How to Write a Diary Entry

 A diary entry is very similar to a personal letter. You write about things that happened (to you), about
your problems, about your feelings, and about your hopes and plans.
 A diary entry begins with the DATE, which is usually written in the top right-hand corner.
 After that, you MAY address your diary (Dear Diary) but you don’t have to do this.
 At the end of your entry you MIGHT want to say goodbye to your diary, but again, you don’t have to do
this.

The composition of a diary looks like this:

Date : e.g.: 19th April 2010 or 19 April or Monday, April 19

Opening formula : e.g.: Dear Diary,

Introduction : You will usually begin your text with some kind of general sentence about
the day (e.g.: Today was a wonderful day) OR a general sentence
about your momentary state of mind (e.g.: I’m totally down.)

Main part : In the main part of the diary entry, write about
- what happened to you
- how you felt and feel about it
- what your hopes and/or plans for the future are

Conclusion : You can end your diary entry with some kind of final remark about the
day or your feelings (e.g.: I feel better now that I have written
everything down.) OR a sentence about your momentary situation
(e.g.: I have to sleep now, it’s already midnight and tomorrow I’m
taking a Geography test.)

Closing formula :e.g.: Love, X

In your whole text

You will need many different tenses, as you may write about the past, the present, and the future.
You may use informal language (short forms, incomplete sentences) and exclamations (e.g.: Terrible!).
You should use connectives to help the reader understand the temporal (time) and logical connection of
your ideas. Here too, you should prefer informal (easy) words to formal ones (e.g.: anyway
instead of nevertheless; but instead of however; besides instead of moreover/furthermore; so
instead of that’s the reason why; etc.)

Your assignment is to write a diary entry for Winston, which covers something that happened in chapters 2-5
but does not include something that he already wrote about… at least not something that we have read which he
wrote. Use the format indicated above and try to write in a style that Winston might use.