About React & Reflect Journal posts

Step 1. React

As you read, notice your reactions. If you react more strongly to one piece, then that's a good one for this type of journal response (and maybe for an essay). Take reaction notes in the book or someplace else as you read. What? Really? I agree. That’s sad. Same happened here… Note where you’re most curious, engaged, bored, amused, shocked, moved, angered, etc. Also highlight phrases (or cut and paste for later), sentences and passages that spark reactions in you, or just sound good.

Taking notes makes journal writing easier. Journal writing makes essays easier. At the end of a reading session, write a one-sentence note about your overall experience. Did you enjoy this?

Did you want to keep reading, or was it a chore?

Step 2. Reflect Reflect on WHY you reacted as you did. What in or about the piece caused that reaction? Was it the way it was put together (the style)? The mood (tone)? Or its message (theme)? Or did the ending ruin / nail it for you? Did you like or relate to the characters? Be specific. Maybe it's hard to pin down, but try. You may have to read or view it again. If you feel comfortable, you can also write about what in you – your life, your personality, your past reading – caused your reaction. So the reflect part can go analytical or personal, or both!

Analytical – What in the piece's content or style caused your reaction? For example, if you were on the edge of your seat, how did the writer do that? If you were moved to

tears, what part, what words, what tone, what moment or image did that? If you were bored/bothered/angered, that's interesting. Try to pinpoint the cause(s).

Personal – Why did you react that way? What in your life did this piece connect with? Who did the characters remind you of? What worries, memories, hopes, passions did

this stir up? You can tell some of your own story, if moved to. The response journal is private.

Don’t stress too much: Response journal writing should be first draft . . . thinking out loud.

No heavy revision needed. Range can be short (100 or so words) to quite long. It's good to have

a mix of ranges, to show engagement and spontaneity (writing freely, not cookie-cutter-y). If

you usually write short posts, try a few long ones. Go deeper. If you're usually long, try a few

short, wise posts. The main thing is – say something real.

From journal to forum to essay: As you post in the journal, be on the lookout for ideas,

reactions and opinions you can share in the forum and perhaps develop for an essay. When I

read your journal posts, I too will look for ways that your thoughts might be developed more

and tell you in my comments.

Three examples of React & Reflect type posts from past semesters, used with

permission:

The Camel and His Friends

My initial reaction to the story was "oh, no, it's one of those boring stories with some kind of message at the end". I actually left this one for the last, since it didn't seem interesting to me at first. But when I finished reading, I really like the message it was trying to give. I heard similar stories, but not this particular one. The message being told is to be careful who you chose as your friends. Throughout our lives we all meet different people, and sadly some of those people are out there to use us, especially misuse. I am sure everyone at some point in their lives will come across that. I personally came across someone, who use emotions to get me to believe the lies until I caught up to it. Unfortunately, that person did that to many other people i know and in the end burned all his bridges, I learned from that experience and I'm very cautious of who I trust.

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As I was reading Battle Royal it once again reminded me of the hardships the minorities in this

country had to overcome to achieve equality. The battle royal was when they blind folded the young African American men and had them commence in a boxing match followed by trying to pick up coins on a rug which had an electric current running through it. Then the narrator had to read his high school graduation speech to the highly intoxicated white men. After the young African American men endured all the events one of them (the narrator) was given a scholarship to the state college for black youth. Everything the white men had the young African American men do is now considered hazing in today’s society and is illegal. When I was reading the story, I reacted the way I did because the events that they African American men had to endure resembled a little bit of the hazing that was uncovered up at Penn State with the whole trial regarding the death of Tim Piazza. It is something I follow closely since my dad actually knew Tim since he is a Vice Principal at the high school he attended. What he had to go through just to get into a frat was unbelievable just like how the young African American men had to go through those events just so one of them would receive a scholarship.

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Most posts won’t be this long but feel free. This student-writer used mush of this writing in an essay.

This week, I chose to react and reflect on IND AFF, by Fay Weldon. Since the piece fairly long stories, I'm going to try to summarize my reactions for each paragraph of the piece so this doesn't end up ridiculously long.

IND AFF - When the author first opened the story by saying, "This is a sad story. It has to be," I was immediately interested. I wanted to know why it was such a sad story and why it had to be. However, when the speaker went on to explain the two footprints that are "Sarajevo's pride", the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, and the impact it left on the city and the world, I was a little bored, but only because I had learned about this already this past year in history class. As the author continued to describe the abundance of people on the streets, there was still nothing that intrigued me.

In fact, the information seemed a little irrelevant to me. However, when Peter begins to complain about the he fact that the rain makes the footprints look like puddles is when the author grabs my attention again. The author states that's she loves him, which puzzled and shocked me. Did she love his as in she was her favorite teacher or in a romantic way? When she said that he thought she didn't have a first-class mind because she had a feeling they weren't good in bed, I realized the demeanor of the relationship and kind of lost soem respect for the author.

She then begins to discuss the location of Sarajevo and their plans, which becomes boring again, until she's mentions Peter's wife, where I am again shocked, confused, and lose some more respect for her. The author continues to speak about Peter's decision between her and his wife.... After that, when they decide to go to lunch, their conversation and details bore me the until they begin to discuss Princip, the assassin to Archduke Ferdinand, and his role in starting World War 1. However, once it it noted that he is no longer listening and begins to talk about their food, which I personally think is just to keep the story moving along, rather then actual content that is essential to the story, I begin to lose interest again. It is only when they start talking about Peter's attributes that I become interested and engaged again. When he is first introduced, we don't know anything about him expect for to fact that he is married and is a college professor, so I was curious about him. She then shifts from Clare to her sister, which I thought was interesting and caught my attention. She begins to speak in length about how marvelous her sister's life is and how she can not compete with her.

As the piece continues to shift between telling the story of what happened in Sarajevo decades ago with the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, I begin to get confused as to why the author chose to set up the story quite like this. I found more of the information about their lunch to be rather uninteresting and used to simply carry the story along, with a few important sentences sprinkled in between. However, as we continue to read, and the context shifts back to the author's conversation with Peter, I finally understand why she shifts between the thoughts. When Peter asks her what she is thinking about, she says how much she loves him and the archduke's assasination, so I believe up until then, she was having thoughts about their lunch, the assassination, and her conversation with Peter. Their disagreement about what happened in Sarajevo in 19 14 begins to clearly frustrate the author after Peter clearly diregards her opinion on the matter and believes what he said is right because he has a "first class mind", which makes me very curious as to what has suddenly shifted in her mind. She quickly went from saying how much she loved him to getting frustrated at him. All of the sudden she just stands up and tells Peter she's leaving, which shocked me considering how affectionate she was towards him adn how much she said she loved him.

There were parts of the piece that were boring to me, that didn't really have to do with her relationship or the assassination, which is why I think I wasn't as interested. I think her personal connection with Sarajevo and the assassination helps make her message more powerful and easier to understand. I think I also connected on a personal level with the author and her attempts to out do her sister. Having an older sister who is smart, athletic, artistic, personable, and hard working is incredibly hard to keep up with. It also doesn't help that we end up taking all the same classes (obviously at different times in our life), play the same sport, and go through many of the same things. It is extremely hard not to compare myself with her, especially in the classroom and on the softball field. Not only does the speaker feel like 2nd place in her family, but she also feels that way in her relationship with her professor who has a wife. Overall, this was a piece I was able to react to based on prior knowledge of the assassination and similarities between the author and myself.

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