Your Notebook

Notebook entries are designated by NB on the class schedule. They are due one hour before each class. The entry is to have these characteristics:

  1. The subject line of the entry should consist of the day and date. Example: 1/12/00.
  2. The entry should start with your name and student number.
  3. The entry should answer the question or cover the topic posed in the course schedule. When the course schedule indicates, use the format for Connections found in what you have read.
  4. You will need to post your journal entry to me by email on the day it is due, by one hour before class time.
  5. The entry should be at least 400 words long. Please note that 400 words is a minimum: feel free to say more. And if your style is very wordy or roundabout (lots of "due to the fact that" and that kind of thing), I won't ask you to change it (notebook entries are not graded on style), but I may write to you and ask you to write somewhat more.
  6. Notebook entries are not formal essays; they can be written in a casual style, but they must make sense. The grade will focus on the effort you have put into the entries, not on the grammatical correctness of the entries.
Connections

Rationale: Research on how people read literature suggests that making connections between parts of what you have read represents a mature strategy often used by expert readers. This assignment is designed to give you a chance to practice this strategy.

Assignment: In your notebook entry, discuss some connections you have identified in the readings for the period assigned.

How many connections? Your discussion should add up to the number of words specified for the notebook entry: a rule of thumb might be to discuss about 3 connections in a 400-word notebook entry.

What should I say? For each connection, list the page numbers of the passages discussed, summarize each passage in a sentence, and then devote most of your entry to explaining the similarity or difference you found.

  1. The connections you find should be your own; they should not regurgitate material discussed in class. However, you may want to find other passages that can be discussed in some of the same ways we discuss the text in class.
  2. Do not devote your time to extensive plot summary.
  3. Do be sure you identify the basis of comparison, and pay attention to details you find in the text.

Basis of Comparison. When you compare two things, you note a similarity between them on some basis. For example, you could say that you were aware of a connection between Dr. Thury and Cameron Diaz. However it would be important to specify the basis of comparison: is it age? beauty? acting ability? In this case, your most likely candidate would be hair color...

Below are listed some bases to use for the connections you discuss. You should not aim to address every basis in every response statement, but you should address different ones in different entries. In other words, don't, in every notebook, discuss similarities of subject matter!