English 1B Journals
Fall 2008

Journal Guidelines

The journals are informal responses to the readings, or to other specific questions or ideas presented in the class.  I will provide ideas for topics, but you are free to write about whatever you want in response to some aspect of the class.  The journals are intended to be a way for you to explore ideas that you might later wish to express in a paper or a discussion.  I will not censor these journals in any way, nor will I grade them on content or grammar (though, like the seminars, they must be coherent and display some measure of critical thinking about the question at hand).  I will collect your journals periodically. You may also wish to share your journals with the other students. 

I must be frank and say that the journals are always the most interesting assignments for me to read; they are the perfect forum for you to express your individuality without worrying about form, appropriate content, grammar or other "Englishy" concerns.  The journals are where you write about what's really on your mind, in your own individual style.

Journal #1

Pick one of the following options (or both, if you're feeling ambitious)

Option 1: The Presence of a Stranger
In Steinbeck's The Chrysanthemums, his main character reacts strongly and uncharacteristically to the presence of a stranger in her garden.  Has a stranger ever provoked strong feelings in you? Some questions to ponder:

• Have you ever adored someone from afar?   What was it about that person that attracted you?  Did you ever get to know him or her, and if so, did your impression change?
• Did you ever take an instant dislike or distrust to someone?  What was it about that person that raised your hackles?  Did your feelings ever change?
• Have you ever formed a strong first impression of someone that you later got to know fairly well? How did that person measure up to your expectations? When you later got to know him or her, how did you feel about that first impression you made?  Did you ever tell that person what you first thought of him or her?  Why or why not?

Option 2: Blind Tradition
In The Lottery, Jackson turns a critical eye to a town that practices a tradition without really having a sense of what that tradition means, nor what it means to the community. What is your experience with this? Questions to ponder:

• Have you ever had cause to question a tradition or a rule handed down from an authority figure?
• Have you ever had to take a stand against a majority opinion? What was the situation, and how did it get end?
• Have you ever kept your mouth shut, or even participate, when you witnessed something that you knew was wrong? Explain.

Journal #2

Pick one of the following options (or both, if you're feeling ambitious)

Option 1: Love
In his short story What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, Carver poses several versions of the definition of love. Some questions to ponder:

• What is your definition of love? Has it changed over the years?
• Have you ever been in love? How did you know it was love?
• How did the experience hold up to your definition? Did the relationship change? If so, was it still love?
• If you never have been in love, can you describe the person that you imagine you'd fall in love with? Do you believe in "true love" - romantic soul mates?
• Do you believe in love at first sight? Why or why not?

Option 2: Violence
In both The Things They Carried and The Lottery, violence is a major theme. What is the role of violence in your life? Some questions to ponder:

• What is your relationship to violence, in all or any of its forms?
• Have you ever discovered a capacity for violence in yourself?
• Have you ever had cause to turn to violence for anything?
• Have you been subject to or witnessed any violence that has shaped your views?
• What do you think about violence in the media?

Journal #4

Dreams
Do you believe that your dreams are a direct window into your subconscious mind?  Describe a dream that you've had sometime in your life that stayed with you.  Some questions to consider:

• What were some of the images, symbols or plot components?
• How would you interpret the dream - in other words, why did you have it, and why did it stay with you? 
• What were you struggling with psychologically at the time?
• Might the dream, or series of dreams, have been your body's way of trying to resolve that particular psychological struggle? If so, explain.  If not, explain where you think dreams come from, and why we have a need to dream.

Journal #5

Home
In Lolita, Humbert is an immigrant and a man who is not at home anywhere. He moves many, many times throughout the novel, andnever seems comfortable settling down anywhere. What does the word "home" mean to you? Questions to consider:

• What ideas, thoughts, images or emotions do you associate with the word "home"?
• Are you like Humbert Humbert in that regard - restless and roaming - or are you more of a homebody who enjoys making a nest for yourself?
• Do you have a place that you consider home? Do you consider your childhood home to be that place? Where you live now?
• If you can't identify anywhere you've lived, past or present, as "home", what kind of place do you imagine you'd be able to spend the rest of your life?
  

Journal #7

Road Trip
Lolita and Humbert spend more than a year on the road, travelling from town to town and staying at cheap motels and checking out the sites. What has been your road trip experience? Questions to consider:

• What is the longest road trip you've ever been on?
• What's your most memorable road trip?
• Where will your next road trip take you?
• What would your ideal road trip be if you took a weekend? A week? A month?
• If you have kids, where do you take them for road trips? If you don't, but plan to someday, where would you take them?