Dialectical/Reader-Response Journals

Ann Jackson 1 TCU Taking Note Taking Note

Different Journals for Different Goals

TCU June 20-23, 2011

Ann Jackson

[email protected] Ann Jackson 2 TCU Taking Note

Dialectical/Reader-Response Journals **from Ronda Brandon

A dialectical journal is a method of having a dialogue, or conversation, with a piece of text. Type 1 Journal Focus is on note-taking, summarizing, questioning, and commenting

Notes/Summary/Page Questions/Comments

take notes or summarize a ask questions/make comments paragraph Questions may be any of these: page *explicit; found in text or other passage source chapter other text *implicit, requiring inference

*open-ended, abstract; go beyond include page and/or paragraph the text numbers

Type 2 Journal Focus on characterization or other literary element

Evidence/Context/Page Inference/Commentary

quote from text, context ______(inference) page number commentary (analysis, explanation, interpretation, etc.)

Type 3 Journal Focus on a Concrete Device that Creates an Abstract Idea

Device/Evidence/Context/Page AIM/Effect/How?

name the lit/lang device (element) AIM (author’s intended meaning) quote from the text Effect created by use of device page number (suspense, fear, peace, etc.) How? How does the device create effect? (purpose) Ann Jackson 3 TCU Taking Note

Type I Journal

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

Notes/Summary/Page Questions, Comments

The narrator has a birthday and gets a Who is “you”? Why is she going to school diary and other presents; Lies was her on Sunday? best friend, but now Jopie is. (1)

The narrator is 13; she has a sister who So this is what it was really like for the is 16. They are Jews who have had to people I learned about in history class. move from Germany to Holland. There I can’t believe that anything like that could are many laws telling Jews what they happen here. cannot do. (2-3)

Anne (the narrator) describes her daily Sounds like typical 13-year-old interests! routine: she meets a boy who likes her, Why isn’t there much for her dad to do at she gets okay grades at school, but her work? sister is smarter. (3-4)

The family gets the word that Margot It must be awful to leave everything you will be picked up, so they pack up a have ever known. I wonder if the people few things and go to a place to hide. who know they are there will keep them They are sharing a small upstairs area safe? with another family. Only a few people know they are there. There is a drawing of the building. Anne is afraid. (5-9)

What is this story about? This section gives the background on the Frank family. We learn why they have left Germany and why they must now hide even in what was a safe country. Ann Jackson 4 TCU Taking Note

Type II Journal

Evidence/ context/ page Inference/ commentary

“….Nothing about me is right. They bold—Anne’s anger at the way the adults talk about the way I look, my character, characterize her shows that she will not just my manners. I’m just supposed to take hide in a corner and cry. She is a fighter it and keep quiet. But I can’t! I’ll show who will not back down, even from adults. them! Maybe they’ll keep their mouths Her determination to teach them contrasts when I start educating them. I am with her surprise at their bad manners. The amazed at their awful manners and idea of a young girl teaching adults about especially by Mrs. Van Daan’s stupidity.” manners would be considered very sassy in the 1940s. Anne’s reaction to a quarrel among the adults (14)

“Yet when I look back on that Anne, I thoughtful—Anne is maturing. She can see a fun person, but not a very deep now see how shallow she was at 13. Her person. She has nothing to do with the new values reflect a desire to be respected Anne of today. I’d like that sort of life and admired for serious actions and moral again for a few days, maybe even a choices. Her long isolation in hiding has week. But at the end of that week, I given her the experience and wisdom to would be bored silly. I don’t want recognize what is of greatest value in life. followers, but friends. I don’t want to be liked for being cute and fun. I want to be admired for my deeds and my character.

Anne reflects on how much she has changed in less than two years. (61) Ann Jackson 5 TCU Taking Note

Type III Journal

Device/Evidence/Context/Page AIM, effect, how?

Personification AIM—Anne explains the sadness that threatens to overtake her “There is a heavy feeling here, especially Effect—hopelessness on Sundays. You don’t hear a single bird How?—The heavy silence has singing outside. The silence grabs me as if the power to take Anne “under”; it will drag me under.” although she doesn’t say under “what,” the point is clear that their A little over a year into their hiding, circumstances are nearly drowning everyone’s nerves are on edge her in depression. The quiet “grabs” (44-5) her much as an enemy might.

