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		Presenting the Journal
			Since the journal is your gesture of making meaning, it will not be graded directly or read through systematically. Instead, we want to respond to your own responses to what is going on in the journal. At two points in the course you'll have individual conferences for 5-10 minutes. You'll summarize for your TA the high points of your journal and interpret yourself as an interpreter. And you'll probably be asked some hard questions about your responses and your summary. At the end of the course, you'll have a final 15 minute conference. Your work in your journal will count 35% of the final grade, and your grade on the journal will be determined by how you present it to your TA in that final conference. In other words, you'll want to prepare by reviewing it, selecting especially significant parts to read out loudto your TA, and summarizing and interpreting your work so as to show what you made of the course for yourself. adapted from Gary Lindberg's "The Journal Conference: from Dialectic to Dialogue," in The Journal Book, ed. by Toby Fulweiler (1987) Guidelines for Final Journal Conference Your conference should be 12-13 minutes in length. You are in charge of the time; therefore, you must prepare carefully both to identify the points you want to make about yourself as a reader and to offer evidence for those points. Think about the conference as a conversation that you lead.  Your TA will ask questions occasionally (and you should be able to answer them swiftly with references to your journal) and will offer comments where appropriate. You, though, have to manage your time wisely in order to cover everything you need to say.  Since several conferences have been scheduled consecutively, you cannot go over the time allotted.  Practice your conference, then, with a classmate or a friend Use Nabokov, McCarthy, Frost, and/or Perrine to prepare the points you want to make about yourself.  Go back through these essays now. What do you see in them that you didn’t earlier? What do you understand now that you didn’t earlier?  What has been the story of your "education by poetry" this semester? Your comments must be—as always--specific, supported with evidence from the right hand sides of your journal, and indicative of the growth that accompanied each new reading. Do not feel obligated to prove tremendous improvement. It is perfectly acceptable to discuss a problem you are having with an area of reading or with a text. You still might not fully understand something in the Nabokov or the Perrine, for example. Bring that up in the conference. This conference should be an honest one. After all, if you are to improve your critical reading and thinking skills, you have to first identify areas of difficulty. A thoughtful consideration of your experience in this course will be more successful than an empty assertion about how much you've grown as a reader, writer, and thinker. Use one (or more) of the final three works (by Morrison, Cisneros, or Sayles) to sum up what you've made of the course (Note: you cannot get an A for your journal conference without discussing your engagement with at least one of these works). If we are looking for anything in these conferences, here’s what we’re looking for: A thoughtful reflection on (not recounting of) your experience as a reader over the course of the semester. Your grade is based on the conference. Remember, though, that you cannot possibly have a full discussion without a thorough journal—period. You will, know your grade when you complete your conference. Note: You must bring your journals with you to your conference and read from both the right- and left-hand pages to provide support for the points you want to make. If you ignore this requirement, you cannot get a grade higher than a C on your conference. Here's the Powerpoint Presentation of a Final Journal Conference that I showed in lecture; True Journal Stories, a film student's journal conference; and another Final Journal Conference from a former student. Journal Conference Grading Guide A Reading journals indicate not only the questions and problems a student has while working with a text, but also an honest attempt at logical answers and solutions. In addition, the journals provide a full and rich argument on the student's reading of the texts studied. Finally, the conference about the journals is led by the student and consistently focused on the reading skills emphasized in class. These conferences demonstrate a strong understanding of the student as a reader and a clear understanding of the underlying principles of the course. B Reading journals indicate not only the questions and problems a student has while working with a text, but also some attempt at logical answers and solutions. In addition, the journals provide an adequate argument on the student's reading of the texts studied. Finally, the conference about the journals is primarily led by the student and somewhat focused on the reading skills emphasized in class. These conferences demonstrate an improved understanding of the student as a reader and an adequate understanding of the underlying principles of the course. C Reading journals often indicate the questions and problems a student has while working with a text, but make only minor attempts at logical answers and solutions. In addition, the journals provide only an opinion or recounting of the text, not a supported argument on the student's reading of the text. Finally, the conference about the journals is not fully focused on the reading skills emphasized in class or remains at superficial level (e.g., “It’s important to use a dictionary” or “I learned to reread”). D Reading journals might indicate the questions and problems a student has while working with a text, but seldom attempt logical answers and solutions. They often deal with only a portion of the text or address the entire text on only a surface level (perhaps offering a plot summary or personal connections to a story line or character). In addition, the journal provides only broad judgmental statements on the texts studied, not a supported argument on the student's reading of those texts. Finally, the conference about the journals is unfocused and ignores required discussion of particular reading skills. F This level of work is obviously unacceptable. The journal is not submitted, or the student may completely ignore the requirements of the journal assignment, or the student is in violation of The University of Texas at Austin academic integrity policy.
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