Commonplace Book Assignment
Interpretation of Literature
"[We] must fight the tradition of treating these readings as monuments in a museum, pieces under glass. We must try to come at these strong important texts:--no matter how good or hallowed they may be-as much as possible as fellow writers-as fully eligible members of the conversation: not treat them as sacred; not worry about ‘doing justice' to them or getting them dirty... but rather to ‘have them around' to wrestle with, to bounce off of, to talk about and talk from, to write about and write from." -Peter Elbow
Rather than looking at literary works as pieces of history to be studied for some solitary unarguable truth they once spoke for a generation, or looking at these works as "pieces under glass," as Elbow aptly terms them, the most fruitful reading experiences can be seen as holding a conversation with the author, as interpreting a text in light of where it can take its readers. Throughout the semester, I would like for you to work to find connections between your daily triumphs and struggles and the texts that we are reading.
While it may be possible to view these works as things to be used for immediate academic purposes and then promptly forgotten, by creating a commonplace book, you will create a space in which you can take up an ongoing discussion with generations of writers and scholars, a space in which you can collect those gems in your reading that you find meaningful and worth learning from, and a space in which you collate your insights for future reference in writing and personal growth.
The commonplace book is not a new assignment, but one that has been used since the dawn of philosophy. Ancient Greek scholars kept commonplace books, or hypomnema, to create personal archives of powerful ideas and rhetoric for use in future speeches. Writers in early modern England kept "table books" to organize thoughts from their reading for future contemplation.
More modern scholars, writers, and public figures have kept them, including Jane Austen, Thomas Jefferson, Henry David Thoreau, Virginia Woolf, Mark Twain, and even Bill Gates!
Part One
In this section, you will amass a collection of short passages or quotations from your reading that you want to come back to-- to wrestle with, to learn from, or to gain inspiration for future writing and reflection. If you wish, you may include passages from your reading outside of class or from texts beyond our scope here, but you must include at least fifteen passages from the texts we are working with in class.
At the end of the semester, once your collection has reached its full volume, find a way to organize these passages-group two or more selections together under a shared theme, to build connections between the passages you chose. As you amass your archive, do be sure to include the author's name, the work's title, and the page number your passage came from, as demonstrated in the sample page.
Part Two
Once you have completed part one, you will prepare a reflection explaining your rationale for this collection-why did you choose the passages that you chose? Why did these passages stand out to you?
What makes them meaningful? Why do these have significance for you as a reader? How do you connect these fragments to your life? Finally, explain your decisions to sort these among their respective groups-what made you draw the connection between these passages, and why are these themes important to you as a reader? This reflection should be 2-3 typed, double-spaced pages.
Part Three
The final segment of the commonplace book can be regarded as a close reading journal. In this section, you will practice your close reading skills throughout the semester. This writing may serve as a helpful springboard when you start to prepare your formal essays. To proceed, choose a short passage from a text that we have been working with in class, and type this at the top of a page.
This passage should be a rich, ‘meaty' selection that you believe helps to shed light on the text as a whole. In two double-spaced pages, unpack the detail in this passage for us-what elements in this passage stand out as significant? How does this passage shape your reading of the text as a whole?
As a class, we have already read these texts together, so summarizing the reading is unnecessary-try instead to add something new to the conversation, and to build on our class discussion by saying something that has not yet been said. By the end of the semester, complete five entries in this format, on any of the readings that we are working with in class.
Folders
The three parts of this assignment must be typed and prepared according to MLA guidelines as outlined in the syllabus (12-pt. Times New Roman font, standard 1-inch margins). In your folder, put a hard, printed copy of parts one, two, and three, and bring this to class for discussion and collection on 5/2.
Assessment
The commonplace books will be graded on the sophistication of your claims, the depth of analytical insight, the clarity of the writing, the use and strength of supporting evidence in backing up the argument, the organization of the argument as a whole, and stylistic accuracy.