1. Find a passage that uses imagery and details to describe a
character, setting or event. Draw the scene and label it with text details on one page. Then analyze how the description develops the theme/main ideas or signals the authors tone (1 page drawing, 1 page writing). 2. Examine how your author uses types of details to develop an idea, character or setting. Trace the authors use of D.R.A.P.E.S. and discuss effects of the authors choice of details. 3. Add a scene to the book you are reading. Try to imitate the authors style and use of details. On the left paste text that would come right before the scene you create. 4. Analyze the authors use of tropes (artful diction) to create character, set mood, establish setting or develop theme. 5. Analyze a character from your book using the vices and virtues. How does the character represent a particular vice/virtue? How is the character a realistic or unrealistic blend of vices and virtues? 6. Write to explain how the author develops a theme of the book of you are reading. Be sure to cite specific examples (snippets of quotes) from the book that illustrate the theme. 7. Many writers use setting to establish values or express tone. For example, a rural/country setting may be a place of peace and beauty or one of ignorance and isolation. Explain how setting plays a significant role in the book you are reading. 8. Some books serve as advocates for change regarding social issues. Analyze a work you have read using the lens of an activist. Describe the issue and how characters thoughts, actions or deeds work to change it. 9. Write to explain a topic, issue, phenomena mentioned in your book. This one will require some research. Then imagine you are writing a video script explaining the concept to others. 10. Investigate the author of the book you are reading. Visit his or her website. Learn a bit about the writer. Then write to explain how the authors life or life events relate to the story being told in the book. *challenge prompts* 10. Everything is a quest, so says Foster in chapter one of How to Read Literature Like a Professor. Analyze the book you are reading using an archetypal lensapply the steps in the heros journey to the book you are reading. See me for a handout to help you. 12. How would a feminist or a historian analyze characters, elements, scenes or themes in your book? Choose a critical perspective and apply it to the book you are reading. See me for a handout to help you. Remember, your reading journal is a place for you to practice skills we are learning in class. During the second quarter our writing focus shifts from argument to analysis. Examine parts of your texts in order to craft an interpretation (an analysis). Play with the ideas. Take risks with your interpretations. Use textual evidence to support what you see in the text. I will confer with you about your reading and journal writing at least twice a month. If you need more time or need help working through a specific writing/reading issue, let me know. General Grading Guidelines Focus Use of Evidence Length
A 95
Sustains analysis focus with little if any plot summary Writer uses ample, specific textual evidence (direct quotations and paraphrases) to support interpretation; evidence is cited.
2 front pages or more
B 85 Focuses on analyzing the text; may include brief summary of the plot or characters Writer uses some specific textual evidence to support interpretation; some evidence is cited.
1 pages
C 75 Writing focuses on retelling the plot or story; may have more summary than analysis Writers use of textual evidence is inconsistent or uneven; evidence may be cited.
1 pages
D 65 Writing only summarizes the plot or story. Writer uses descriptive details to summarize not support an analysis.
1 page
Journal Set Up for Analysis: Left Side Right Side 1. full reference (bibliographic entry) for the text in MLA format
2. excerpt copy/pasted to the page or quotes written down from the textthis is the starting point passage for your analysis
3.(optional) Any other notes that show your thinking 1. Number of the analysis prompt your are trying out.