Reading Journals

As a humanities course, the readings I have assigned are here not just for communicating information but as our interlocutors – they introduce the ideas that we will be engaging with. As such, it is important to have a good handle on the arguments of the pieces before coming to class, so that you can participate in the discussion.

To that end, you will keep a reading journal over the course of the semester. Complete a short entry (250 – 500 words) for each assigned reading. You should make note of illustrative quotes and examples that you can bring up in class to support your take, but your journals should not just copy/paste the authors words.

Your notes should identify the following:

What type of writing is it? (i.e., instructional (textbook or guide), literary, historical, theoretical, scientific)

And what is it about?

Who is it written for? (i.e., Students, fellow researchers, general public)

What are the primary points that the author is making? What is the thesis and how does the author go about making the argument?

What are the data that the author uses to make their argument? Are they it included with the article or accessible (in an archive or downloadable)?

How are the sources analyzed? Are the sources read through a particular theoretical framework? Are there particular statistical models or algorithms that the data is analyzed using? How well do the methods match the research questions and support the resulting arguments?

How does the work connect to other things you have read, either for this class or for others? What questions do you have after reading the piece? Where did you find the author persuasive and where did you not?

You can keep your reading journal wherever makes the most sense to you – as a physical notebook, as a collection of word documents, as notes in citation management software (Zotero).

I will look at your notes 3 times during the semester to make sure you are keeping up. But these are primarily for you so that you are prepared to participate in class discussion and can use the readings in your writings.