9/27/10
You have just been elected president of the United States of America. What are the first three things you'll do (you must address terrorism, healthcare, and the economy). List the first three things and explain.
9/28/10
Are you a nature fan, or would you sooner eat cockroaches than voluntarily go on a hike? Write about your best or worst nature experience.
9/29/2010
You answer a knock at the door and find a delivery guy holding a package for you. You open it up and find ___________. Describe the best package you can imagine receiving.
9/30/2010
Growing up with brothers and sisters can be difficult. If you have siblings, discuss the benefits and shortcomings of your situation. If you're an only child, do the same. Would you rather have more siblings or fewer? Do you think you'll feel the same when you're middle-aged?
10/1/2010
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived" --Henry David Thoreau
What do you think Thoreau means by the phrase "to live deliberately"? Do you think YOU live deliberately?
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Journal Prompts 9/20-9/24
September 20, 2010
"Pot Shots"
"Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages you've had." --F. Scott Fitzgerald
It's easy--often even mildly entertaining--to criticize people we don't know very well. Do you feel you're fair to other people? Do you criticize too much? Is your tendency to be critical or fair?
September 21, 2010
Some people might look for friends who are wild, aggressive, and daring; others might look for friends who are smart, loyal, and funny. List at least ten qualities you think a perfect friend should possess, ranked in order from the MOST important to the LEAST important. Do you know anyone who comes close to being the "perfect" friend?
September 22, 2010
Slang changes wildly from generation to generation, dating slang included. Kids in the past used to get "pinned"--a guy would literally give a pin to a girl he was dating in order to show that they were an item.
What language do you use to describe "dating" (pairing off)? What language do your parents use? Do boys in your generation give anything to girls to show that they are a couple (class rings, letterman's jackets, etc)?
September 23, 2010
Technology has led to the discovery of vaccines and medical treatments. It has also brought computers and televisions into people's homes and has provided us with electricity, the Internet, phones, cars, planes, and much, much more. But an argument can be made that technology has largely worsened the quality of our lives, polluting the air, making our lives needlessly stressful, and dampening our enthusiasm for books.
If you had to give up one technological advantage that you use all the time, what would it be? Do you think your life would be better off without it?
September 24, 2010
" Personal Personification"
Personification is a literary device that gives a nonliving object characteristics of a living thing. For example, a writer might say the wind moans, or the rain laughs, and the leaves whisper. The poet Carl Sandburg wrote a poem called "Fog" that begins with personification:
"The fog comes in on little cat feet."
Write the more lines, rhymed or unrhymed, to follow Sandburg's line.
For example:
The fog comes on little cat feet,
And creeps silently past my window.
It patiently stalks the moon,
And suffocates the twinkling stars.
"Pot Shots"
"Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages you've had." --F. Scott Fitzgerald
It's easy--often even mildly entertaining--to criticize people we don't know very well. Do you feel you're fair to other people? Do you criticize too much? Is your tendency to be critical or fair?
September 21, 2010
Some people might look for friends who are wild, aggressive, and daring; others might look for friends who are smart, loyal, and funny. List at least ten qualities you think a perfect friend should possess, ranked in order from the MOST important to the LEAST important. Do you know anyone who comes close to being the "perfect" friend?
September 22, 2010
Slang changes wildly from generation to generation, dating slang included. Kids in the past used to get "pinned"--a guy would literally give a pin to a girl he was dating in order to show that they were an item.
What language do you use to describe "dating" (pairing off)? What language do your parents use? Do boys in your generation give anything to girls to show that they are a couple (class rings, letterman's jackets, etc)?
September 23, 2010
Technology has led to the discovery of vaccines and medical treatments. It has also brought computers and televisions into people's homes and has provided us with electricity, the Internet, phones, cars, planes, and much, much more. But an argument can be made that technology has largely worsened the quality of our lives, polluting the air, making our lives needlessly stressful, and dampening our enthusiasm for books.
If you had to give up one technological advantage that you use all the time, what would it be? Do you think your life would be better off without it?
September 24, 2010
" Personal Personification"
Personification is a literary device that gives a nonliving object characteristics of a living thing. For example, a writer might say the wind moans, or the rain laughs, and the leaves whisper. The poet Carl Sandburg wrote a poem called "Fog" that begins with personification:
"The fog comes in on little cat feet."
