What We're Reading

Journal Work Assigned for Wednesday:

6 resources are assigned. Please click on all tabs to access the lecture and all the assigned reading.

A Lecture
Part of a Chapter
Choose 3 Songs
A Resource

How the professor Reads

As you start to reflect on your habits for reading and what your goals might be for what you hope to gain from reading in ENGL 100, I want to share what I do when I read.

How I read books versus how I read online versus how I "read" new media, like podcasts or videogames, changes a little bit from medium to medium, but the basic goal is the same:

I want to feel involved while I read or watch or listen
I want to hear what the author is trying to communicate
I want to save the good stuff--like facts and quotes--for later
I want to have space to respond with my ideas

Watch curry practice active, critical reading to prepare to write about stuff

8 minute video | consider what approaches to reading seem useful to you

Questions to Consider

If you ever feel stuck, use can use these basic questions to start any Reading Journal entry:

What do you know for certain about the reading and the ideas communicated?
What do you wish you knew more about?
What part should you reread, or what could you research/define, or ask about in a class discussion to deepen your understanding?
What do you like about how the paragraphs and sentences are written? What can you adopt as style in your own writing?
Finally, if you're totally stuck, peak ahead at the next Discussion prompt or the next Essay prompt, and use those questions to take notes while you read! That will ensure your Notes will be relevant to those larger assignments!

Read "What is Prewriting"

15 minutes | take notes on whatever sounds helpful

Access this chapter directly

Questions to Consider

This section in the chapter called "The Writing Process" adds to our discussion about what a reading and writing process Please don't read the entire chapter (unless you really want to); we will return to other sections in this chapter next week. For now, focus on the descriptions, the examples, and the questions offered that help you to decide how to organize your Reading Journal. Don't feel like your locked into to any one approach. Experiment! And reach out to your classmates in The Lobby if you want to share ideas!

Choose and Analyze 3 Songs

60 minutes to "read" 3 songs | search according to your interests and then take detailed notes on each song

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

Independent Research

Locate up to three songs--any three songs--that interest you or that you feel are important.

For each song

find the lyrics
find the song
find the music video (if there is one)

Take me to the Internets!

Questions to Consider

The first project, Essay 1, asks you to analyze a song. This reading assignment will help you choose a good one.

Create a new Reading Journal entry for each song you choose. It's totally up to you to decide what to focus on in your Notes--the lyrics, the sounds, the visuals, the voices...allow yourself to explore and consider what specific elements in each songs is communicating ideas or provoking some emotion or is simply responsible for creating whatever it is that makes this song powerful.

Review how to cite a song

5 minute webpage | this one is just for fun

Access this resource directly

Questions to Consider

We will study how to cite sources later. For now, the important focus is on developing strong habits for critical reading and analysis.

However, if you're curious about how to cite something like a song, you can use this resource from the University of Nevada. Have fun! :-)

Upload Entries to Your Reading Journal

Complete the assigned reading and upload your entries to the Reading Journal space in Canvas by the end of the week.

Go to my Reading Journal

Citations

Boylan, Kathy. "Chapter 4 - The Writing Process." Let’s Get to Writing!: An English Composition Textbook . Edited by Ann Moser. Virginia Western Educational Foundation, Inc, 2018. PressbooksEDU, accessed Oct. 2020, https://vwcceng111.pressbooks.com .

Hirway, Hrishikesh. Song Exploder, https://songexploder.net/episodes.

Extra Credit

Your Journal

Resources for Papers