Journal Prompts Semester 2 Journal 1 126 129

Journal Prompts Semester 2

Journal 1 1/26 & 1/29 Write a short paragraph in response to each prompt: 1. What was your main takeaway from the shapes exercise and the Blind Men and Elephant parable? 2. If it is so clear that we should be open-minded, respecting the opinions of others, why is it so hard for us to live this way? Why do we see so much judgment of people with different points of view? (Be honest. Which means don’t hold back any reason you can think of. Any reason or list of reasons you can think of applies!)

Journal 2 1/30 & 1/31 Write a short paragraph in response to Brene Brown’s “The Power of Vulnerability” What did you find most meaningful? What did you like / learn / agree with? and/or What did you not agree with?

Journal 3 2/05 & 2/06 Write a short paragraph in response to "This Is Water" by David Foster Wallace What did you find most meaningful? AND WHY did you find it meaningful?

Journal 4 2/28 & 3/01 Journal Question: What reasons/motives did the white girl have for not cashing Griffin’s traveler's check? (Think of as many as you can, try for at least 2 -3) Are any of these reasons legitimate? (Explain why or why not if none of them are. )

Journal 5 3/07 & 3/08 Journal Question: 1. What are your main thoughts in response to Bryan Stevenson? 2. He says: “there is power in identity. When we create the right kind of identity, we can say things to the world around us that they don’t actually believe make sense. We can get them to do things they don’t think they can do. ” What do you think of this statement?

Journal 5 3/07 & 3/08 (Continued) 3. In the 4: 55 paragraph, he says, “there is power in identity. When we create the right kind of identity, we can say things to the world around us that they don’t actually believe make sense. We can get them to do things they don’t think they can do. ” CONTRAST this statement and what it means to the meaning of his statement in the next paragraph: “And mass incarceration, in my judgment, has fundamentally changed our world. In poor communities, in communities of color there is this despair— there is this hopelessness—that is being shaped by these outcomes. ” What important distinction is he making about the power of a positive versus a negative identity OR how our country is still shaping the identities of the poor (a large percentage of whom are still “people of color”)?

Journal 6 Journal Prompt: “Everything’s amazing, and nobody’s happy. ” 1. Explain how Louis CK’s statement about today fits the story of Fahrenheit 451. 2. Is this an accurate criticism of our culture? Explain your thoughts.

Journal 7 Journal Prompt: As we finish Part 1, the once smiling Montag is unhappy and scared for his life, he has brought his wife into a chaotic and dangerous situation, and the girl who took his smiling happiness away from him is dead—silenced. Was it worth it? Was Clarisse a hero or a villain for disrupting things? Why?