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The Bell Jar Reading Journal: A Comprehensive Study Guide for Each Chapter, Lecture notes of Voice

Various options for students to engage with 'The Bell Jar' by Sylvia Plath, including vocabulary lists, image analysis, poem creation, character and theme exploration, and literary device identification. Each option encourages critical thinking and personal reflection.

Typology: Lecture notes

2021/2022

Uploaded on 09/27/2022

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hambery 🇺🇸

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The Bell Jar
Reading Journal
Options:
a menu
Choose one for each chapteryou may repeat
as often as you’d like, and you may combine/add
to each journal in a way that is beneficial to you.
At the top of your page, before every journal,
please write the necessary information:
The Bell Jar Reading Journal
Chapter ___, Option ____.
pf3
pf4
pf5
pf8
pf9
pfa

Partial preview of the text

Download The Bell Jar Reading Journal: A Comprehensive Study Guide for Each Chapter and more Lecture notes Voice in PDF only on Docsity!

The Bell Jar

Reading Journal

Options:

a menu

Choose one for each chapter—you may repeat

as often as you’d like, and you may combine/add

to each journal in a way that is beneficial to you.

At the top of your page, before every journal,

please write the necessary information:

The Bell Jar Reading Journal

Chapter ___, Option ____.

Note: I know these faces are comic in nature. They are in no way meant to make light the struggles of our protagonist. They come from the blog Hyperbole and a Half , whose author suffers from mental illness and uses humor as a way to handle dark times. Sometimes, it’s all you can do. (Ms. Prokott’s from last year)

The Bell Jar: Image, Theme, and Esther’s State of Mind.

Do all three:

1. Make a list of vocabulary you had to look up and any historical or cultural references you

needed to look up.

2. Write down three images from the chapter and offer a brief explanation of their

significance (individually, or collectively).

3. Choose one of the mood/pain scale faces below and identify which best defines Esther at

this time and tell me why you chose that face. Be specific. Take it seriously.

The Bell Jar : Character, Theme, Lenses, and Vocabulary.

  1. Divide your paper into for squares. Label them as follows: Characters Lenses “Things I had to look up” Themes
  2. In the character box, you may write about one or all characters. Write statements such as: o I noticed this character… blah blah blah.. because… o This other character changed too, because… ƒ Etc.

3. In the lens box, write down moments where you go aha! Or ooo! That makes me think of

___ lens!

  1. In the “things I had to look up” box, write down what you had to look up and what it is.
  2. In the themes box, identify any new themes that you encounter in the chapter or expand on themes you may have already seen. Express themes as full statements. (Remember that themes can be arrived at by answering the question “what is Plath saying about the human experience in this chapter”?)

The Bell Jar : Literary Devices, Themes, Character Developments,

Responses, & Predictions (choose three).

Literary devices:

a. As you read, make a list of at least five literary devices you see in the text and explain how they help your understanding of the text.

Themes:

b. Identify any new themes that you encounter in the chapter or expand on themes you may have already seen. Express themes as full statements. (Remember that themes can be arrived at by answering the question “what is Plath saying about the human experience in this chapter”?)

Character Developments:

c. Make a list of any significant character developments or conflicts in the chapter. (E.g., character vs. character—Esther vs. Buddy or character vs. society—Esther vs. female expectations)

Questions:

d. Make note of any questions you’d like to pose to the class, big or small.

Predictions:

e. Make note of any predictions you have about the book. (Do you think you spotted some foreshadowing?)

World Relevance:

f. What did this chapter make you think of? Are there any personal connections you’re having with the setting, plot, or characters?

The Bell Jar : Dialogue Document.

  1. Find a partner that you trust and who is a hard worker. Create a Google document with this partner that you are able to add to as necessary. Timing will be crucial to communicate with this partner, so make sure you are able to check-in throughout the night of assigned reading.
  2. Each partner will pose a high-order open-ended question about the reading on the Google document, and the opposite partner will respond to the question in a decent paragraph in the same document. (Be sure to name who is doing what so when you print it I can clarify.)
  3. After your partner has responded to your question, please write a follow-up response to them. You may agree, disagree, offer another example, or indicate further questions you now have. Example (this would happen twice in the journal with a question posed from each partner): Jean’s question:

Do you sympathize with Esther in this chapter? There are moments when I like her, and

moments where I am really frustrated by her. Thoughts?

Phil’s response:

I think Esther is struggling with blah blah blah here’s my really smart response with direct

references to the reading.

Jean’s follow-up:

Yes! I totally agree with you because blah blah blah look at us we are so insightful! Doesn’t

this make you think of blah blah blah? I can’t wait to talk about this in class! I’m so glad

we have such great teachers.

The Bell Jar : What Do You Find Significant? (choose one)

a. Choose a critical lens to track throughout the whole chapter, and offer very specific examples of how that lens reveals itself. Afterwards, write a paragraph explaining what you’ve learned. OR b. Choose a character (not Esther) and write a ½ page response from the point of view of that character. Then from your point of view, write a half page response to the chapter, making sure to include real- world connections and personal connections you have with the text. You could also do this as a letter to Esther. OR c. Find a way to annotate the text fluently. Buy your own copy and write all over it, or buy a million Post-Its, write on them, and stick them into the book. (When you hand in your journal, you’ll show the teacher your book.) OR d. Make a list of all of the characters in the chapter, including Esther, and write down: x A significant quote and explanation of why it matters x A paragraph response of the significance of that character to Esther in the text (e.g., is the character a foil, what are her conflicts with the character, how you predict her relationship with the character will develop, etc.) OR e. As you read, make a list of the most striking images/word choices you encounter in the chapter. Choose your top three images, and draw them, beautifully (no sticks) in your notebook, or find images online that depict the same image. Or, if you prefer, choose three of the meaningful words from the text and free associate denotations and connotations of the word. E.g.: The word Makes me think of Makes me think of Makes me think of

The Bell Jar : Rewrite the Text (choose one).

a. Choose one of the characters in the chapter (not Esther) and rewrite the significant events of

the chapter from that character’s point of view. Write the chapter in first person point of

view—feel free to get into this new character’s head and let us hear their voice. OR b. Rewrite the chapter as though the setting is 2018. Choose key moments in the text and write them from 2018 Esther’s point of view. Think about clear contemporary issues that she would consider; that is, add “slang”, proper nouns, current events, etc.