a) Gut response to reading/discussion: (At least 2-3 paragraphs typed)
You might consider the following question when writing a response.  Briefly discuss how did you felt about what was discussed and why.  Then spend most of your response analyzing what you've read on a symbolic level, NOT a literal one.  I have read the book already, so do not need a summary of what happened.  I want your ideas about the hidden meanings of what is portrayed.

b) Concepts and Symbols involved.  (few sentences to paragraph typed)
What do the people, things, events symbolize?  What social theories or myths might be associated with these ideas/topics?   What questions are raised or what questions can you research to find possible answers or theories that support this topic/theory.  (You can also discuss how concepts from class relate)

c) Possible outside topics or newspaper articles, current events etc... relate? (few sentences to paragraph typed)  
Relay a newspaper or magazine article, something you saw on TV, on the web, in a book or a source you looked up in the library catalog or even a professor or other expert you talked with about the topic. 

(20 points per entry, 5 total)  
(*You can use your journals -especially parts b & c to either define or build off of your research for the Final Project)

*SAMPLE JOURNAL  (Order and way you express all three parts is not important)

A. The beginning of the invisible man seems to be very confusing and chaotic.  It’s hard to keep track of what is going on.  But in the prologue, I think it set the reader up for the whole story.  It’s almost like he tells the end before the beginning.  There is a lot of symbolism going on as he constantly refers to invisibility.  As he says “they refuse to see me” or “see figments of their imagination…” (prologue pp. 1-23)  The whole idea of invisibility is really emphasized,  he feels like he is not being seen for who he is, but as an “ectoplasm,” a ghost, who’s presence is seen or felt at times, but never really acknowledged as being real.   Another part that catches my attention is the one about the woman who has a dream.  It was hard to connect why that was there, but then I thought about the fact that women have been historically unseen also.  That could be what is symbolized in the terrible dream she had and why her face became a “blob” that “ran up the chimney.” (ibid.)

B. Overall there is so much to analyze in here, but these are a few scenes that caught my attention in the prologue.  In general, “unawareness, being naïve and invisibility” are big concepts and ideas that are expressed in the first chapters and I think it is only the beginning of this journey he starts out talking about in the prologue. 

C. Possible connections to outside topics or research can be around the idea of how invisibility exists in society and people who are seen but not seen.  One example is the homeless.  We see these people all the time, but many people avoid them or pretend they aren’t there.  It’s true that many have problems that need attention, but they are real people and are all different kinds of people on the streets for different reasons.  If we don’t lump groups together like stereotypes, we might be able to help them more.  My son was homeless for a while and I realized how complex and painful the reasons are for this situation.  Once I was touched personally, I never looked the same at homeless people again.  We shouldn’t have to go through similar trauma however, to feel social empathy.   So possible research topics are Homelessness in Seattle, Analyze the dominant Symbols in Invisible Man, Stereotypes or Look at Historical Black Colleges.