1. Assertion Journal What is an assertion?
Stylistic approach or technique
Requires a strong declaration or confident statement regarding a belief or a fact
Not all assertions are true

2. Assertion Journal Process
1. Copy the quote in your journal (on a page of notebook paper).
2. Identify the author’s claim. What is the author really saying? You will need to analyze the words and their arrangement to understand the overall meaning.
3. Comment on how this quote is meaningful to you. You can relate similar experiences, refute the author’s claim, or otherwise explain how and why the quote pertains to your life, something you’ve read, or the world in general. Use specific examples and reasoning to support your explanation.

3. Things that work well when writing an Assertion Journal
Utilize definitions
Paraphrase the quote
Employ synonyms
Scaffold a logical progression of connections
Use meaningful transitions (words, phrases, or transition with content)
Create connections to current events, characterization, psychology, etc.
Tie back to quote’s purpose

4. Class Sample “Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind.”
- Nathaniel Hawthorne

5. Assertion Journal #2 Complete for Homework
“Happiness is a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which if you sit down quietly, may alight upon you.”
- Nathaniel Hawthorne