Journal #1

1. Journal #1 Separate out a section of your notebook for journals. You’ll turn these in at the end of the year. Sweet. Writing is worse than... Which part of the writing process do you detest? Choose ONE: Brainstorming? Creating a thesis statement? Outlining? Actually writing? Revising? It can be anything else… Then, compare that part of the process to something else that’s terrible. Clearly explain the connection between the two.

2. Journal #2- 3 parts What if money were no object? • What would you do if money didn’t matter? Pick an occupation. Also, is this actually possible? • Write the beginning of a story when you first saw that occupation. Pretend like you were a small child and start however you want to start. But, use the qualities of a good beginning we discussed. This might be hard, but use the first thing that pops in your head. • Then, end in a way which illustrates your purpose. Again, remember the qualities of a good ending. Remember, your purpose is to illustrate that you want to do the above occupation. This won’t be perfect, but show me you understand the skills we discussed.

3. Journal #3- Creeper Dialogue Listen to someone’s conversation this afternoon/tonight. This time do the following: • Listen in on the conversation between two to three people. • Write ONLY the dialogue between the people. Leave 2-3 spaces between each line. • Your dialogue should illustrate the age and gender of the participants. You SHOULD alter the dialogue to show this. It HAS to be at least 10 lines! Make sure you can rip this one out of your notebook to turn in!

4. Creeper Journal Continued • Exchange your dialogue with another person. • Other person: Guess the age and gender of the participants. See if you’re right. Follow-up Then, add specific description in the spaces provided to illustrate the scene. Use imagery, active verbs, and figurative language to add to the scene.

5. 2/19/14- Journal #4 Everything's Amazing and Nobody's Happy Part 1: • Do you agree with Louis CK? Why or why not? Provide ONE example in support of your argument. Don’t elaborate yet. You will do this soon. Part 2: • Write a letter to Louis CK using one of the tones we looked at earlier. Give him your argument and example, but with the tone you’ve selected. Elaborate to reach about half of a page.

6. Journal 5: Then to Now • Describe “you” from 4 years ago as a freshman. What did you value? What did you look like? Who were your friends? And so on…The basics. If you had to write your own Eharmony profile, what would you say about yourself? • Describe “you” now. Try to hit the same points you made in the previous entry. • What stands out? Did you change in a very particular way? Did your surroundings change you? Is the “you” from 4 years ago worse than the “you” now? Develop 2-3 insights you gain from doing this.

7. Journal #6: What’s your spirit animal? • Cliché? Yes. Fun and exciting? Of course. • Compare and contrast yourself with an animal of your choice. • There are a few ways you can go about this: • Put yourself in a scene as the animal (point by point) • Go block by block and simply discuss how you’re like this animal. After doing this, what do you learn about yourself?

9. Journal #7: To Text or Not to Text? Nick Rao's Rant Do you sympathize with him? Is his argument effective? Does he cause you to reevaluate who you text? Or why you text? Any other thoughts? Who’s his audience? What’s his purpose? Is his argument logical?