Goals for the assignment:

•   To force you to read your book with your brain open. I want you to stop along the way and smell the proverbial roses.
   

•  To move away from plot summary, allowing you to analyze a book on your own terms. In other words, giving you a chance to write what YOU think about your book, instead of regurgitating plot details.
   

•  That upon reading your finished papers, a person could say, “so this is what you thought about as you read that book.”

Directions & Requirements:

•  4 reflective articles (worth 20 points each)

o       1 article on plot, 1 on character, 1 on setting, and 1 on a topic of your choosing. I am assigning particular options for each category, and some of the categories have options where, if you're struggling to meet the length requirement, you can talk about one, then move on to the next.

o       REMEMBER: Your job is not to summarize, it is to evaluate. I expect to read in your articles YOUR reflections and YOUR ideas.

o       Each entry must be 250-300 words in length (The easiest way to do this is to copy and paste your text into Word. It is about ¾ of a page long, double spaced.)

• At the end of each entry, please include a works cited entry for the book you are reading. The easiest way to do this is to create it once and then copy and paste it into future entries.
   
• Please format each entry according to standards discussed in class.

Strategies for success: 

• Use specifics from the book to support each of your thoughts. If you generalize too much, I might think you watched the movie, read the book, or read a website summary.
   
• Quote the book whenever possible. We have practiced this so much it should be obvious, but do not discard this skill just because it’s not a direct requirement. Always include the page number!
   
• Ask questions and write them in your reflections. Your questions drive your deepest insights, so ask them in your blog entries.