1. Reading dialogue Journals Where there is an open invitation to talk about books!

2. The things you can write about in your RDJ: How the Author Wrote The Author Concepts of Genre The Reader’s Strategies The Reader’s Affect The Reader’s Own Writing Recommendations Connections to other books you’ve read.

3. How the Author Wrote… What was his or her subject? Why this topic? Plot: What happened; what were the significant events of the story? Not a book report synopsis. Pace: How quickly or slowly did the author move the plot? Was it gradual enough to be plausible and involving? Fast enough to hold a reader’s interest? Was there too much action and not enough character development?

4. Plausibility: Did the plot ring true? Would characters act and react this way? Were the circumstances believable? Did it matter? Description and detail: Could we see it happening? Feel it? Hear it? Too little description? Too many details? Dialogue: Was the talk realistic? Could we hear the individual character’s voices? Too much dialogue? Too little? What did the dialogue show about the moods, ages, intentions, and backgrounds of the characters?

5. Flashbacks, flash-forwards, and foreshadows: How did the author use shifts in time, and why? Affect: Did the reader laugh? Cry? Why? Setting: What time and place did the author choose? Why? Was the setting integral to the story? Was it convincing? Confusing? Main characters: Who were they? What makes a main character a main character? How can a reader tell?

6. Character development: How were characters introduced and developed? How were their actions, thoughts, and feelings depicted? Were they believable? Could the reader enter characters’ hearts and minds and see through their eyes? Which characters did the reader relate to? Did the reader care about what happened to any of them? Did any of them remind the reader of characters from movies, plays, or other novels? Or people from the reader’s real life? Titles: Did it fit? Was it a grabber? Did it give too much away? Theme: What ideas about life and living come through the story?

7. Problem: What was the main issue for the main character to try to resolve? Suspense: Did the reader wonder what would happen next? How did the author establish a suspenseful tone? Did the author surprise the reader? Formula: Could the reader predict too easily what was going to happen? Was it too much like other books by this author or from this genre? Conventions: Did a reader notice short paragraphs or chapters? Sentence fragments? British spellings? Why did the author write this way?

8. Length: Was this book too long? Too short? Point of View: Who told the story? What voice did the author choose: First person? Third person/anonymous? Single character, dual, multiple, or no character? Why did the author choose this point of view? What were the advantages and drawbacks for the reader? Where did the reader stand in relation to the narrator?

9. The Author Titles of other books by an author, including sequels, trilogies, and series Comparisons with other books by an author Comparisons with other authors’ style

10. Concepts of Genre What are the elements of fiction? Novels: What makes a novel a novel? Short stories: What makes a short story a short story? Poetry: What makes a poem a poem? In what ways does it differ from prose? What are the elements of poetry? How do different poetic techniques affect a reader? Fiction and Non-fiction: How do we classify books as one or the other?

11. The Reader’s Strategies Choice: How does the reader decide what to read? Pace: Did the reader skim, skip, slow down, regress, speed up, look ahead? Why? When? To what effect? Abandoning: How and when does the reader reread a book? What differences are noted a second time through? Predicting: Did the reader imagine what would happen next? Was the guess confirmed?

12. The Reader’s Affect How did the book make the reader feel? What did the book make the reader think about? What was the reader’s involvement with the characters? What did the reader learn about through the story? What did the reader like or dislike about a book? What were the best and worst features of a book?

13. The Reader’s Own Writing Comparisons with what the reader is writing and how it’s coming Connections to ideas to use in current or future pieces of writing Ways the reader might use or has used elements of an author’s writing in his or her own work Connections between an author’s style or choice of subjects and the reader’s style and writing territories

14. Recommendations Is a book worth recommending? Who might enjoy it? What reactions did other readers report? Who are good authors? What are titles of good books? What are titles of other good books by this author? What titles by other authors address a similar subject or theme? How will the reader arrange to borrow, lend, or return books?

15. Dear Mrs. Lancaster, I am reading Eragon by Christopher Paolini. It is a really good book with lots of action. There is always something exciting in every chapter. I like when there are battles, like in the chapter when Eragon and Brom are in the Yazvac. It was very exciting when Eragon shot that Urgal in the head and killed another Urgal by using Brisingr. In some parts Eragon reminds me of Harry Potter. They both have no family, are very strong and brave, they both use magic, and like in the last Harry Potter book, there is some people they are trying to kill. I think it is cool that Eragon can talk to his dragon, Saphira. I just finished the chapter where Eragon got his fortune told by Angela. Based on what she said, there is going to be a lot more action and battles, and Eragon will live for a long time. But there is some bad things she said, like someone else will die and cause him a lot of grief, and someone in his family will betray him, but the only person left of his family is Roran, and I don’t think Roran would betray Eragon. I am excited about this book and I know it will end happily. Sincerely, Jared C, Starfish 07-08 GOODEXAMPLEGOODEXAMPLE

16. Non example Dear (Tramp) Kevin, This book I am reading Gulliver’s Travels, is getting better. Gulliver the adventurer was just attacked by a giant creature, sort of like me to you. The big man is probably thirty feet tall, while Gulliver is about six feet tall. How is your book going? I hope it takes you two years to finish it. Ha! Ha! What is it called? What is your main character’s name? I’m thinking about reading the Earthsea Trilogy. Jon says it’s great. Or I might read that series that you’re on. Give me your opinion on the series. Thanks, vegetable. Sincerely, Yeah! All right! Dan # 1

17. +/^ on non example

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