ASSIGNMENT #1 — DIALECTICAL JOURNALS

The term “Dialectic” means “the art or practice of arriving at the truth by using conversation involving question and answer.” It is a method of intellectual investigation. It is a conversation between you and what you are watching or listening to. When you write down your thoughts about the media content, you make your own meaning of the work in order to truly understand it. When you do this yourself, then the media content belongs to you–you have made it yours. The media content is there for everyone to observe; however, the connections and interpretations are uniquely yours. You are neither right nor wrong in your response. So be willing to take risks and be honest.

Use your journal to incorporate your personal responses to the media content, your ideas about the themes we cover and our class discussions.  You will find that it is a useful way to process what you’re watching/listening to and prepare yourself for group discussion.

Objectives:
By doing this assignment you will:
 bring your own background and experience to the media content;
construct your own meaning from the media;
provide direct feedback to yourself and your professor on your thoughts and 
understanding of the media; and
gain insight into the significance of ideas, constructs, events and details in the media.

Procedure:
Journals are evaluated on the quality of your response. 
Select 3 quotes from the assigned media.
Select quotes that YOU WANT to write about. 
Write a specific and detailed responses to the quote you have chosen. 
You can write as much as you want for each entry.
Simply observe, think, and write as much as you can. 
Always be sincere about what you are saying in your writing.
If you get stuck, use the following list to help you get started.

WRITE ABOUT: what seems significant, powerful, thought provoking, puzzling, confusing or 
unusual, what you think something means, what personal connections you make, how it makes 
you feel or think, do you agree or disagree with the author’s suppositions, how does the video 
content impact your values and beliefs about the issue, etc.