What is a dialectical journal?
In a dialectical journal (sometimes called a double entry journal), students are asked to copy a significant passage from a literary piece (putting it in quotation marks and using MLA citation to give credit to the source) on one side of a paper and on the other side provide interpretation, analysis, connections to personal or observed experience or another literary work, questions, predicitons, or any reactions. A response should be a minimum of 6 sentences and should avoid summarizing the quoted passage. Click here to access more detailed instructions and a sample journal entry. Back to questions.
