The assignment change is not that big a deal. I simply insisted that reading journals be typed and submitted daily, prior to discussion of the assigned work. The change has been that students are actually reading and thinking about the work ahead of class. When I only picked up journals once a week or less, they didn't read carefully or at all, waited until after the class discussion, and then just replayed in their journals what had happened in class. Of course, now I have daily "grading," but at least it is in smaller amounts at each sitting.
Fiction Unit “Daily Journal” Assignment
Each journal is to be typed in MLA page format, 1” margins, TNR 12-pt. font, double-spaced, and using the correct header format in the top left corner – see p. 59. Each daily journal is to be one to one-and-a-half pages long, consisting of two paragraphs. Before writing your journal entry for the day, you are to annotate the assigned work of fiction. You are encouraged to annotate directly into the textbook, on the work itself. If you are concerned about resale of the book, consider penciling your annotation and erasing it later. You might also consider photocopying the story and annotating the copy – but that might get expensive. If you refuse to actually annotate the work, you will need to take thorough notes on separate paper before writing your journal. NOTE: There will be at least one quiz in this unit requiring you to display some annotation work. Furthermore, for your fiction essay at the end of the unit, you will be required to submit an annotated photocopy of the short story you are analyzing. The first paragraph of each fiction journal discusses your annotation of the assigned fiction work. What words, phrases, sentences, and passages caught your attention? Refer to each of them by paragraph number. Besides naming those points of interest, explain the annotation. Was it something that: repeated frequently, seemed out of place, made no sense, explained another part of the work, appealed to your emotions, appealed to your senses, disturbed you, amused you, or suggested a theme? What questions do you have that you hope class discussion will answer for you? (This journal paragraph should be four-fifths annotation discussion and only one-fifth questions.) The second paragraph of each fiction journal discusses the literary element explained in the assigned chapter as it is used in the assigned short story (or part of a short story). Why does the editor use this particular work as an example of the term(s)
being defined? Where in the short story do you see the particular element of fiction at work? How does the author use this element to make the short story work? If the syllabus lists a particular short story, write your journal on that story. If no short story is listed, use the one within the assigned pages. Journals in the fiction unit are due on September 3 (as explained in previous class), 5, 8, 10, 12, 15, 17, 19, 22, and 24.