Survey Journal Number (please circle)
1
2
3
Name __________________________________________________
Date
_______________________________
Speaker ________________________________________________
Date
_______________________________
Title or Purpose of Speech
______________________________________________________________________
Location
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______
Reading Tips: Read slowly. This cannot be stressed enough. If you
roller-skate through an art museum you won’t see the paintings. Take in
every detail, every description.
Overall Impression of Speech: Try to avoid hasty analysis because it can prevent you
from understanding the meaning. Begin without predetermined bias. If you make too
strong an opinion in advance, you close out the possibility of new experiences.
Questions about Speech: Ask silent questions of the material as you read. Don’t read
passively, waiting to be told the “meaning.” Use the questions devised by reporters:
who, what, when, where, why, and how. Use these questions to probe even deeper into
the inner levels of the speech. Can you find/create possible answers to your own
questions?
Information on this worksheet taken from The George Mason University Writing Center
Guide to Keeping a Reading Journal at
http://www.gmu.edu/departments/writingcenter/handouts/puller.html
Vocabulary Words and Definitions: Look up words you don’t know. Or, look up words,
even if you know them, because they seem to carry special weight or have specific
usage.
Word:
Word:
Definition:
Definition:
Information on this worksheet taken from The George Mason University Writing Center
Guide to Keeping a Reading Journal at
http://www.gmu.edu/departments/writingcenter/handouts/puller.html
Additional Comments / Observations / Notes: Read with a pen in hand. Take notes on
key phrases and striking/important statements by the speaker. Look for those qualities
that professional writers look for in read life: conflict, contrast, and contradiction.
Look for rhythm, repetition, and pattern. Pattern is form, and form is the shaping the
artist gives to his/her experience. If you can identify the pattern and relate it to
the content, you’ll be on your way to insight.
Please attach additional notes if necessary.
Significant Literary Observations: Read the speech with your class notes close at
hand. Note words used in special ways or repeated in significant patters. Note words
or phrases that represent some of the rhetorical speech terms learned in class. Note
the use of ethos, logos, and pathos.
Write down quotations or copy whole passages
that are difficult or aesthetically pleasing.
Rhetorical or Literary Device Used:
Speech, Phrase, Quote from text:
Rhetorical or Literary Device Used:
Speech, Phrase, Quote from text:
Rhetorical or Literary Device Used:
Speech, Phrase, Quote from text:
Information on this worksheet taken from The George Mason University Writing Center
Guide to Keeping a Reading Journal at
http://www.gmu.edu/departments/writingcenter/handouts/puller.html