You will be responding to reading, viewing, and listening assignments by completing Reading Logs (RL) this semester. What follows is a specific format for you to follow in each RL.
Title each RL, e.g. Reading Log 1, Reading Log 2, and provide the essay’s title. Put your name somewhere at the top of the RL.
Each RL must be typed and paragraphed clearly.
Remember to look over your RL before you hand it in. Correct the places where spelling, punctuation, and word order cause confusion
If you receive an R grade on your RL, you will need to rewrite your RL and turn it in within one week of the day I return the evaluated assignment to you.
Include the following sections in your RL.
Words
List words you do not know. Look them up in a dictionary and write down the definition that best fits the context of the reading. Avoid using definitions that include some form of the word (e.g., the definition of “riveting” as “simple progressive tense form of rivet”). Then use the word in a sentence of your own. If you can’t find the word in your dictionary, write down the word anyway; plan to ask about that word in class during small group or large group discussion. We love to talk about words.
Summary Paragraph
In your first sentence of the summary paragraph mention the author’s full name and the complete title of the text you have read or viewed, and tell us what the essay is about. Use appropriate name and title capitalization. Put titles in quotes (unless the title is a whole book).
For example: “In his letter to the editor of The Nation, Ali Hossaini, an American with a Muslim name, describes the difficult position the World Trade Center attack put him in.”
Use the rest of the paragraph to write a condensed summary that answers the “reporters’ questions”: who, what, where, when, and why. The job of this paragraph is to restate the main ideas in a way that gives the reader a basic nuts-and-bolts understanding of what’s going on in the text. Don’t state your opinion or your ideas about what the writer intended yet. That comes later. Just do a basic retelling, in a shortened version, of what you read, including only the most important details.
Here’s an outline of what a summary paragraph needs to do:
1) Topic Sentence –
a) Identifies text (essay, poem, graphic novel, movie, video), author, and title. Title in quotes using Title Capitalization. (Author’s whole name. Later, use last name only.)
b) Briefly state main point of text or its overall description.
Example: “In his letter to the editor of The Nation, Ali Hossaini, an American with a Muslim name, describes the difficult position the World Trade Center attack put him in.”
2) Give an idea of the shape of the text. What does it do first? What happens in the middle? What happens at the end? Use some specific examples or brief quotes from the text.
3) Stay focused on what the author has written. (Not yet your thoughts or opinions.)
Analysis Paragraph
In this paragraph, you write about the author’s meaning. Here you go beyond what’s happened in the text to consider underlying themes or messages. What is this text really about—is it discrimination based on language? What themes emerge (author’s determination to succeed despite overwhelming obstacles, ways technology has changed how we write)? What kind of reader (audience) do you think the author had in mind? What is the author’s purpose? How does the author help us trust him or her?
Here’s an outline of what an analysis paragraph needs to do:
1) Topic Sentence – Claim
a) The Topic Sentence in your analysis paragraph is your claim.
b) Assert your claim directly. No need for “I think.” The reader knows it’s what you think.
Base your claim on one of the sections or questions on the Analysis Questions page.
Example: “Malcolm X is clearly writing primarily to an African-American audience based on some of his comments in 'Prison Studies'.”
2) Evidence: List specific details from text and/or use brief quotes. A little of both makes the strongest paragraph.
3) Explanation: What is the connection between the evidence (details and quotes) and the claim? Explain this for your reader. Your reader can’t make the leap without your guidance. Worse, your reader might make the wrong connection and completely misunderstand your point.
4) Conclusion – Finish up with a concluding sentence that completes the idea your analysis paragraph develops.
Personal Response Paragraph
Now you have a chance to respond to the text. One way to do this is to write about questions that come up for you from this reading. Another is to write about disagreement or confusion you feel about what the author has to say. Pinpoint as specifically as you can what exactly you disagree with or find confusing. A third way is to write about your own firsthand experience with the topic. In this case, you can describe your experience briefly, then write about similarities or differences between your experience and that described by the author.
These are among the options for the final paragraph. The key here is that you must say more than “I really liked (or disliked) this essay” or “I totally disagreed with the author.” That doesn’t give YOUR reader enough to go on. Use as much detail as you can in responding to the text because this is where you make your own point.
Here’s an outline of what to do in your response paragraph:
1) Topic Sentence
a) The Topic Sentence in your response paragraph asserts your response to the text. Now you get to state your opinion, emotional reaction, or personal connection.
Example: “I was moved by Hossaini’s description of being stuck between other people’s view of him as a Muslim and his own view of himself as an American.”
2) Elaborate
a) Describe your reaction or response in some detail. It’s not enough to just say, “I agree.” or “I didn’t like it.” You must explain to the reader what you agree or disagree with or what specifically you did or didn’t like and why.
b) Be sure to ask yourself: Is it the text itself I do (or don’t) like, or is it the opinion expressed in the text that I do (or don’t) like?
3) Conclusion – End with a wrapping up sentence that sums up your response.
To understand how the RL will be graded, take a look at the Reading Log Rubric.
For a sample Reading Log, click on the attachment below.