Turn-in Dates for Second Semester:

Juniors:  June1 

Notebooks may be turned in early.  They may not be turned in for credit after the assigned date.

The Worldview Notebook

Mr. Cleveland

Some of you have been asked in the past to keep a Writer’s Journal for your English class.  Some of you journal regularly or keep a diary.  For this class you will keep a separate sprial notebook to reflect your developing ideas or “Worldview.”

Listen for the term in class and in the media.  Everyone has a worldview.  It may be negative or nihilistic or evil or generous.  All of your decisions reflect a worldview.  All of your purchases and your attitude toward spending money reflect a worldview.  Your approach to education or politics or religion or world hunger suggests a particular worldview.

Believe me, the worldview you have today will change.  It should.  You should constantly be open to the possibility that your attitude or view of the world will grow, mature, develop, and expand.  It is in a “Worldview” notebook that you experiment with what you are thinking or what you believe.  Your writing in this notebook will be inspired by our class discussions and reading, but it is broader, too.  Your interaction with friends and media will help your worldview grow.

Approximately every three weeks you will be asked to submit your “Worldview” notebook.  Dates are posted above.  You may turn your notebook in early.  Occasionally you will write for the notebook in class.  The content will be suggested by a prompt, but don’t be surprised if you often find yourself wandering into other areas of thought.

You might find yourself posing questions in your notebook.  You might find yourself reacting passionately about a position someone took in class.  You will find some topics easier or more interesting to deal with than others.

How will the “Worldview” notebook be graded?  Participation is the key.  Write your thoughts and reactions to what is happening around you.  Look outside the close circle of your life and express a worldview about state, national, and international events.  I will give a subjective grade to your work, partially based on what I know of your ability to express; everyone who turns in the notebook will receive some sort of grade.  Frankly, some topics will require more space for response.  We’ll talk about it in class and let peers help develop a grading plan.  I will ask for you to write in ink.  Some may prefer to type and then tape them into your book.

Here are just a few possible areas—in addition to those mentioned above—about which you may write: happiness, social media, world hunger, interpersonal relationships, questions of right and wrong, education, what you value, what you are willing to do, or what you are willing to sacrifice for the general good.  They could be simpler topics, too.  We’ll generate ideas in class.

I hope you enjoy this ongoing project. What you write will be kept private to the extent that I can keep it private legally.