Encounters, Fall 2011
Fitzsimmons
Critical Thinking Journal (15%)
As part of your final grade for this course, you will be required to keep a critical
thinking journal. The journal is intended to facilitate your critical engagement with the
texts, to help you to become active, thoughtful and creative readers and thinkers, and to
develop a habit of using writing to work through difficult problems and ideas. The goal
of the journal is to help you to engage with the course readings in an active and critical
way and to give you the freedom and the structure to develop your own mode of
reading, writing and thinking. The journals are based on the idea that reading, thinking
and writing are mutually reinforcing activities and my aim is that the journals will
enable you not only to develop broader analytical and critical thinking skills, but also
the motivation to find your way through difficult texts and ideas.
I will be collecting, reading and grading these journals throughout the semester, but
you should think of them primarily as vehicles for your own development as a scholar.
You will write one entry per week for a minimum of 10 entries. You must bring your
reading journals to class on the day they are due. We will sometimes use your journal
entries as a 'jumping off' point for class discussion, so you should be prepared to share
your journals, ideas and problems with the class as a whole.
Format
Each week you will write one new journal entry in response to the assigned readings.
You do not have to write on the assignment for the day you submit your entry, but on
any reading from the past week. A journal entry should be at least one-page, no more
than two, and printed out on a separate piece of paper. The journals are intended to be
largely informal but to nonetheless reflect serious engagement with the ideas and text.
I will occasionally assign specific topics to write on, but for the most part you will have
the freedom to develop your own voice and to find your own way into the texts.
Some possible ideas for journal entries include:
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Writing about something that you found particularly interesting or provocative
in the day's reading and why.
Choosing a quote that jumped out at you and explain why you found it
interesting or significant. (This approach is very good practice for your essays)
Identifying a passage or idea in the reading that you found confusing or difficult
and working through your confusion or elaborating on why you think the idea or
passage is difficult or important.
Identifying an aspect of or theme in the week's reading that you would like to
explore in more detail and exploring some of its implications or its significance.
A question that you would like to discuss in class, along with a justification of
and first stab at that question.
These different approaches offer several ways of performing the same essential tasks:
to encourage you to think critically about the texts, to identify problems, issues and
questions, and to develop your own ideas in relation to the texts. All entries should
show that you have actively read the text and have thought seriously about it. I
encourage you to always point to specific passages in the text during your discussion.
Encounters, Fall 2011
Fitzsimmons
Remember: the journals are not about taking notes, expressing your “feelings” about
the text or providing a summary. They are to practice textual interpretation, critical
thinking and writing. Also: indicate in your entry which reading you to which you are
responding. If you are specifically considering something that was discussed in class,
state that as well.
Grading Criteria
I will grade your reading journal entries with a check-plus, check, or check-minus
(corresponding to excellent, satisfactory, or unsatisfactory). An entry that receives a
check grade shows a solid grasp of the assigned reading, ties to grapple with complex
ideas, problems or language within the readings and indicates a willingness to take
intellectual risks with the material. An entry that receives a check-plus grade will do
these things exceptionally well and will show a significantly deepened level of
engagement with the readings. Check minuses will be given to journals that appear
haphazard, unengaged or uncritical of the readings. Check minuses will also be given
to entries that are summaries of the reading.
You must have 10 checks in order to receive full credit for your reading journals. Ten
checks will result in a "B" grade for the journal assignment. In order to earn an A
grade, you must earn four check-plusses on your journal entries. Anyone who earns
three or more check-minuses will, in addition to rewriting the failing entries, receive a
C or C+ for their final journal grade.
Submitting your Journal
You are to turn in your assignment on the day specified. You should keep all your
graded entries in a folder, and turn in the folder at the start of class. As you need to
turn in ten entries, I do not expect an entry from everyone each week, however you
should not wait until the end of the semester to turn in your final entry. It is your
responsibility to keep track of your entries and the number you have submitted. I will
not accept multiple entries turned in at the semester.
Monday
Wednesday
Friday
Perry Anderson
Clayton Collins
Gregory Eickhoff
Paul Eschbach
Evan Griffs
Nayomi Kanz
Justine Kovak
Madeline Levy
Kara Merefeld
Julia Saxby
Alexandra Schnabel
Amalia Sletmoe
Xina Soleri
Benjamin Sutz
Kelly Sweeney
Catherine Welch