John Stenzel
English 180, Fall 2005

Journal Exercise 1--Icebreaker Essay
E-mailed to me by noon Sunday, October 9th, or earlier.

Take a short book that you really enjoyed or that really excited you growing up, and revisit it as a young adult. First, freewrite your memories of this book--what you remember about its plot or characters or language or illustrations, the associations you have with reading it or having it read to you, the circumstances under which you read it or re-read it. Let this part flow freely; don't worry about revising until later.

Next, get the book itself--either the exact book you handled as a child (if possible) or a copy from the library or a bookstore. Read it again and try to track your reactions. What is your experience now? What do you feel about this book now? Why? Can you understand why it had such an effect on you? Do you feel embarrassed about it? Would you recommend it to a friend with a child? Why or why not?

Formatting and style: I'm not expecting you to agonize over this assignment for ten hours, but I do want you to take it seriously--a good-quality couple of sessions of an hour or two should do it. Your intended audience is an intelligent person who has not read the book, who wants to learn what the book is about, how it affected you (at different points in your reading career), and why it affected you. You'll need to develop with enough specifics to give your reader a clear idea of the main points, but you don't want to blather on and on giving a re-cap of every incident and detail. You should re-read your piece and revise for clarity and coherence. Some of the more interesting and well-written submissions may be shared (anonymously if desired) via the class website.

Pieces that are obviously first-and-final-drafts will not get full credit, nor will overly short or off-topic responses. For ease and consistency's sake, send your submission in the body of an e-mail, as well as in an attachment; sometimes attachments get squirrelly, and we want to be able to READ and COMMENT ON your text, not admire your formatting. Be sure to print and save a hard copy as a backup--e-mail it to yourself as well, in case of inadvertent deletion.