Commonplace Book - CLAS 141 - F20

Commonplace Book Assignment

  Commonplace Book

Key Details

Over the course of this semester, you will be required to keep a commonplace book. A commonplace book is a type of journal where individuals make note of and compile passages from their reading that they find to be interesting and/or meaningful. The practice of keeping a commonplace book rose to prominence during the 17th and 18th century, as they provided a way for readers to save and recall passages that struck a chord with them before computers and the cloud. Moreover, an essential part of keeping a commonplace book was that its owner expected to look back through their old annotations and reflect on their importance in light new things that they had read.

My hope is that keeping a commonplace book in this class will help you to work towards two of our course goals. First, the process of selecting a short passage and reflecting on it will help you to become a more attentive and mindful reader. Second, looking through you commonplace book will help you make connections between different readings and discussions we have had in the class (this is something that we will do explicitly in the final podcast project).

I am also hopeful that the passages that you record will serve as fruitful jumping off points for in-class discussion.

Instead of a physical book, you will keep all your commonplace book entries in a Google Doc which you will share with me. You will have the opportunity to complete a commonplace book entry in advance of most classes.

Each of your commonplace book entries should have the following:

  • A short sentence/passage (max. 3 sentences) related to the homework prompt (NB: You must type - not copy - your passage into your commonplace book).
  • The correct citation of your passage.
  • One short paragraph (4 to 6 sentences) explaining why the passage stood out to you.
  • Another short paragraph (4 to 6 sentences) connecting the passage to a different text that we met in an earlier class/reading.

Assessment

Each individual entry in your commonplace book will be grading on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. A satisfactory will:

  • Be completed by class time (2 PM) on the day that the entry is due.
  • Feature a short sentence/passage (max. 3 sentences) related to the homework prompt.
  • The correct citation of the above passage.
  • One short paragraph (4 to 6 sentences) explaining why the passage stood out to you.
  • Another short paragraph (4 to 6 sentences) connecting the passage to a different text that we met in an earlier class/reading.
  • Be written in complete sentences.

Your grade for the commonplace book will be determined by the number of satisfactory entries you complete over the course of the semester.