CT
Journals are directed assignments which are designed to give students the opportunity
to practice particular critical thinking skills. Students are provided with
a copy of the assignment on paper, and they are asked to type out the assignment
or “trigger” exactly as worded as part of the heading for their paper.
Here is a sampling selection of CT Journal topics from the last two years. Sample
student responses are provided for most of them. (Click here to see the Instruction
Sheet which is given to students before beginning the sequence of
assignments.)
- RBS
Take an idea or topic from today’s class discussion and develop it in this
manner: state the idea, elaborate on the idea, exemplify the idea, and illustrate
the idea by means of an analogy.
Choose a passage of from 20-50 words from Hemingway and compare its stylistic
features to those of a passage of similar length from Faulkner.
Write a process paper in which you walk your reader through your thought process
as you read a poem.
Write a paper in which you develop a line of thought about The Catcher in
the Rye by means of an extended analogy. Conclude with a paragraph discussing
how your analogy helps you think differently about CITR.
Write a one-page monologue in a voice clearly different than your own.
Write an interpretive essay in which you examine the implications of one of
the Frost poems.
Write a dialogue in in the form of an interview or conversation in which two speakers discuss The Catcher in the Rye. Include at least two specific references to the text.
Draw a clear, precise comparison between between two of the texts we have read. Include at least one quoted reference to each text to illustrate the point of comparison.
Quarter Reflection: The quarter reflection is your opportunity to stop and consider
your progress as a student of English. The following questions are not meant
to be answered mechanically in sequence; they gesture at a territory I would
you to explore thoughtfully in writing. (The usual criteria apply: clarity,
specifity, precision, logic, relevance, significance, breadth, and depth.) Looking
back over the first quarter, what areas of growth can you point to? What do
you feel you are doing well? What work do you feel proud of? What has interested
you the most? Where have you struggled? Looking ahead to the second quarter,
what specific goals do you have? What do you intend to work on? What kind of
experiences or support would be most helpful to you?
Select one or more passages from All the Pretty Horses which strike you
as being characteristic of McCarthy’s writing style. Write a well-formed
essay in which you discuss how the author’s manipulation of diction and
syntax help to convey either theme or character.
Write a paper of between 500 and 1000 words in which you develop an original
line of thought (that is, one which is not merely a summary of a point someone
else has already made in class) in regard to “Oedipus Rex.” Incorporate
at least two direct quotations from the text and two direct quotations from
material you have placed or written in your commonplace book.
Pick a section of dialogue from "Oedipus Rex" - three to five interchanges -
and type it out on your paper.Then continue the dialogue on your own, moving
the play in another direction which you think represents an interesting alternative
scenario. You may wish shift the setting,or rename the characters, but the new
characters should in all psychological respects resemble the characters in the
original.
Write an essay in which you think about some of the factors which shape your
point of view. What factors are most important in your life right now? When
you make decisions about what to do, how to act, or how to spend your time,
what factors come into play?
Write an essay in which you a) identify one issue, concept, or concern which
you think is thematic in The Poisonwood Bible, b) show by means of
one or more quotations from the text where that idea is stated or implied, and
c) discuss in an organized way your own thoughts on the subject.
Type out a passage from the poem "Journal" by Billy Collins. Then write a response in which you discuss the passage first from one point of view, and then from another.
Write a dialogue in which someone interviews you about your commonplace book
and/or your essential questions.
Third Quarter Self-Assessment: Look over your CT journals to date and assess
your strengths and weaknesses as a critical thinker. What do you think you do
well? What do you think you need to work on? Identify at least two specific
CT goals for yourself for 4th quarter.
Imagine that Shylock and Antonio each keep a journal. Write a journal entry
for Shylock in which he talks about what he thinks about Antonio. Then write
an entry for Antonio in which he talks about what he thinks about Shylock. (Write
the journal in your own words; you don’t have to mimic the style of speech
or voice.)
Consider the situation of Jessica, who has decided to run away from home to
marry Lorenzo, and to take her father’s jewels and money with her. Write
a paragraph or two in which you develop a line of reasoning which justifies
her actions. Then write another paragraph or two in which you develop a line
of reasoning that criticizes her actions. Then write a concluding paragraph
in which you tell what you think about her actions, and what makes you think
that way.
Write a dialogue in which two people discuss conflicting points of view
about one of the events, characters, or themes in The Merchant of Venice.
The dialogue should consist of at least 10 exchanges, and aim for clarity, depth,
and balance.
With your partners, write several versions of a narrative as told by each of three characters which appear in it.
Do a set of observations on campus through the eyes of one of the characters in The Poisonwood Bible. Write up your observations, making an effort to capture both the manner of thinking and the manner of speaking of the selected character.
Having completed your reading of the novel we have read and discussed together, write a summary paper in which you develop your thoughts about some issue or idea which you think is of significance in the novel. Try to meet each of the criteria found in the sophomore rubric.