Literature Circle ReadingAdvanced English 3-4

Dialectical Journal Assignment: 100 Points

You will be keeping a dialectical journal throughout your reading of your Lit. Circle novel. Why? These journals will prepare you for Literature Circles, Socratic Seminar, essays, and our study of literary reading devices. Keeping your journals will also develop your close reading (#1 AP skill) abilities. This is NOT “busywork”. In your dialectical journals (15+ entries, handwritten in your notebooks), please note the following:

Characterization: Note passages that reveal characters- their goals/motivations, changes, conflicts, points of view, role as foil, propensity for good and evil, possible archetype, etc…). Also note your author’s TONE towards these characters.

The Joy Luck Club / Into Thin Air / Fahrenheit 451 / Wuthering Heights / Ethan Frome
Woo Family / Jon Krakauer / Guy Montag / Heathcliff / The Narrator
Jong Family / Adventure Consultant Guides / Mildred Montag / Catherine / Ethan Fromme
Hsu Family / Sherpas / Cpt. Beatty and the men (and dogs) of the fire department / The Earnshaw's / Zeena
St. Clair Family / Clients / Professor Faber, Clarisse McClellan, Granger / The Linton's / Mattie

Themes:

The Joy Luck Club / Into Thin Air / Fahrenheit 451 / Wuthering Heights / Ethan Frome
Cultural Identity / Commercialism on Everest / Censorship / Love as a Destructive Force / Society and Morality
Storytelling / Loyalty & Trust / Knowledge v. Ignorance / Social Status / Obtaining Desires
Language and Translation / Unanswered Questions / Prophecy for the Future / Abuse of Class / Winter

Motifs and Symbols:

The Joy Luck Club / Into Thin Air / Fahrenheit 451 / Wuthering Heights / Ethan Frome
Control over one's destiney / Solitude & Self-Reliance / Animal & Nature Imagery / Moors & Ghosts / Illness & Disability
Sexism / Man's Dominance over Nature / Religion / Doubles / Snow & Cold
Sacrifices for Love / Ropes & Knots / The Hearth & The Salamander / Repetition / Mattie's Red Scarf & Ribbon
The Candle, The Vase & The Pendant / Camp & Oxygen / The Phoenix / Nature v. Nurture / The Cat & The Pickle Dish

Form:

Discuss form in your novel:

Genre: How does your novel exemplify a specific genre?

Point of view shifts:Where, when and why does your novel seem to deviate from a specific point of view?

Literary Devices: Identify and explain specific examples of literary devices employed by your author.