Have you ever kept a diary or a journal? What kinds of things did you write about and why?
There are many different kinds of journals, diaries, logs, and notebooks. Here are a few:
- In a reading journal, you record your responses to various texts assigned in a course. Some teachers may ask you to keep a notebook in response
to particular issues or questions being discussed in class. Performers
such as actors and musicians might keep rehearsal journals,
while some people on voyages keep travel journals.
- A diary usually emphasizes personal reflection, often
on a daily basis and often for no other reader than the writer.
- A log
often contains structured observation, investigation, even
experimentation. Laboratory and field research of various kinds
is often formally recorded in a log.
- As more courses are created
with online sites and materials, e-journals (for electronic journals) are becoming increasingly
popular. These hybrid forms combine the immediacy of journal
writing with the facility of the Internet to distribute written
communication widely and quickly.
What's in a name? Whether it's called a diary, journal, log, or notebook,
the name means less than the writer's purpose.
|
 |
