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The Dialectical Reading Journal
The dialectical journal is a double-entry note-taking process done while the student is reading literature. It provides him with two columns which are in dialogue with one another, not only developing a method of critical reading but also encouraging habits of reflective questioning.
The student begins by drawing a line down the middle of his notebook paper, thereby making two columns. The left column is used for traditional note forms of direct quotations and citations or summaries. The right column is used for commenting on the left-column notes. As the student keeps taking notes, he should regularly reread his previous page(s) of notes and comments, drawing any new connections in a right-column summary before starting another page of note-taking.
Suggestions for ResponseReading Journal
1. Compare an event in the story with a similar one in your own life.
2. Compare a character's emotional response with yours in a similar situation.
3. Write some advice you'd like to give a character, or author.
4. Predict what you think will happen and tell why.
5. Tell what you like about a particular phrase/part: include the reference.
6. Give your opinion about how a character should have worked out a conflict.
7. Explain what you would have done in a certain situation.
8. Describe your response (emotional/intellectual) to your reading.
9. Comment on the author's style, including a brief example of it.
10. Explain a word/phrase that you could not let go by without researching it.
11. Evaluate the writing, explaining why it is or isn't good.
12. Compare some aspect of this reading with that of another literary work.
13. Tell what makes a particular character/setting appeal to you.
14. Explain the importance of an interesting secondary character.
15. Share how events of this novel have caused a change in your views.
16. Tell about the qualities of a character you dislike.
17. List some questions you'd ask a character/author, given the opportunity.
18. Contrast the society of this novel to your own.
19. Discuss new insights into someone you know, which were gained from books.
20. Analyze whether your knowledge of a character was gained mostly from what s/he does, what s/he says, or what is said about him/her.
21. Figure out the ways a character changed and what caused the changes.22. If your novel deals with a clear-cut moral issue or dilemma, what massage or philosophy is the author sending the reader?
23. To what extent is a character responsible for his own success/failure?
24. Explain any characters, events, or objects that are symbolic.
25. Describe an experience a character has that you would wish for yourself.
26. Compare/contrast two characters who appear in the same book, or in two separate novels.
27. Point out effective examples of figurative language (or other literary devices).
28. List questions about puzzling passages that are good for discussion.
29. Copy favorite passages from reading assignment to Comment on it (style, art, personal experience).
30. Respond to what seems to be the most important sentence or word in reading assignment and give reasons for choice.
31. Comment on the relevance of a passage to its historical context or to the present.
32. Examine values of a character you like.
33. Examine values of a character you dislike.
34. Make predictions about what comes next and why.
35. Examine different versions of the story (e.g., the printed version in relation to the video version).