Simile, metaphor, imagery AIM: Anne makes a comparison to show the extent of her distress “I feel like a bird hurling myself against Effect—desperation the bars of a cage. I sleep to make the time How?—Anne is not just trapped, pass more quickly, and the quiet and the but she fights to be free. The strong fear. There is no way of killing them.” action verb “hurling” shows her intense struggle in a losing situation. The same context as the quote Her escape into sleep to avoid the above “quiet and the fear” also portrays her (45) inability to control the situation. Her final comment about her inability to “[kill]” those two tormentors reveals how far she is willing to go to find relief. Unfortunately, there is “no way,” and she must try to avoid what she cannot control. Ann Jackson 6 TCU Taking Note

Sample Type I Journal

from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Notes/Summary/Page Questions/Comments

Narrative begins with D’s birthplace Why wouldn’t the slaves know their birth- and lack of knowledge of his age dates? And why would that be so important (1) to him?

D (as were other slaves) was taken Cruel, inhumane treatment; no wonder from his mother as an infant; she made slaves attempted to run away every effort to see him; knows who his father was only from hearsay (2)

Slaves sired by masters scorned by What a hypocrisy! Slaves are not “human,” mistresses; D says there are so many but they can produce offspring by their children of masters that the appearance masters!?! of the slaves is changing rapidly (2-3)

What is this story about? We learn some basic facts about Douglass as well as the brutality and horror of slavery Ann Jackson 7 TCU Taking Note

Sample Type II Journal

from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Evidence/Context/Page Inference/Commentary

“I have often been awakened at the cruel, inhumane/ Captain Anthony seems to dawn of day by the most heart-rending be the “nonhuman” in this scene. He con- shrieks of an own aunt of mine, whom tinues long past any justified punishment he used to tie up to a joist, and whip for a slave’s mistakes. Douglass says he has upon her naked back till she was liter- often been awakened by the screams, show- ally covered with blood. No words, no ing this type of torture was not uncommon. tears, no prayers, from his gory victims Although D. paints a gruesome picture, he seemed to move his iron heart from its lets the facts speak for themselves; he offers bloody purpose. The louder she no moralizing. The repetition of the word screamed, the harder he whipped; and blood emphasizes the cruel nature of a man where the blood ran fastest, there he who places little value on the life in that whipped longest.” blood. description of Capt. Anthony (2-3)

“And here I saw what I had never hopeful/incredulous/ D. cannot believe that seen before; it was a white face his life has changed for the better. To be beaming with the most kindly emo- greeted by a white face that offers, if not tions; it was the face of my new love, at least gentleness and respect, touches mistress, Sophia Auld. I wish I the life dormant within the narrator. He ex- could describe the rapture that periences an exultation of spirit like a flash flashed through my soul as I beheld of lightning. For the first time, his life seems it. It was a new and strange sight to offer some hope. to me, brightening up my pathway with the light of happiness.” D’s response to meeting his new mistress (18) Ann Jackson 8 TCU Taking Note

Sample Type III Journal Entry

from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Device/Evidence/Context/Page AIM/Effect/How?

Imagery/syntax/alliteration AIM—the field is the place to see the sad- “The field was the place to witness istic beatings of slaves; like a battlefield his cruelty and profanity. His pres- Effect—solemn tone, horror, indignance ence made it both the field of blood How?—placing field as the subject of the and of blasphemy.” sentence focuses attention on the setting, (7) which should be a place of life and bounty; however, it becomes a place of cruelty and sometimes death. The alliteration clearly shows the contrast between the sanctity of life (blood) and the desecration (blasphemy) of that life, all created by the mere presence of the wicked overseer. The imagery is stark and blunt.

Syntax AIM—to show Douglass’ desperation at “I have often wished myself a beast. knowing he cannot be free; at least beasts I preferred the condition of the mean- are unable to understand their condition of est reptile to my own. Anything, no miserable servitude. matter what, to get rid of thinking!” Effect—desperation of speaker (24) How?—The short opening sentence un- derscores Douglass’ overwhelming hopelessness in his situation; his wish to be, not just a reptile (already the lowest creature), but the “meanest” (double meaning of being hateful and lowest) reptile. The frag- ment is effective in emphasizing his desperation, particularly since it occurs after the coldness of the two declarative sentences.

