Purpose: To cultivate the habit of writing. I’d like you to explore your own mind, to reflect as a writer, thinker and student and make connections about what you are learning and pondering in your own life.

Prompt: Once a week, make time to sit down and write for approximately 15-20 minutes (writing efficiency and thinking, of course, varies greatly). You can consider this to be a diary, a freewrite, a rant, a letter to me, a brain drain, a crafted personal narrative, or the terrible drudgery of busy work (I recommend any perspective except the last). Use this time to dig deep and use the medium of writing to explore self, world, conflict and/or environment.

Source: There will be an “assigned” prompt each week; sometimes that will come from the folder on Blackboard that contains 30+ prompts where I encourage you to respond in writing to the photograph, the quote, OR one of the stated prompts – you should follow your inspiration, not try to answer every question. Sometimes I will ask an impromptu question that might connect to current events in or out of class to encourage you to respond to a philosophical concept. You may also diverge from this task and truly journal by writing what is on your mind – you do not need to stick to the prompt every week.

Length: around 500 words (quality over quantity)

Purpose: To cultivate the habit of writing. I’d like you to explore your own mind, to reflect as a writer, thinker and student and make connections about what you are learning and pondering in your own life.

Prompt: Once a week, make time to sit down and write for approximately 15-20 minutes (writing efficiency and thinking, of course, varies greatly). You can consider this to be a diary, a freewrite, a rant, a letter to me, a brain drain, a crafted personal narrative, or the terrible drudgery of busy work (I recommend any perspective except the last). Use this time to dig deep and use the medium of writing to explore self, world, conflict and/or environment.

Source: There will be an “assigned” prompt each week; sometimes that will come from the folder on Blackboard that contains 30+ prompts where I encourage you to respond in writing to the photograph, the quote, OR one of the stated prompts – you should follow your inspiration, not try to answer every question. Sometimes I will ask an impromptu question that might connect to current events in or out of class to encourage you to respond to a philosophical concept. You may also diverge from this task and truly journal by writing what is on your mind – you do not need to stick to the prompt every week.

Length: around 500 words (quality over quantity)

Audience: You and Me – that’s it!

. While the journal is private, do pay attention to standard writing conventions (punctuation, paragraphs etc.). As the course progresses, one way to improve your journals is to incorporate writing craft techniques and rhetorical appeals we’ve explored for effectiveness.