Journals

Here are our journals, copy and pasted in.

Remember, one-third of a page MINIMUM for each journal.  They are collected in a packet at the end of each unit of study.

Some journals may not be included here depending on how they were presented in class. 

Romeo and Juliet Journals

Journal #4 (continuing numbering from The Bean Trees, through the quarter)

Please see the discussion questions on the overhead-- Mrs. S. has it!

The Bean Trees Journals (We are starting over with numbering here because you turned in your older journals)

Journal #1

What does family mean to you?  What makes a family?  Why is family important?  Why can it be good? Bad?  EXPLAIN/give examples from your life or things you’ve observed.

Journal #2

“Just because something doesn’t do what you thought it would doesn’t means it’s useless.”

--Thomas Edison

Edison learned much from his mistakes.  Write about a mistake you made that taught you more than your successes did (or an example you’ve seen/read about/etc).  How can failure or things not going to plan be valuable? 

Journal #3

Write a letter……

-from Lou Ann to Angel

-from Ismene (now? when she’s older?) to Esperanza

-from Taylor to Estevan

-from Alice Greer (Taylor’s mother) to Taylor

-from Turtle’s mother to Taylor

-from Turtle (grown- up) to Taylor.

Some of the above choices require you to use your imagination (suspend disbelief). What do you think the author of the letter would want to tell the recipient? (Don’t just chat about the weather!)

LOTF Journals (these begin at Journal #4... Short Story Unit journals, #1-3, can be found below, just scroll down!)

Journal #4: CHOOSE ONE or more and explain why you agree or disagree (and how much) with that statement.

1) People are born totally innocent and good.  We are taught hate and other bad behaviors.

2) Civilization (the rules by which we live, the orderly way we behave, our customs) is just restrictive rules; it’s really better to be totally free and wild.

3) Might equals right; that is, whoever is strongest should go ahead and be in charge and lead others.

4) Right equals might; that is, people need to use their intelligence and think about what the right thing to do is, and the people who do that will be able to lead everyone.

5) All people have good and bad within them; they can either let out the bad or fight to be good, and sometimes their circumstances can determine how they behave.

Journal #5

What do you need?

What are your needs in life?

For survival, for success, for whatever?

How does NOT having your needs met affect your life?

What do you need?

Journal #6

Pretend that you are one of the boys who have crashed on the island in Lord of the Flies. (You can be a specific character from the novel or one of the unnamed boys.) Write a “message in a bottle”— a letter home to your parents.  In your letter, you must:

·      Explain what has happened to you.

·      Describe the island and the other boys, and your opinions of them.

·      Share your questions and predictions about what will happen. 

·      Address and sign your letter (you can make up a name if you’re pretending to be an unnamed boy).

Journal #7

 “Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.”    --Mark Twain, 1835-1910

Do you agree with Twain? Do you have a “dark side”?  Are there things you do not share with others?  Why do you think humans hide parts of who they are from each other?  Explain!

Journal #8

“The mob has many heads but no brains.”

                  -English proverb

What do you think this proverb means?  How do you think being together in a big group affects people’s thinking and behavior?  Give examples from life, reading, history, current events, etc.  Explain!

JOURNAL #9

CHOOSE ONE of the following prompts:

1) “Fury and anger carry the mind away.”          --Virgil, 70-19 B.C.

Do you agree with this statement? Can fury and anger ever be positive?  Explain!

2) “All men would be tyrants if they could.” –Daniel Defoe, 1660-1731

Do you agree with Defoe?  Do you think all people would like to rule over others and have things just their way?  Why does our world have democracies and other forms of government then?  Would you want to rule the world or your school club or group of friends, etc., if you could?

1) “Ah happy years! Once more who would not be a boy?”

-Lord Byron, 1788-1824

        What do you think are the benefits of being a young child?  What are the drawbacks?  What are the benefits and drawbacks of growing into an adult?  Which would you rather be?

(Short Story Unit Journals)

JOURNAL #1

First: Read “On Being Seventeen, Bright, and Unable to Read” on pages 573-575.

Doodle, David, and You…

Compare the situations of Doodle and David Raymond as well as your own experiences with facing expectations that may have seemed unrealistic. (Perhaps you can think of a time when you weren’t as successful at something that others were good at? Or when people set expectations for you that were just impossible for you?)

How are the situations similar?  How are they different? 

What did the world (society, other individuals), expect of Doodle, David, and yourself? 

How did this affect Doodle, David and yourself? 

Share your opinions and insights as well as carefully reflecting on the two texts and your own experience.

Journal #2
“This above all—to thine [your] own self be true…”

-Polonius in Hamlet, by William Shakespeare

How can a person be true to his or her self?  What would happen if a person were untrue?  What are some ways that you are true to yourself, or struggle to be?  EXPLAIN.

Journal #3

Choose one or more characters from our short story readings (reminders of what we read are below) and explain how the character’s experiences reveal the struggle of humans to meet or escape societal expectations. 

Feel free to also explore what themes are suggested by that struggle, and how different characters’ struggles compare/contrast.

“The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant”

“The Scarlet Ibis”

“Powder”

“On Being Seventeen, Bright, and Unable to Read”

“since feeling is first”