English 1B Journals
Spring 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

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?

Journal #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 #3

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?

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

Religion
Some people object reading Harry Potter because they think it contradicts one or more of their religious beliefs. What are your thoughts on this controversy? Some questions to think about:

  • What has been your experience with religion?
  • What were you taught as a child about religion?
  • Do you accept what you've been taught, or have you felt conflicted about it?
  • If you currently practice a particular religion, what is it, and what is your relationship to that faith?
  • Have you ever considered the difference between religion, faith and spirituality?  What do you consider to be the main differences, if you do in fact think they are different?

Journal #6

Survival
Ada and Iman are forced into situations where they must live by their wits and resourcefulness.

  • Have you ever been in a survival situation?  (It need not be in the wilderness; it could be that you were lost in a strange city, or perhaps in an unfamiliar part of town, or perhaps caught in a potentially dangerous situation anywhere). 
  • How did you deal with that situation?
  • If you've never been in a dangerous or survival situation, how do you think you'd fare if you ever were to find yourself in such a situation?

Journal #7

Home
Inman considers Cold Mountain to be his home; it is where he feels most himself, where he considers himself to be happiest, and where he wants to live out the rest of his life.

  • Do you have a place that you consider home, the way Inman considers Cold Mountain 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 #8

Option #1 - Sex.
Sharon Olds' poem "Sex Without Love" gives the speaker’s views on what sex might really mean.

  • What are your views on this topic?
  • What were you taught about sex and love as a child, by your family, your religion, your school, your friends? 
  • Do you accept everything you were taught or shown about sex, or have you questioned it throughout your life? 
  • Do you believe it is possible or desirable to have sex without love?  If so, why? If not, why not?

Option #2 – Family.
Theodore Roethke’s poem “My Papa’s Waltz” showed a picture of a family that, while perhaps not entirely dysfunctional, was at least a little rough around the edges. 

  • How does your upbringing compare with the speaker in Roethke’s poem?
  • What was discipline like in your household?
  • What about the relationships between family members?
  • Do you feel that if/when you have children, you will raise them as your parents raised you?  Why or why not?

Journal #9

The Movie of your Life.  Since we've been discussing drama, and bringing stories to life on stage, let's pause for a moment and consider who would play you in the movie of your life. Who would you choose, if you had complete creative control?  It doesn't need to be someone famous, or even someone who looks like you, necessarily.  It would have to be someone that you think could capture the "essence" of the splendor and glory that is you.  Who is up to the job, and why?

Journal #10

Ideal Vacation.  Now that you've done all the work, congratulate yourself with a perfect vacation! If time, money and responsibility to others in your life were no object, where would you go and what would you do? Treat yourself with this imaginary vacation: include all the sights, sounds, textures, tastes and smells.  Let your imagination run wild.  You are on vacation, after all.
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