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 blog articles, a person could say, “so this is what you thought about as you read that book.”

Directions & Requirements:

•  4 blog entries (worth 20 points each)

o       1 blog entry on plot, 1 on character, 1 on setting, and 1 on a topic of your choosing

o       REMEMBER: Your job is not to summarize, it is to evaluate. I expect to read in your entries YOUR reflections and YOUR ideas. I have listed ideas for different entries below; keep in mind these are only ideas, meant to kick start your brain. You do not have to use any of them.

o       You may write creative entries, but make sure you evaluate the topic thoroughly. For example, if you write a “Dear Abby” entry to evaluate your main character, make sure you use the space to evaluate the character and not use it to make lots of jokes.

o       Each entry must be 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.
   
• At the beginning of each entry, explain briefly what format you are using as you write, what literary element you’re evaluating, and what page number you are on when you wrote the entry. Example: This is a Dear Abbey exchange, written by Pip to evaluate character. I was on page 146 at the time.

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.