Important notes— 1. Choose passages that are particularly expressive or that specifically develop the purpose. 2. AIM may be literal or interpretative meaning. 3. Effect may be tone, description of speaker, or effect upon reader depending on passage. 4. HOW does the DEVICE achieve the effect? (purpose) Ann Jackson 9 TCU Taking Note

The Pie Gary Soto 1 I knew enough about hell to stop me from stealing. I was holy in almost every bone. Some days I recognized the shadows of angels flopping on the backyard grass, and other days I heard faraway messages in the plumbing that howled underneath the house when I crawled there looking for something to do. 2 But boredom made me sin. Once, at the German Market, I stood before a rack of pies, my sweet tooth gleaming and the juice of guilt wetting my underarms. I gazed at the nine kinds of pie, pecan and apple being my favorites, although cherry looked good, and my dear, fat-faced chocolate was always a good bet. I nearly wept trying to decide which to steal and, forgetting the flowery dust priests give off, the shadow of angels and the proximity of God howling in the plumbing underneath the house, sneaked a pie behind my coffeelid Frisbee and walked to the door, grinning to the bald grocer whose forehead shone with a window of light. 3 “No one saw,” I muttered to myself, the pie like a discus in my hand, and hurried across the street, where I sat on someone’s lawn. The sun wavered between the branches of a yellowish sycamore. A squirrel nailed itself high on the trunk, where it forked into two large bark-scabbed limbs. Just as I was going to work my cleanest finger into the pie, a neighbor came out to the porch for his mail. He looked at me, and I got up and headed for home. I raced on skinny legs to my block, but slowed to a quick walk when I couldn’t wait any longer. I held the pie to my nose and breathed in its sweetness. I licked some of the crust and closed my eyes as I took a small bite. 4 In my front yard, I leaned against a car fender and panicked about stealing the apple pie. I knew an apple got Eve in deep trouble with snakes because Sister Marie had shown us a film about Adam and Eve being cast into the desert, and what scared me more than falling from grace was being thirsty for the rest of my life. But even that didn’t stop me from clawing a chunk from the pie tin and pushing it into the cavern of my mouth. The slop was sweet and gold-colored in the afternoon sun. I laid more pieces on my tongue, wet finger-dripping pieces, until I was finished and felt like crying because it was about the best thing I had ever tasted. I realized right there and then, in my sixth year, in my tiny body of two hundred bones and three or four sins, that the best things in life came stolen. I wiped my sticky fingers on the grass and rolled my tongue over the corners of my mouth. A burp perfumed the air. 5 I felt bad not sharing with Cross-Eyed Johnny, a neighbor kid. He stood over my shoulder and asked, “Can I have some?” Crust fell from my mouth, and my teeth were bathed with the jam-like filling. Tears blurred my eyes as I remembered the grocer’s forehead. I remembered the other pies on the rack, the warm air of the fan above the door and the car that honked as I crossed the street without looking.

Soto, Gary. A Summer Life. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1990. 55-58. Ann Jackson 10 TCU Taking Note

6 “Get away,” I had answered Cross-Eyed Johnny. He watched my fingers greedily push big chunks of pie down my throat. He swallowed and said in a whisper, “Your hands are dirty,” then returned home to climb his roof and sit watching me eat the pie by myself. After a while, he jumped off and hobbled away because the fall had hurt him.

7 I sat on the curb. The pie tin glared at me and rolled away when the wind picked up. My face was sticky with guilt. A car honked, and the driver knew. Mrs. Hancock stood on her lawn, hands on hip, and she knew. My mom, peeling a mountain of potatoes at the Redi-Spud factory, knew. I got to my feet, stomach taut, mouth tired of chewing, and flung my Frisbee across the street, its shadow like the shadow of an angel fleeing bad deeds. I retrieved it, jogging slowly. I flung it again until I was bored and thirsty.

8 I returned home to drink water and help my sister glue bottle caps onto cardboard, a project for summer school. But the bottle caps bored me, and the water soon filled me up more than the pie. With the kitchen stifling with heat and lunatic flies, I decided to crawl underneath our house and lie in the cool shadows listening to the howling sound of plumbing. Was it God? Was it Father, speaking from death, or Uncle with his last shiny dime? I listened, ear pressed to a cold pipe, and heard a howl like the sea. I lay until I was cold and then crawled back to the light, rising from one knee, then another, to dust off my pants and squint in the harsh light. I looked and saw the glare of a pie tin on a hot day. I knew sin was what you took and didn’t give back.

Soto, Gary. A Summer Life. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1990. 55-58. Ann Jackson 11 TCU Taking Note

Holistic Type I Rubric

A  Notes/Summary section demonstrates ability to succinctly yet thoroughly paraphrase and/or select meaningful details  Number of entries reflects careful, close reading  Includes thoughtful, reflective comments  Includes thought-provoking questions that show careful attention to the text  Journal is neat, organized and professional looking; student has followed directions B  Notes/Summary section adequately paraphrases and/or selects some meaningful details  Number of entries reflects close reading  Includes thoughtful comments  Includes questions that show careful attention to the text  Journal is neat and readable; student has followed directions C  Notes/Summary section offers awkward paraphrasing or some selected details are not particularly meaningful  Number of entries indicates the student has read the text  Includes uninspired/flat commentary  Includes questions  Journal is relatively neat; student has followed most directions D  Notes/Summary section quotes rather than paraphrases or offers random details  Number of entries indicates student has not read entire text  Comments are empty or unrelated to Notes/Summary side  Has few questions or questions are vaguely elated to text  Journal is difficult to read; student has not followed all directions F  Notes/Summary section is too short and/or inaccurate  Number of entries indicates student has not read entire text  Comments are too short or completely random in thought  Only one or two questions or questions are completely unrelated to text  Journal is messy; student has not followed directions Ann Jackson 12 TCU Taking Note

