ELI 162
Guidelines for Your Reading/Writing Journal


You will be doing two journal entries during the term. You can choose a chapter from a non-ELI textbook or an article WITH REFERENCES. If the article does not have references/bibliography, you need to choose another article.

When you first select your reading, please fill out and submit the following form. I will let you know by email if your reading is acceptable.

Your name:

Your email:

The type of reading:
Textbook

    Name of the text:
    Chapter title:
    Page numbers:
Print magazine or journal
    Name of the magazine or journal:
    Page numbers: Number of items in the bibliography/reference list: (if there is no bibliography or list of references, you will need to choose another article!)
Internet article
    Location (http:// etc) of the magazine or journal:
    Number of items in the bibliography: (if there is no bibliography or list of references, you will need to choose another article!)


The Reading

  1. Find a textbook or periodical related to your field.
  2. Choose a chapter or article that interests you and photocopy it. If you are using an Internet article, print it out. Remember that it must have a bibliography to count.
  3. Write the bibliographic reference on the photocopy. It will look something like this:
    For an article - Clinton, W. (1996). Why I want to be President. Famous Magazine, 17 (2), 25-27. [17= the volume; (2) = the issue; 25-27= page numbers]
    For a book - Clinton, H. (1996). It takes a village. New York: Famous Publisher.
  4. On the photocopy, circle the main idea. Then, highlight the important points as you would if it were material for one of your classes.
  5. Turn in your highlighted photocopy when the journal article is due.

The Summary

  1. Put as the Subject in your e-mail message, say 'Summary of' and the title of your reading.
  2. In the body of the message, begin with the bibliographic reference. It will look something like this in your e-mail message:
    For an article - Clinton, W. (1996). Why I want to be President. _Famous Magazine_, _17_ (2), 25-27. [17= the volume; (2) = the issue; 25-27= page numbers]
    For a book - Clinton, H. (1996). _It takes a village_. New York: Famous Publisher.
    Notice the use of underlines before and after the title in an e-mail message to show that the title is underlined.
  3. The summary should be about one-fourth the size of the original article. It includes none of your own opinions-- you are reporting as accurately as possible that author's point of view, not yours, in a summary. (The critique is the time to put in your two cents' worth.)
  4. Mention the author's name and the title of the reading somewhere in your summary.
  5. Make sure you've given the main idea and only as many details as are necessary to make the author's point of view clear.
  6. Read through your summary before you send it and paraphrase any places where you've used the original writer's words.

The Critique

  1. Put as the Subject in your e-mail message, say 'Critique of' and the title of your reading.
  2. Mention the author's name and the title of the reading somewhere in your critique.
  3. The critique is where you respond to what the author wrote the way you might discuss a topic with someone in person
  4. You can have any opinion you like about the reading, but you must be understandable and give reasons for what you say about it.

Grading

Each summary and critique is worth 35 points. You can get up to 10 points on the reading:
  1. Turning in an article in your field that is at least five pages long
  2. Circling the main idea
  3. Highlighting the supporting details

You can get up to 25 points on the summary and critique:
  1. Putting the bibliographic reference in the right form
  2. Writing a good summary
  3. Writing a good critique

Feedback

How well did you understand the concepts and points in this lesson? (Select the closest appropriate option from the three buttons below):

Very Well
Not Sure
Not at all

Provide some comments about your experience in working through this exercise (e.g. I need more information, this is easy, etc.) Please be sure to give some brief explanation of your comments.

Your email

Your name


(Thanks to Jon Dorbolo for the inspiration behind this form!)

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http://ucs.orst.edu/~healeyd/162journal_guidelines.html
Last updated April 4, 2000 by D.Healey, Deborah.Healey@orst.edu. Based on work by Marino/Polensek, revised 9/95, 6/98, 9/99 by D.Healey.