Journal

You will read novels and other readings independently and then complete quizzes or essays to assess your initial understandings. Following the assessment, you will complete activities and/or discussions to gain a deeper understanding of author purpose and style. You then have the opportunity to revise your initial essay responses and reflect on your reading processes.
 * 1) During the first quarter, students complete a variety of activities from the Writing With a Purpose text along with assigned reading selections from The Language of Literature text and other readings.
 * 2) During the second quarter, students maintain a reading journal and compose response essays for a variety of independent reading selections, including those from The Language of Literature and Bedford Reader. The journal prompts are designed to help students to develop close reading skills (annotation), to practice developing thesis statements and supporting them with text evidence, to provide opportunities to identify and describe an author’s use of rhetorical strategies (and connect to author purpose), and to provide students with additional opportunities to craft your own style & diction.
 * 3) During the 3rd quarter, students complete a journal that requires them to identify author purpose; claim/thesis; tone; audience; and style for given essay selections from The Bedford Reader and other readings. After review and discussion, they compose, present, and evaluate original pieces using selected rhetorical patterns. Because class-time during third-quarter shifts to rhetorical patterns (The Bedford Reader), independent reading is designed to continue the American literature tradition (primarily from The Language of Literature), as well as to allow students to experience reading pieces with unfamiliar syntax. These selections are assessed with AP-style multiple choice quizzes.
 * 4) During the fourth quarter students will choose a novel from a suggested list. In addition to analyzing, students will also research and respond to various critical reviews of the novel in order to compose one of their own.