Journal Questions

Below is a list of journal items you will be asked to answer weekly, when we're reading novels, short stories and poems.  You can write them in class and/or you can type them into your journal later.

Journal items (choose a different one each day and be sure to support all responses with evidence from the text):

Basic response: 

• What thoughts did you have from today's reading?
• What did you think about certain characters from today's reading?
• Imagine yourself in the setting and events of today's reading; how do you feel?
• Identify one character from today's reading and explain what you would do differently, if you were him or her.
• Select one thing from today's reading that gave you a strong emotional response.  What was that thing and why did you have the emotion that you had?

More advanced journal items:

• What effect does the setting have on characters and their actions?  
• Describe the conflict from the day's reading.  Has it changed?  Who is the antagonist? How is your protagonist dealing with it? 
• Was there a flashback in the day's reading?  Describe it and explain its role in the development of the plot.
• Does anything you've read today foreshadow an event?  Explain. 
• Identify any figurative language you encountered in today's reading: metaphor, simile, hyperbole, idiom, etc.  What effect does the figurative language have on the story? 
• Consider the actions of a character in your book; compare these actions to those of another character we've read about this year.
• Did you encounter anything ironic in today's reading?  Describe the irony.
• Did you encounter any symbolism in today's reading?  What does the symbol(s) represent?
• Do any events you read today make you infer something about characters, plot or conflict?  Explain.
• Is there an allusion that helps develop character of plot?  Identify and explain the allusion.
• Make a real-world connection, based on today's reading.
• Make a text-to-text connection, based on today's reading.