THIS ASSIGNMENT IS FOR RISING SOPHOMORES,
THE CLASS OF 2023!
The Catcher in the Rye
Transactional Reading Journal
Guidelines
Audiobook Online PDF
Directions: The writing you will do or this text is of a more personal nature than you may have done on other texts. You are to create AT LEAST FIVE well-crafted and polished journal entries in response to this novel or play. The following is a list of possibilities or suggestions, but by no means is it exhaustive; use your imagination! You may submit your responses in the following ways:
- In a notebook, composition or spiral. It can be old or new--but this might serve as a chance to start your new English notebook for the year.
- On loose leaf paper.
Each entry should be at least 300 words, which is approximately two single-spaced pages. We will not accept typed entries.
The journal entries must cover the entire book; they should be spread evenly in relation to the beginning, middle and end of the novel. They should also reflect a variety of the choices listed below.
PLEASE PUT THE NUMBER OF YOUR CHOICE (ENUMERATED BELOW) AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH ENTRY.
- ONE REQUIRED: Fully examine and explain a particular piece of the writer’s craft; you may want to consider any one of the following and explain how it underscores one of the motifs or themes of the book: metaphor, foreshadowing, symbolism, characterization, structure, hyperbole, imagery, diction, voice, etc.
- Create a piece of writing that describes and explains a personal reaction to a character, place or event in the text.
- Write a fictional letter to one or more of the characters or create a letter written from one character in the novel to another that expresses some unspoken feelings or thoughts.
- React, respond and explicate a “five star quote” of your choice. A “five star quote” is a quote that “jumps off the page” at you for any number of reasons. It may be aphoristic, profound, humorous, universal, or any reason you choose. For clarity, you must include the entire quote somewhere in the entry.
- Create an original piece of writing that is inspired by the novel; it may be a poem, short story, short drama or section of dialogue, advertisement, review, etc. (only one of this type of entry is allowed)
- Choose a pivotal point in the novel’s plot and rewrite the outcome of a particular event as well as the characters’ motivations, actions and reactions. It is important to focus on one small section; keep it focused and detailed. (As an addendum, you may want to provide an explanation of how it would affect the novel’s direction and/or outcome.)
- Create a question that the novel has raised for you and then answer that question in your journal entry. Create an essential question for the text (What is it really about?) and write a justification and possible answer after completion of your reading.
- Create an original piece of art for one of your entries. Some possibilities could include: a drawing, a painting, a sculpture, a dance, a musical score/composition, a collage, etc. (only one of this type of entry is allowed) This should be submitted the first week of school.
- Create a correspondence between one of the characters in this novel and a character from one of the other pieces of literature that you have read so far in high school.
- Create a collection of artifacts (in a box) for one of the characters in the book; attach a written rationale for your choice to each item. (The total of the written rationales should be roughly equivalent to the two-page minimum.) This will be submitted the first week of school.
- Choose a minimum of four characters from the novel and find fitting song lyrics for each one of them. Scan or type out the song lyrics and annotate the lyrics for writer’s craft as well as an explanation as to why you chose that particular song for the character. Burn a CD of the songs and create a CD cover that illustrates a major motif or theme of the text.
- Create a “conversation across time” by having one of the characters in the text dialogue with a fictional or nonfiction persona from another time period/century.
- Make a prediction early in the book. Revisit the prediction after finishing the book. Compare and contrast your prediction with the ending. To what extent was your prediction satisfied and why?
- Create a short list of enduring understandings that emerge as you read. Use evidence from the book to support your claims about the enduring understandings you take away from the book. How will these understandings shape decisions you will make in the future? How should these understandings shape our society?
- Create a new kind of journal entry, write a description of it, then complete the entry. Your entry could become a model for future entries.