Write the more lines, rhymed or unrhymed, to follow Sandburg's line.
For example:
The fog comes on little cat feet,
And creeps silently past my window.
It patiently stalks the moon,
And suffocates the twinkling stars.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Journal Prompts for 9/13-9/17
September 13, 2010
"Animal Instinct"
Which animal do you think you most closely resemble. Consider quiet animals like mice; bold and fearless ones like lions; eager, friendly ones like dogs; and finicky secretive ones like cats. Consider your appearance, your personality and the way you move. Then write about the animal with which you feel a kinship, explaining how you are similar in personality, characteristics, and/or physical features.
September 14, 2010
"All Alone"
Mark Twain once said:
" The worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with oneself"
What do you think he meant by this? Does this idea apply to your own life? Write about how you feel when you're alone. Do you dread it, or do you enjoy having time alone?
September 15, 2010
"Types of Love"
An almost infinite variety of types of love exist. The love of parents for their children is very different from the love of brothers for their sisters, or wives for their husbands, of kids for their pets, and on and on. Choose two people in your life whom you love and explain how your love for each of them is different.
September 16, 2010
"Beauty or Brains"
"Beauty is only skin deep" the old saying goes. If you had to choose between beauty and brains, which would you choose? Which do you think would get you further in life? Which do you think would make you happier?
September 17, 2010
"Pick a Parent"
Do you think you are more like your mother or more like your father? Or do you think you resemble one in looks, and the other in personality? Whom would you rather resemble?
"Animal Instinct"
Which animal do you think you most closely resemble. Consider quiet animals like mice; bold and fearless ones like lions; eager, friendly ones like dogs; and finicky secretive ones like cats. Consider your appearance, your personality and the way you move. Then write about the animal with which you feel a kinship, explaining how you are similar in personality, characteristics, and/or physical features.
September 14, 2010
"All Alone"
Mark Twain once said:
" The worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with oneself"
What do you think he meant by this? Does this idea apply to your own life? Write about how you feel when you're alone. Do you dread it, or do you enjoy having time alone?
September 15, 2010
"Types of Love"
An almost infinite variety of types of love exist. The love of parents for their children is very different from the love of brothers for their sisters, or wives for their husbands, of kids for their pets, and on and on. Choose two people in your life whom you love and explain how your love for each of them is different.
September 16, 2010
"Beauty or Brains"
"Beauty is only skin deep" the old saying goes. If you had to choose between beauty and brains, which would you choose? Which do you think would get you further in life? Which do you think would make you happier?
September 17, 2010
"Pick a Parent"
Do you think you are more like your mother or more like your father? Or do you think you resemble one in looks, and the other in personality? Whom would you rather resemble?
Monday, September 6, 2010
Journal Prompts for 9/7-9/10
September 7, 2010
There are many firsts in our lives that we don't remember, such as our first tooth, first step, first word, or first birthday. Firsts from later on in childhood come easily to mind: a first pet, a first award, the first day of junior high, a first kiss, a first summer camp. Write about a special first that you remember clearly (ten lines).
September 8, 2010
Most families set rules for their children, especially regarding behavior and responsibility. Which rules do you find annoying? Do you wish you could stay out later, go out more, dress anyway you'd like? Write about the rules you feel are unfair (ten lines).
September 9, 2010
"How Embarrassing!"
Life is chock-full of embarrassing moments. When you're lying awake at night, having trouble sleeping, do your most embarrassing blunders run through your mind? Write about some of these humiliating memories (10 lines).
September 10, 2010
What is your opinion about the possibility of life on other planets? Do you need to see it to believe it, or do you believe that in a universe as vast as ours, alien life must exist? Write on the topic, beginning with the sentence,
"I believe (or don't believe) there is life on other planets because..." (ten lines).
There are many firsts in our lives that we don't remember, such as our first tooth, first step, first word, or first birthday. Firsts from later on in childhood come easily to mind: a first pet, a first award, the first day of junior high, a first kiss, a first summer camp. Write about a special first that you remember clearly (ten lines).
September 8, 2010
Most families set rules for their children, especially regarding behavior and responsibility. Which rules do you find annoying? Do you wish you could stay out later, go out more, dress anyway you'd like? Write about the rules you feel are unfair (ten lines).
