Journals for 1st Nine Weeks
AP English Literature and Composition Fall 2018
Directions: Unless otherwise instructed, each entry is to be at least ONE FULL PAGE (250-word minimum), TYPED IN 12-POINT FONT, DOUBLE-SPACED, MLA-STYLE. Credit is based on ALL or NOTHING, ON TIME, CORRECT FORM, ON TOPIC. Be sure that each journal set is labeled with the correct number (Ex. Journal Set 1) on the fifth line of your MLA heading.There is no need to add a new MLA heading for each entry, but do include an original title at the beginning and the word count at the end of each entry. Each complete, correct journal set is worth 100 points. Check dates include multiple journals. Staple these in the upper left hand corner when you turn them in.
First Journal Check – Due Date: Friday, August 10
A. Critics consider R. Walton and Victor Frankenstein to be doppelgängers (mirror image characters). Compare and contrast these two characters. Consider attitudes and goals. Why does Victor Frankenstein react so violently when Walton says, “I would sacrifice my fortune, my existence, my every hope, to the furtherance of my enterprise… One man’s life were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of the knowledge which I sought…”? Use at least one quote to back up your reasons for Victor’s reaction. Why is it so important for Victor to tell his story to Walton?
B. Find asignificant quote somewhere in Chapters 1-2 of Frankensteinand another from Chapters 3-4. Copy them completely, and discuss why you selected these particular quotes. Include how you feel the quotes tie in to the overall meaning of the work.
Second Journal Check – Due Date: Friday, August 24
A. Write about a time when you felt like an “outsider” or alienated.
B. In the author’s introduction to Frankenstein, Mary Shelley says that although she scribbled stories as a child, her dearest pleasure was “the formation of castles in the air—the indulging in waking dreams…they were my refuge when annoyed—my dearest pleasure when free.” Recount one of your favorite daydreams. Try to recreate it, complete with concrete, detailed imagery, so your reader can experience your daydream.
Third Journal Check – Due Date: Friday, August 31
A. Write about a discovery, invention, situation, or knowledge that would be worth the knowing sacrifice of a life or lives. Would the sacrifice be worth the “greater good”? Or write about why nothing is worth the knowing sacrifice of a life.
B. In the author’s introduction to Frankenstein, Mary Shelley says that she wished to write a “ghost story” that “would speak to the mysterious fears of our nature and awaken thrilling horror.” Write about something in this world that you fear—that quickens the beatings of your heart. Write so that you quicken the beating of your reader’s heart.
Fourth Journal Check – Due Date: Friday, September 7
A. What is your college of choice and why? You may also choose to discuss your planned major and/or how you intend to pay for college.
B. Write an apology to anyone (maybe even to anything) for whatever you have done.
C. The title of a war novel by Tim O'Brien is The Things They Carried. Write about the things that you have carried. Be very specific and detailed here so you get across the significance of those things. Your things don't have to be concrete.
Fifth Journal Check – Due Date: Friday, September 14
A. Write yourself into one of the novels/stories (even poems?) that we have read thus far. In which scene would you appear? How would your presence affect the protagonist's struggle and/or the work as a whole? (You may use choice novels or any of the works we read last semester.)
B. Your choice: free-writing.
Sixth Journal Check – Friday, September 28
A. Write a poem in the style of e.e. cummings.
B. Plan a day of fun for yourself and your friends that would not require money.
C. Free-topic: rant/rave/describe/indulge however you see fit.
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Reminder: You get a week off from journals to allow time to focus on your Frankenstein essay and another week off to focus on your choice novel project. Manage your time wisely. And as always, hold me accountable for getting the next set of prompts to you promptly.
Extra/Substitute Journals
22. IF ______WERE AN ANIMAL, A COLOR, A PIECE OF FURNITURE, A TYPE OF WEATHER, ETC., WHAT WOULD HE/SHE BE? WHY? BE SPECIFIC AND DESCRIPTIVE. COMPLETE A COMPARISON LIKE THIS FOR EACH PERSON IN YOUR CLASS. OH, AND WHAT WOULD YOU BE?
23. Write your own brief version of Kafka's Metamorphosis. Choose what your protagonist will become—then create something just as tragic, form a parody, and/or be funny in your own way.
24. In the novel 1984, Orwell wrote about what he thought the world would be like by 1984. Imagine what our world will be like in 40 years.
1. Write about your hopes, dreams, and fears as you start your senior year.