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Exploratory Writing: The Double-Entry Response
In a double-entry response, you both record and react to the ideas in our readings. On the left side of the page, summarize the main points, and paraphrase or quote important material. On the right side of the page, respond to and comment on your left column notes. Don’t simply agree or disagree; note ideas you don’t fully understand and try to understand some of the underlying assumptions the authors are making.
Refer to the following as a guide:
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Record
- What are the author’s main points?
- Key terms?
- Quotations (show page numbers)
- Paraphrase passages (show page numbers)
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React
- What do I think?
- How does this fit in with my experiences and observations?
- How does it contradict my own experience, or make me rethink my own assumptions?
- How might this author be doubted?
- Are there contradictions?
- Where is this author/article confusing
- What values, assumptions, interests seem to underlie this position and interpretation?
- What do I want to bring up in class discussion? What do I need to understand better, or hear others’ reactions to?
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Note that you will make a decision about how much to put in the “record” column. You’ll have to choose whether it’s best to respond paragraph-by-paragraph, section-by-section, or even chapter-by-chapter. The level of detail depends on the reading; choose appropriately.
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