1. How does Sherlock Holmes in the original compare to the television and movie versions you have experienced (or the mental image you have devised otherwise)?
2. Who is the protagonist of this adventure?  Explain your choice.
3. Who is the clearest foil in this adventure?  Explain your choice.

Journal 9: "By the Waters of Babylon"; in new pairs, discuss and note answers:

• 1. To understand what is really happening in this story, you have to draw conclusions based on the writer’s clues and your own experience and knowledge. What do you think John is really seeing (and how are you able to tell) when he describes each of the items below? (You might want to work with a group to solve these puzzles.) 

• the Great Burning
• Ou-dis-sun
• the statue of a man named ASHING
• the temple in mid-city with a roof painted like the sky at night
• the caves and tunnels where John thinks the gods kept their slaves

• 2. Find a place in the story where John achieves a breakthrough, and explain what he discovers. How does the first-person point of view help you appreciate his breakthrough? 

• 3. Explain how the words of Psalm 137, verses 1-6, connect with Benét’s story. 
• "Longing for Zion in a Foreign Land"
  1 By the rivers of Babylon,
  There we sat down, yea, we wept
  When we remembered Zion.
  ² We hung our harps
  Upon the willows in the midst of it.
  ³ For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song,
  And those who plundered us requested mirth,
  Saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
  ⁴ How shall we sing the Lord’s song
  In a foreign land?
  ⁵ If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
  Let my right hand forget its skill!
  ⁶ If I do not remember you,
  Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth—
  If I do not exalt Jerusalem
  Above my chief joy.
   

• 4. Near the end of the story, John says, “Perhaps in the old days, they ate knowledge too fast.” What do you think he means? Are we “eating knowledge too fast” today? Explain. 

• 5. Benét wrote this story in 1937, before the first atom bomb was invented. World War II and the Cold War are over now. Do Benét’s warnings about the complete destruction of a civilization still have relevance today? Why? 

• 6. Do you think Benét made the secret of the Place of the Gods too easy to guess, or too hard, or were the clues just difficult enough? Explain. 

• 7. What is the narrative perspective of this story?  How does this perspective play a role in the reader's experience and theme of the work?

Journal 10, "Through the Tunnel":

• 1. Check the text to see what you learn about the thoughts and feelings of Jerry’s mother. How would the story be different if she, rather than the omniscient narrator, were telling it? 

• 2. What details about Jerry’s swim through the tunnel were most vivid and terrifying to you? 

• 3. Have you ever taken great risks to prove yourself?  Do you find it convincing that Jerry takes such a risk and survives? Explain.

Journal 11: "A Piece of Chalk" by G. K. Chesterton: Atmosphere and Tone

• Atmosphere

• What feelings communicate to you?  Is this a scary environment?  A safe environment?  A jovial environment?  Is this a dull world of walking and chalk?  A wonderful world of walking and chalk? A deadly world or walking and chalk?

• Tone
• What is Chesterton's attitude toward brown paper?  Nature?  The color white?  White chalk?  England, generally?
• How does Chesterton seem to view the reader?  Does he seem to be an intellectually superior Brit?  Does he seem timid?  Does he seem frank?  Do you picture him smiling or scowling or laughing or sneering or blankly staring? 

 Journal 12:  Sometimes we feel caught or trapped between competing sets of expectations or desires.  Perhaps your friends want you to do one thing, but you aren't sure, and you know your parents would have you refrain.  Perhaps you keep a secret you know you should tell them.  Perhaps you feel tension caused by different expectations between (or among) your parents (or guardians).  Perhaps you feel an internal tension between what you feel is right and what you know or think God says is right.  Describe a situation where you felt trapped between competing expectations or desires.  Do not write anything that you wouldn't feel comfortable sharing in class. This needs to be between 1/2 pg. and 1 pg.  

Journal 13 Antigone
 

Journal 14: A Midsummer Night's Dream (responses for each of five acts)


Semester II

Journal 15: Copy out at least one stanza of a favorite poem.  Explain, in three to five sentences, what makes this poem good.

 Some of last year's prompts are below this line.  ______________________________________________________





Journal  (half page): Compare the characterization, plot (exposition, complication, rising action, climax, falling actions), tone, and atmosphere of these two detective tales.  You are applying all the terms you have learned thus far in your comparison.  Your work must be handwritten, single-spaced, and at least one page in length.  It is due when I check your binder on Tuesday.

Journal  (at least 1/2 page): Examine the role narrative perspective plays in something you read (book, story, poem), watch (movie, television show), or hear (song) this weekend.  What is the perspective?  How well does it work with the message of the piece?  What would happen if the perspective were different (say, another character; or perhaps moving from omniscient to limited, etc.)? 

Journal : (Antigone) Answer the journal questions from the guide: Antigone

Journal : (Midsummer) At least ten handwritten answers per act to your Midsummer guide questions (on Focus).   

Journal : Poetry Group Work, Timeline of Poetry (see below)

• Once you finish, choose a poem to present
• Work on making your presentation interesting and informative
• You may use apple TV, the chalkboard, etc.
• Your presentation should not be longer than five minutes

Journal : What is it about these poems that tells you they were written in recent years (contemporary)?  Please answer in one complete paragraph (at least five sentences). 

Journal : Psalm Study

• Read
• Psalm 8
• Psalm 19

• Part 1: Read each Psalm.  In your notes, find at least five tropes and/or schemes for each Psalm.  Copy the verse or part of the verse and the trope or scheme that it illustrates.  
• Part 2: Now read a few Psalms on your own and do the same for any one Psalm (find at least five schemes and/or tropes in the Psalm).  

Journal : Riddle

Journal : Sonnet #1 (imitation)

Journal : Sonnet #2

Journal : Villanelle: Answer questions and create a villanelle of your own.

Journal  (updated): You will compose at least two poems (not one).

• First, write either a limerick or a clerihew.
• Next, write either a triolet or a villanelle.
• Compose on paper with your pen or pencil. No typing on your iDad (and no looking up rhymes).
• I want you to edit and rewrite.
• Let a friend read them, enjoy them, talk of them, edit them.
• You will read one to the class in two weeks (when Mr. Schwager returns with an Italian accent and Mr. Reno maintains the same ol' boring one). 

 Journal : Poetry and Drawing

Journal  (1 page): What is a most lovely land that you have walked?  Describe it. 

Journal  (running for all chapters)

• For each chapter, copy a quotation you think rich, insightful, or nicely composed.  Explain the significance of the quote in more than one sentence. 
• Choose one word that is new or strange to you from each chapter.
• Add the word to your vocabulary list.
• Define it. 

* Journal 12: "The Wing of Dalua" by Hilaire Belloc
1. Why do you think "Two Men" are capitalized in the opening line of the story?
2. What initially intrigued the hikers about this particular "corner of Europe"?
3. Give five examples of words or phrases that Belloc conjures to draw the reader into the spell of the strange valley.
4. Is this strange world basically benevolent or malevolent? Give examples to support your answer.
5. What natural explanation could account for the strange turn of events?
6. Which classic elements of a fairy tale can you find in this modern story?
7. Find a good example of sentence variety and explain how it serves nicely where it does.
8. Account for the lack of conversation between Belloc and his companion.
9. As they journey into midnight on the second evening of their journey, they become aware of a "presence of a Third." Who or what is this Third?
10. Where might such a story or experience be found locally? Explain.

Take Notes As you Read

INSERT
Interactive Notating System for Effective Reading and Thinking
While reading insert the following marks as needed:
✓ I agree. This confirms what I already knew.
? I have a question about this
?? I don’t understand
X I disagree
+ This is new to me
! Wow! This is neat!
* This is important