Reading Entry Ideas

Reading Entry Ideas

Remember: All entries must include your thinking! Dig deep & Elaborate!

·       Theories – Push yourself to dig deeper than ever before! Explain how/why you came up with your theory/theories and back up your thinking with text evidence. It’s okay to write long about 1-2 theories!

·       Character Journal/Diary or Letter – Put yourself into your characters’ shoes and express how you believe the characters are feeling and what they’re thinking about. These should not be retells told by the character. After your journal/diary or letter, add you own thinking based on what your character “wrote”.

·       Poems –Write a poem based on your reading. After the poem, include your own thoughts about the content of the poem or why you decided to write the poem.

·       Symbolism – Is there anything in your book that you believe is symbolic? How did you come to this conclusion?

·       Discuss the characters’ desires, motivations, obstacles, and/or significant relationships and why they are important to who your character is as a person.

·       Character Change - Discuss how a character changes in your book. What is the reason behind the change? What is the effect of the change?

·       Secondary Character Influence - How do the secondary characters influence your main character(s)? Why is it important?

·       What SOCIAL ISSUES are present in the book? How do the social issues affect your characters? What is your thinking about this? You might think about how there are often two sides of an issue. One character’s perspective may be very different from another’s.

·       Discuss the UNFAIRNESS you notice in your book. Back up your thinking with text evidence.

·       Discuss the MOOD of a chapter or a book (think about the eerie chapter of Afternoon of the Elves and our discussions about The Jacket and The Bystander).

·       Make a table about Important Character Actions or Words.

Significant Character Action or Quote	My thinking…

·       Theme – After you finish a book, write the theme(s) of the book. What life lesson(s) did the author want you to take away from the book? Back up your thinking with text evidence and your final thoughts.

Underlined Entry Types – Sample entry has been provided.