The Response Log
While reading the literary work, you will keep a log (that is, a record) of your journey through it. Log entries will consist of things such as section summaries, comments on the action, characters, language, themes, and your personal reaction to those elements in the play. Record all entries on loose leaf paper that can be bound in a flat paper folder with brackets when due. (The response log is due the firstday of school.) You may also type your responses if you choosea good idea if your penmanship is less than exemplary. You are in charge of your own personal log. You will decide what to write and in what form, but there are several rules: 1. Clearly label each entry with the page numbers or act and scene numbers that the entry covers. 2. Write six log entries total. (Each independent novel should have three separate log entries--one for the beginning, middle, and end.) 3. Log entries should be 1-2 pages long. 4. Over the course of the novel or play, respond to a variety of the components listed below to ensure a balanced and creative log. Write in your own voice. Interact with the text. Grades will be based on the thoroughness of your responses. Entries: For each reading log entry, do a minimum of three of the following: 1. Summarize the action of the section. 2. Comment on the significance of the section. What is its purpose? What would the novel or play be like without it? 3. Ask any questions about the scene. Has anything in the scene caused you confusion? Ask one of the characters in the section a question--or ask me a question. Example: 2.1--Questions: Polonious--whats your problem? Reynaldo--are you going to spread the bad word about Laertes? I hope you dont. Ophelia--how strongly do you feel about Hamlet? Youd better avoid him totally before something terrible happens! Hey, Hamlet, what are your feelings toward Ophelia? Do you care about her? (K.W.) 4. Quote lines that you enjoyed from the section and explain why you enjoyed them. Example: 1.1--Horatio saysMost like. It harrows me with fear and wonder. This line really explains to us what all three of the guards are feeling when they see this ghost. They are all
frightened by it, yet they wonder why it came to them and why it is dressed the way it is. It really sets the mood for the whole scene because it lets us know that they are anxious. The first few lines of this scene really shocked me because we didnt know any thing about these characters yet they were all so nervous and jumpy. Plus they are very suspicious and cautious of everything. (D. G.)
5. Describe your reactions to a character, action, or idea you confronted in the scene. Example: 1.3--King Claudius seems like a flake to me. He seems to know what hes talking about, but to me its like its rehearsed or something. I can understand him trying to be friends with Hamlet, but it seems to me that he is just doing it to make himself look good. I dont think he means anything of what he said to Hamlet. (J.A.) 6. Talk about the relationship characters have to one another, quoting specific words or phrases to give evidence to support your opinion. Example: 4.1--Im not sure if Gertrude is honest to Claudius or Hamlet. I cant decide if shes trying to BS Claudius or if she has betrayed Hamlet. I felt really confused about just who was on whose side. I want Gertrude to just be covering for Hamlet, telling Claudius what he thinks he already knows, not that Hamlet is in complete control. But then again Hamlet told his mother not to go to Claudius and she did, so Gertrude doesnt seem so great to me. (D. D.) 7. Pretend you are an actor playing one of the characters in the novel. Get inside that characters mind. Tell how the character feels about herself, about other characters, or about the situation of the scene. Example: 1.2-- I feel sorry for Hamlet! He comes home to find out that his mother is married to his uncle and his father is dead. Then to find out that his buds are seeing his fathers ghost! Hes really getting confused and messed in the head. No wonder he wishes it were legal to commit suicide. This poor kid must have some problems, big time! I think hes getting curious as to why this all is happening at once. I think hes getting a whiff of a dead rat. (J.A.)