Reading Journal 1
Note: Journals entries will not be graded on grammar; they will be graded simply on completeness, display of thinking process, and effort.
Readings include the following:
Raymond Carver “Cathedral” pp. 34 to 46
Edgar Allan Poe “The Cask of Amontillado” pp. 107 to 113
Amy Tan “A Pair of Tickets” pp. 179 to 196
Your journal will consist of three steps:
Step One—Tracing the Plot (What?)
First, view Freytag’s Pyramid, included in your Course Documents. Then, summarize each of the short stories using one of two methods:
• Draw a Freytag’s Pyramid for each of the short stories matching the major elements of each story to the parts of the plot (exposition, rising action, complication, climax, reversal, falling action, and catastrophe) that exist in the story.
• Write a summary of the plot for each of the short stories matching the major elements of each story to the parts of the plot (exposition, rising action, complication, climax, reversal, falling action, and catastrophe) that exist in the story.
Step Two–Responding (So What?)
Following your drawn or written summary, write your reaction to what you have just read (so what?). Make sure that you react to each of the three short stories. At this point, you want to explore your reaction to the text and connect the new information to your existing web of knowledge.
Step Three–Analyzing (How did the writer write?)
Respond in detail by describing how the authors used the following elements of fiction in each of the three short stories. Choose at least three elements for each story:
• narration and point of view
• character
• setting
• symbol
• theme