September 9, 2010
"How Embarrassing!"
Life is chock-full of embarrassing moments. When you're lying awake at night, having trouble sleeping, do your most embarrassing blunders run through your mind? Write about some of these humiliating memories (10 lines).
September 10, 2010
What is your opinion about the possibility of life on other planets? Do you need to see it to believe it, or do you believe that in a universe as vast as ours, alien life must exist? Write on the topic, beginning with the sentence,
"I believe (or don't believe) there is life on other planets because..." (ten lines).
Sunday, August 29, 2010
August 30-September 3 Journal Prompts
August 30, 2010
"A Sense of Sports"
People generally feel passionately about sports. Some play sports and detest it because they aren't as good as they want to be; others play and love it because they are competitive and skilled. Some pay close attention to pro or local teams. Some attend games as serious fans; others attend because they like the social interaction. Some people hate sports and thing that the people who pay them and watch them are "brainless jocks". Which group do you fall into? Explain.
August 31, 2010
Songs can invoke vivid memories; hearing a particular song can rocket you back to elementary school or last summer. Write about a song that brings back memories. What do you think about when you hear that song?
September 1, 2010
"Alone at Last!"
Your parents just left on a weeklong vacation--leaving you all alone and in charge of the house. What do you do? Instantly call your friends and announce a party? Decide to have a party and then regret it when you're cleaning for six hours the next day? Worry and don't do anything?
September 2, 2010
"If I Could Meet"
If you could meet anyone, alive or dead, who would it be? Consider scientists, entertainers, world leaders, artists, writers, people in your family, and so on. Write five sentences about who you'd like to meet and why. Then, make a list of five questions you'd like to ask that person.
September 3, 2010
"Friend Types"
Do you have a best friend? Are you the kind of person who goes everywhere in big groups? Or are you more of a loner? Write about the kind of "friend person" you are and if you're happy with the kind of friend you are.
"A Sense of Sports"
People generally feel passionately about sports. Some play sports and detest it because they aren't as good as they want to be; others play and love it because they are competitive and skilled. Some pay close attention to pro or local teams. Some attend games as serious fans; others attend because they like the social interaction. Some people hate sports and thing that the people who pay them and watch them are "brainless jocks". Which group do you fall into? Explain.
August 31, 2010
Songs can invoke vivid memories; hearing a particular song can rocket you back to elementary school or last summer. Write about a song that brings back memories. What do you think about when you hear that song?
September 1, 2010
"Alone at Last!"
Your parents just left on a weeklong vacation--leaving you all alone and in charge of the house. What do you do? Instantly call your friends and announce a party? Decide to have a party and then regret it when you're cleaning for six hours the next day? Worry and don't do anything?
September 2, 2010
"If I Could Meet"
If you could meet anyone, alive or dead, who would it be? Consider scientists, entertainers, world leaders, artists, writers, people in your family, and so on. Write five sentences about who you'd like to meet and why. Then, make a list of five questions you'd like to ask that person.
September 3, 2010
"Friend Types"
Do you have a best friend? Are you the kind of person who goes everywhere in big groups? Or are you more of a loner? Write about the kind of "friend person" you are and if you're happy with the kind of friend you are.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Welcome to a New Year!
Here are the journal prompts for the first week of school.
August 24, 2010
The Worst Time of My Life!
What was your most humiliating school experience? Write a short, possibly funny, description of it. Your response must be at least ten lines long.
August 25, 2010
About My Name
Many names have special meaning or history. For example, the name Hannah means "favor" or "grace". The name Vito means "life".
Write about your own name. Who named you? What does your name mean? Does it have special ethnic or religious significance? Are you named after a family member? If you could change your name, would you? What would you change it to?
Your response should be ten lines long.
August 26, 2010
Childhood Memories
Most people have vivid memories of certain events from childhood. What sticks out in your mind? Pick one particularly strong memory and describe it in detail. (Must be ten lines long)
August 27, 2010
The Big Event
When a special event is on the horizon, people plan for it and get excited about it. Maybe it's a dance, an election, a family event, a party, a birthday, or an important sports game.
Think of a special event that you planned for and looked forward to that turned out much differently from what you expected. Write about what you expected would happen and what actually happened.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
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