Holistic Type II Rubric

A  Detailed, meaningful quote selections; meets number requirement  Apt, specific inference  Thoughtful interpretation and commentary about the text; avoids clichés  Includes comments that explain HOW the quote develops the inference  Complete, thorough address of all parts of reading assignment  Journal is neat, organized and professional looking; student has followed directions B  Less detailed, but good quote selections; may be _ short of number required  Adequate inference  Some intelligent commentary  Less depth in analysis of HOW the quote develops the inference  Adequately addresses all parts of reading assignment  Journal is neat and readable; student has followed directions C  Quote selection is fair; more than _ quotes short  Makes an inference  Most commentary is vague, unsupported, with some plot summary/paraphrase  Superficially addresses HOW the quote develops the inference  Addresses most of the reading assignment  Journal is relatively neat; student has followed most directions D  Quote selection is poor; more than _ quotes short  Inference does not reflect quote  Most commentary is paraphrase or plot summary or is too short  Little attempt in analysis of HOW quote develops inference  Limited coverage of reading assignment; too short  Journal is difficult to read; student has not followed all directions F  Quote selection is completely inadequate in quality and/or quantity  Inference missing or totally inaccurate  Commentary is empty, lacking in quantity or quality  No attempt to analyze HOW quote develops inference  Little coverage of reading assignment  Journal is messy; student has not followed directions Ann Jackson 13 TCU Taking Note

Holistic Type III Rubric

A  Devices show excellent text analysis (entry lists all important devices evident in quote)  Quotes are excellent examples of devices, style, language  Number of quotes reflects thorough, careful reading of text  AIM is thorough and clearly explained  Description of effect displays specific, appropriate vocabulary  Explanation of “how?” (purpose) is thorough, displaying depth of thought and analysis  Journal is neat, organized and professional looking; student has followed directions B  Devices show accurate text analysis (lists all devices evident in quote)  Quotes are adequate examples of devices, style, language  Number of quotes reflects complete reading of text  AIM is adequate  Description of effect shows adequate vocabulary  Explanation of purpose is adequate  Journal is neat and readable; student has followed directions C  Devices are obvious (lists the most obvious or simplistic devices while overlooking more significant ones)  Quotes are obvious examples of devices, style, language  Number of quotes reflects incomplete reading of text  AIM is thin  Description of effect displays generic, vague vocabulary  Explanation of purpose states the obvious or does not elaborate sufficiently  Journal is relatively neat; student has followed most directions D  Devices are often mislabeled or student misses important devices  Quotes are poor choices of devices, style, language  Number of quotes reflects little reading of text  AIM is weak  Description of effect is only loosely tied to quote  Explanation of purpose is weak or incorrect  Journal is difficult to read; student has not followed all directions F  Devices are wrong or missing  Quotes are randomly chosen  Number of quotes reflects almost no reading of text  AIM is inaccurate or missing  Description of effect is disconnected from text or missing  Explanation of purpose is inaccurate or missing  Journal is messy; student has not followed directions Ann Jackson 14 TCU Taking Note

Group Journal Instructions

1. Each member starts with a clean sheet of paper.

2. At the top of the paper, write down a phrase or summarize an idea from the reading which you would like to discuss.

3. When the teacher tells you, pass your paper to the right. (If you are seated in rows, pass to the person behind you, last person in row to first person).

4. Read the phrase or summary at the top and then respond to it—write your comments, your understanding of it, and/or your questions about it. You may also make connections to other texts. For the purposes of this activity, limit connections to what we have read as a class. Be careful in making personal connections: keep all comments securely related to the idea or summary written at the top of the page.

5. The teacher will indicate the time to pass papers. Continue to read and comment. You will receive the same paper more than once.

6. Feel free to agree or disagree respectfully; remember that all ideas are welcome.

7. When the teacher calls time, return papers to the original writers. Read all comments thoroughly. Write your own thoughts now that you have had input from others.

8. Write your name at the top and turn in. Ann Jackson 15 TCU Taking Note