Should you engage or respond to the journal entries of others, the idea is to engage with your

The journal entries should be informal writing; they should not present a polished beginning,
middle, and end. They should jump into the material whenever something puzzling or dazzling,
complicated or rich etc. strikes you as intriguing. There is no need to “figure out” the material,
once and for all. Instead, struggle with it; the greater the struggle, the better the journal.
Each journal entry should be right at three pages of 12-point sized text with 1-inch margins, in
Times Roman font. NOTE WELL: three pages is what I want, not two and one half (that is not
three), not four pages (that is not three). You should err on the side of giving me the amount of
writing that is exactly or as close as possible to three pages of text, if printed out.
Should you engage or respond to the journal entries of others, the idea is to engage with your
classmates, not to judge them. Grab onto something they have perceived or something that may
have given them a little struggle with; help them in the struggle; or, play tug of war. Speak directly
to them; they are the real audience for any response you give. Feel free to refer to common
experiences in the course (conversation in class, previous journal entries by you, them, or your
group members, shared readings or visual and sonic material (films, music, etc.) upon which you
have not yet offered any comments, etc.). This should develop into a direct intellectual experience
of the thinking of your classmates — and not remain merely an academic assignment.
No individual journal entry will receive a grade. Likewise, nor will you receive an individual grade
for any response to a class-mate’s entry. Rather the overall quantity and quality of your journal
entries and responses will form the basis for your grade. Your journal work for the course will be
viewed as a single, term-long effort. To receive a high grade on the journals, you can do the
following:
1. Produce a sufficient quantity.
2. Be engaged; struggle; open up; deal with the difficult;
3. Improve as the term progresses.
you ought put in your journal a discussion of a question or several that has come to you from the material that we have covered. You can choose one question or several. If several, prioritize. Focus and clarity are best. Not coverage. Depth of thought is what I am after most. Questions are better than answers.