Benyonne Schwortz, bschwortz@gmail.com
Bayside High School, http://www.baysidehighschool.org

Modern Writers of Nepal

Appendix C1:

Literature Logs:

I.    What is a literature log?  As you are reading your assignment (short story, novel, play, poem, etc.) keep a daily log in which you discuss the ideas in your reading.  You will “think on paper,” have a conversation with yourself (or a dialogue with the writer of the text,  or a dialogue with one of the characters!) about what you have read.  In this way you will begin to connect these ideas from the reading to your own experience, making the short story, novel, play, or poem your own, a part of your storehouse of knowledge.  As you reflect, ruminate, and question, listen carefully to yourself and attempt to describe the effect the book is having on you.  This is your reading process.  Examine it and take note of what you do with the material you read.  Write honestly, respond deeply, admit confusion, expand on the author’s ideas, and attempt to discover your own.
The literature log will help you to bring the threads of the plot together, the themes and characters of the reading into focus, raise and answer important questions, and hopefully enhance your appreciation of the reading.  Your literature log will be a personal and individual record of your reading; it will be as unique as you are.

II.   How do I maintain the log?  After reading a portion of this work, take a few minutes to write about what you have read.  Summarize, note questions you may have, jot down “break-thoughts,” record reactions, and define new vocabulary words.  If you have never kept a lit log before, the following sentence openers should help:

A.        I began to think of ...                       G.        I wonder why ...
B.        I know the feeling ...                        H.        I noticed ...
C.        I love the way ...                               I.          I was surprised ...
D.        I can’t really understand ...            J.         I think ...
E.        I can’t believe ...                               K.        If I were ...
F.         I realized ...                                      L.         I’m not sure ...

Here is a sample entry from a journal on A Tale of Two Cities:

Book I, Chapter 1, “The Period”

“‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of time...’”  Famous quote.  I’ve seen it on an advertisement for The New York Times.  I’ve also heard it and it’s kind of ‘catchy.’  I didn’t know that it came from this book.  That quote continues and it really seems to be a list of contrasts.  Why?

“This chapter has many historical allusions.  I don’t understand some.  I guess I’ll ask my social studies teacher about them.  I have to remember to show him the book.  Anyway, it seems that England is having troubles, especially with the American Colonies—France is ‘rolled down hill’ 1775 (a year before the American Revolution).  A cruel and violent time, according to Dickens: the common people were severely punished for petty things—there were highway robberies and mobs.
Myriads—a great number of persons or things
Pilfer—petty thievery”

III.  When should I write in my journal/literature log?  Because this is a “private record,” you need not always write in complete sentences.  Keep this journal or literature log in a separate notebook or bind several loose-leaf pages together.  The journal or lit log will serve as a project in conjunction with your reading and it will be collected and reviewed (evaluated) by the teacher at the end of this unit.  Homework might be given during class (consisting of questions you should answer in your lit log).  If you are absent during any time, you are still responsible for the questions you missed in class.