Character Journals: Initiating Involvement and Identification through Literature.

Abstract

they're reading. When they disagree with a character's actions or attitudes, they come away with a better sense of their own identity. ^■iBeth, an eighth-grader, wrote the following emotional reaction to a dramatic literary episode in Will Hobbs' Bearstone (1989) through a character journal entry. The character journal encouraged Beth to assume the role of Cloyd, a 14-year-old foster child, to step inside Cloyd's mind and heart and to compose a personal response from his point of view. The result was a powerfully written entry that captures the deep emotions of an adolescent struggling for acceptance and love.