Composing and Revising

Keeping a journal

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A journal is a collection of informal, exploratory, and sometimes experimental writing. In a journal, often meant for your eyes only, you can try out ideas and find out what interests you about a subject. In a journal, you might do any of the following:

freewrite
pose questions
comment on an interesting idea from a class
keep a list of questions that occur to you while reading and researching
list ideas to draw on in future essays
imagine a conversation between yourself and your readers
stage an imaginary debate to understand opposing positions

You might keep your journal on your smartphone or laptop, using an app that lets you keep notes.

Keeping a journal

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