For each reading, students will be assigned one of the prompts listed below. All students are responsible for the entire reading and for taking detailed notes on the entire reading. But in addition to this work, each student will have a specific prompt. Some prompts will be assigned to multiple people. Students should be prepared to share their response to the assigned prompt in class, and doing so will be part of actively participating in class discussion.
An important note about these prompts: You should provide a detailed response. These are not one-word or one-sentence responses. You do not have to prepare a formal presentation, but you should be ready to talk about your assigned prompt. I also ask that you not rely on any Large Language Models (AI) for this assignment. We are trying to develop active reading and research skills, and if you use AI you are not developing those skills.
Find some relevant details about someone we’re reading about
We don’t want random biographical facts. Try to find something about the author that connects with our reading in some way, and be ready to make that connection for us during class discussion.
Find some details about one of the sources cited in our reading
Follow up on one of the texts referenced in our reading. Find that source, and tell us some things about it. You aren’t responsible for reading the entire source, but you should know enough about it to introduce us to it.
Find something confusing
If you find something that is confusing to you, your task is both to explain why its confusing and then explain what you did to try to make it less confusing. This will require some research. You aren’t responsible for completely solving the puzzle, and you can still be confused when you come to class. But you have to be ready to talk about your attempts to clear things up.
Find something interesting
Tell us something you found interesting about the reading, and explain why it’s interesting. What is “interesting” is obviously different for each person, so you’ll need to explain your choice with some details.
Find something that connects with a previous reading or discussion
Look for a term, concept, or approach in the reading that links to something else we have read or discussed. Again, detail here is important. Explain the connection you see between the authors or texts.
Find something that connects with another class
As you’re reading, you might see a term, concept, approach, or author that you’ve learned about in a prior class (or that you are discussing in another class this semester). Or maybe the connection between our reading and that other class is more of a “vibe.” No matter what connection you see, be ready to explain it in detail.
Find something that is relevant to your major
Look for something in the reading that connects to your major. This can be a term, concept, a theory, or anything else. This will require you to explain your own major/discipline in addition to explaining the connection you see.
Find something that connects with something you recently read, watched, listened to, or played
Have you read something, listened to a podcast or song, watched a video or show, or played a video game that connects with the reading? Explain the connection in detail by both explaining the idea from the reading as well as the thing you are connecting it to.