Journal Response

In college courses, some professors issue students to read an extra text, sometimes a biography, historical fiction...etc.

So when they ask you to write a Journal response you may be like...What??

Trust me, from what I've seen, these journal responses will come to be very useful to you as a student.

I remember reading Sky of Red Poppies by Zoreh Ghahremani for English 205 Critical Thinking. It is an easy read, but I did the mistake of speeding through the book [I actually enjoyed it].
This isn't a problem if writing the journal is all up to you.

However, some professors will have already prepared a list of questions of the assigned readings. Professors like thoughtful responses! Please feel free to think about the questions and write what you think about it. Professors also appreciate questions, it means you are thinking.

Answering to Journal Questions will help you to develop critical thinking skills. Why the character was going through a certain conflict. Was it gender related or cultural reasons? How did this conflict change the main character...etc...

Near the end of the semester GUESS WHAT? We had to write a paper related to the historical conflict in the selected book.

I was able to be the first one to hand it in. YOU KNOW WHY?


Because all my journal responses were filled with ideas and notes, facts from the related text! Including useful comments from my professor.
JOURNAL RESPONSES ARE IMPORTANT.

The more effort you put into it, the better you become as a writer, and a thinker, developing research and critical thinking skills that you will need.

In other classes, such as my History and Literature classes, these journal writings have been a great help. I've used my journal responses as a study guide for my tests.

You guys may want to think about it seriously. It is worth the effort. I passed these writing classes with an A.
So I hope my tip helps you to become successful in your courses. Don't be enticed to take the shortcut. We all know how the race between the tortoise and the hare finished, right?
Wish you guys the best!