Sunday, November 11, 2007

Reading Response Journals

Directions: You should write a reading response journal after each night's reading assignment. Remember to use textual evidence to support your claims. Each journal should be at least one page long.

1. Summary: summarize events you read about. This should be short: about one paragraph long.

2. Characterization:
The creation of imaginary persons so that they seem lifelike.
There are three fundamental methods of characterization: (1) the explicit presentation by the author of the character through direct exposition, either in an introductory block or more often piecemeal throughout the work, illustrated by action; (2) the presentation of the character in action, with little or no explicit comment by the author, in the expectation that the reader can deduce the attributes of the actor from the actions; and (3) the representation from within a character, without comment by the author, of the impact of actions and emotion on the character's inner self. (Holman 80)

• Explain how characterization is used in the novel you are reading.
• For the characters you meet:
• Explain what is said about them through description of the author
• Document what the character does.
• Document how the character thinks.
• Explain how these things influence your understanding of the character(s)?
• Use textual evidence.

3. Literary Devices: Symbolism/Imagery, Metaphors, Similes, Personification, etc. How does the author use literary devices? Cite evidence of these literary devices and explain how these devices are important.

4. Themes: How is personal identity shown through the novel? What other themes do you see in the novel? Cite evidence that supports these themes. This might be difficult for the first few paragraphs but do your best. It will get easier to see this as you progress through the book.

No comments: