Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Topic: Journals in Teaching Writing

10-second review: Suggests writing lists and imaginary dialogues as journal entries.

Title: “Using the Journal for Discovery: Two Devices.” S Whitehall. College Composition and Communication (December 1987), 472-474. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Summary: Uses lists and imaginary dialogues in daily journals as a way to generate ideas for future writing.

Comment: As I have said before, I never used personal journals in my writing classes because of the too-personal materials in them that were none of my business to read. But writing journal entries on what is being studied in class is a good idea and generating lists and writing imaginary dialogues and writing letters that you will never send are useful in developing ideas. I think I have changed my mind about using journals—although I still do not want “confessional” stuff. If students want to keep personal journals about their personal lives, they should, but they will not be part of my writing classes. RayS.

No comments: