«a reading journal entry on the poem»

TASK

You are to select one of the following poems, read and analyze it, and write a reading journal entry (length: from ¾ to 1 A4 page) on the poem of your choice to support your reading experience.

Edmund Spenser (from Amoretti):

Sonnet 30 (“My love is like to ice, and I to fire”); Sonnet 54 (“Of this world’s theatre in which we stay”); Sonnet 55 (“So oft as I her beauty do behold”); Sonnet 67 (“Like as a huntsman after weary chase”);

Sir Philip Sidney (from Astrophil and Stella):

Sonnet 20 (“Fly, fly, my friends, I have my death wound; fly!”); Sonnet 39 (“Come sleep, oh sleep, the certain knot of peace”); Sonnet 63 (“Oh grammar rules, oh now your virtues show”);

William Shakespeare (from Sonnets):

Sonnet 27 (“Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed”); Sonnet 65(“Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea”); Sonnet 99 (“The forward violet thus did I chide”); Sonnet 136 (“If thy soul cheque thee that I come so near”).

GUIDELINES

A reading journal is an effective way to keep track of your reading responses. Responses to text may be positive or negative, correct or not, but should always provide insight to what has been read. The purpose of the journal is to stimulate thinking about issues, questions, and problems raised by your study of literature. The kind of writing you will be doing is called “exploratory” or “expressive” writing – that is, writing that lets you “think out loud on paper” (using full sentences!). Therefore, do not be overly concerned with such features as organization, correct sentence structure, and spelling, but do put a lot of thinking into your reading journals. Do not use the journal merely to summarize the poem.

You can be as creative as you want, but remember that reading journals are tools for study, not personal diaries. Therefore, your journal entry should not be subjective or too emotional; you are to try and analyze the text, staying objective.

SOME IDEAS FOR YOUR ENTRIES

As you read, make notes that question the text, the author, or even the characters. Consider rhythm, characterization, point of view, theme, motifs, allusions, and literary devices. How do these things contribute to your reading of the text? If you find a particular quote that strikes a chord, write it out. Comment on its meaning, significance, and / or impact on you as a reader. Note details that seem important and that make you look again (for instance, if you see particular words that are repeated throughout the poem, comment on them). Your journal can also include graphic, historical or context information, your observations on intertextual and intercultural connections. Organize your thoughts and observations. After you have gone through the poem for yourself, noticing things and making notes, ask yourself “What is the total effect of all the little things I’ve been noticing?” What do the parts of the poem cooperate to mean? When you have answered this question, you are ready to start writing your journal entry.

Your work will be evaluated according to a plus/minus scale: Plus * meets the expectations for critical thinking, format, and length

Plus-minus too superficial (no critical thinking – either a mere summary or emotional ramblings) violates the formatting requirements * too short

Minus not turned in plagiarized (either a part of the work or the whole work)

Крайний срок сдачи-сегодня (получается 7 ноября) в 2.00 по мск