The document provides instructions for three required journals on readings assigned during the semester for an American Literature course. The journals must be at least 15 sentences, written in MLA format, introduce the work and author, and address one of 14 provided topics rather than simply summarizing the work. Topic choices include applying literary analysis techniques like characterization and evaluation methods to works, analyzing genres, discussing themes or symbols, and examining other elements like tone, conventions, and allusions.

1. American Literature - The Interesting Narrative of the Life of
Olaudah Equiano
Journal Instructions and Topic Choices Three journals are
required during the semester. Journals must be written on
current readings. Journals are due on Thursdays. Only one
journal can be written per week. Journals need to written in
MLA format. They should be AT LEAST 15 sentences and
include a thesis that introduces the work, the author, and the
journal topic. Journals are not summaries. If you choose to
write on poetry, you will need to include at least THREE poems
by the same author. Choose ONE of the following to address in
your journal. 1. Apply 2 of the steps of characterization to a
major or minor character in the work by discussing how the
technique reveals something about his society. ▪ What a
character says ▪ What a character does ▪ What a character looks
like ▪ What others say about him ▪ What the author says about
him 2. Apply 2 of the methods of evaluating literature to the
work. ▪ Historical provenance ▪ Details of the lifestyle of the
period ▪ Psychological accuracy ▪ Position in the history of
literature ▪ Insight into the author’s perspective 3. Define the
genre to which the work belongs and apply 2 parts to specific
examples. 4. No scene of violence exists for its own sake.
Choose a violent scene and discuss its relevance to 2 different
characters, not how it relates to the plot. 5. List 2 themes of the
work and for each briefly discuss how each is revealed through
character, incident or symbol. . 6. Xerox and paste a significant
passage onto the journal and explain it in terms of its
significance to the work. 7. Choose 2 symbols in the work and
discuss their significance to a specific character(s), or choose
Journal Instructions and Topic Choices one symbol and discuss
2 different ways in which it is employed. 8. Discuss how tone
(the author’s voice) combined with the atmosphere (setting +

2. plot) equal mood (reader’s feeling). 9. A touchstone was a piece
of jasper used to determine the quality of gold; the word means
a test of genuineness. Choose one of the following touchstone
lines (or one of your own appropriate choosing) and apply it to
a theme in the work. ▪ All the world’s a stage and the men and
women merely players ▪ Fools rush in where angels fear to
tread. ▪ When the going gets tough the tough get going. ▪ It was
the best of times; it was the worst of times. ▪ Behind every great
man is a great woman. ▪ Woman is man’s damnation. ▪ Absolute
power corrupts absolutely. 10. Choose a touchstone line from
the work and apply it to a character(s) in the work. 11. Discuss
how a major or minor character violates or adheres to the
conventions of his society and the result. 12. Discuss the effect
of 2 mythological allusions in the work. 13. Discuss 2 of the
characteristics of the period and how they are evident in the
work. 14. (Man vs. Man; Man vs. Himself; Man vs. Nature; Man
vs. Society)