Discussion

Format:
The way you use this journal is (almost) entirely up to you. The idea is just that you have consistent, personal writing experience. Here are some things you
can do in your journal:
Take notes on the assigned readings.
Write about the assigned readings in order to help you better understand your own perspectives of and opinions on the topics being discussed.
Write about your own experiences and how they relate to what you are reading or what you have discussed with your classmates on the discussion forums.
Take notes on interesting ideas from your classmates’ discussion posts
Brainstorm, freewrite, or take notes in preparation for your written assignments for class.
Take notes on or write about sources that you find in your own research in preparation for your research project.
You are welcome to include drawings, images, etc., but these will not count toward your written total.
There are just a few things that you should not do in your journal:
Do not draft your discussion posts or writing assignments in your journal. You can brainstorm ideas, but what is written in your journal should be significantly
different than what you turn in for these more formal assignments (in other words, don’t try to kill two birds with one stone).
Don’t only copy quotes from your readings. You may find it helpful to record interesting quotes, but you should then go on to write about these quotes or do
some other kind of writing. The majority of your journal should be your own words, not the words of others.
Do not plagiarize. Sources do not need to be fully cited, but if you are talking about a source, make a note of where the info is coming from. This will help you
to keep track of what is being said by whom and prevent any accidental plagiarism if you refer to your journal for other assignments.
Grading:
Journal submissions contain at least 500 words of writing per week. Your journal should total at least 5000 words by the final submission.
Journal entries are dated and organized (so that I can clearly see what you have done and when).
No plagiarism is present.
Journal is written in the spirit of the assignment (is personal and focused on class readings, discussions, and topics).