Writing is a tool for learning.  You cannot write clearly about something unless you can think clearly about it.  Accordingly, this course requires that you keep an ongoing journal within which you will need to demonstrate clear thinking about the material covered in this course. 

This journal, however, has an unusual twist: People typically write journals so that they can read them years later, in order to recall what they were thinking at a previous time in their lives.  For this journal, you need to write as though you are addressing yourself in the past, as you were when you were 13 years old.  In other words, imagine that you have the opportunity to write to yourself in the past -- to convey what you are thinking and learning now to the person you were when you were 13.  Write in the first person and address your entries to yourself (but at that younger age).  Also, remember that when you were 13, you did not know everything you know now.  Therefore, you have to take the time to explain things clearly and carefully to a 13-year-old reader.
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• To clarify your understanding of course material.
• To develop your ability to share this understanding with others.
• To provide a resource that you can draw on for all other assignments.

Evaluation Criteria:

In addition to the requirements above, the criteria for this journal are as follows:
 

You must include one entry in your journal for each set of class discussions or presentations (including instructor and student presentations; one entry per class).

You must include one entry in your journal for each video presented in class (including the first video).

Your entries should convey a grasp of the main points of each reading or video.

Your writing must be clear and readable for the instructor (i.e., proper sentence formation, spelling, grammar); writen to yourself at age 13; and written so that a 13 year old who has not taken this course can understand it.

The journal entries must be typed, single spaced, and stapled (double sided printing is acceptable).

 

 

Note: Your journals will be collected and evaluated at the end of the quarter.  If you do not keep up with your journal entries as you go, it will be extremely difficult to catch up at the end of the quarter, on top of other assignments and other classes.  Therefore, you will need to develop a systematic and self-disciplined approach to your journal entries. 

The good news is that journal entries will be valuable resources for your in-class participation, your panel appearances, your mid-term essay, your in-class presentation, and your service-learning presentation.  If you keep up with your journals, and use them as a tool to clarify your thinking about the material we are covering, as we cover it, all of the other assignments will be much easier to complete because they are based on exactly the same material.

Finally, if you are careful and creative with your journal writing, you could also turn your journals into effective writing samples that you could submit with your portfolios if you apply to become a communication major.