Week 8 Reading Diary

Reading through my past diaries, I would say that I did a decent job of not making all of them a collection of dry summaries. I feel like all my diaries have at least a little bit of my opinions or some analysis in them. I do think that I could stand to be more analytical in future diary posts. That way the diaries would be more helpful when I'm writing the essay later in the week. I've also done more half readings than I've wanted to in this first half of the class, and I hope that I can do more full readings in the second half.

My posts vary somewhat in length since some are half-reading diaries and some are full reading diaries, but I feel like in either case the posts are of a good length. I also like to include pictures in my diaries since they help call to mind the stories that I read in that unit. I have only included quotes sparingly, but I may start to do that more in future posts. I occasionally make connections to other works I've read, but again I think I could do this more. 

I find reading less enjoyable when I take notes while doing it, so I prefer to write down my thoughts after having completed the reading. When I look at the notes I took in the diaries, I've found them useful in helping me to remember the basic content and themes of the past units I read. While I don't tend to consult my diaries when I write my essays, some of the things I note in the posts end in my essays. I feel like because the readings I choose are interesting, I tend to remember many of the stories even without having to look at past notes I've taken, which is often more than I can say for the readings I've had in other classes. In general I think the reading diaries are a good strategy to help people to better remember what they have read. I feel like the storytelling and essay assignment also have a similarly positive effect on people's remembrance and comprehension of their past readings.