How to Construct a Commonplace Book

How do I construct my Online Commonplace Book?

You can either use a real notebook or you may utilize an on-line journal.

What should I include in each log?

Each log should include at least three quotations from the readings that you find
significant. If you have been assigned to read more than one text, be sure to include at
least one quotation from each text. A quotation may be as short as a phrase or sentence,
or as long as a paragraph.

Each log should also include your comments on the quotations you have selected. In your
comments, explain why you chose each quote and what you can deduce from it. Who do
you think is speaking here, and who is s/he speaking to? What is the speaker talking
about, and what do you think s/he's hoping to accomplish by this? Do you have any ideas
about how this quotation can help us understand the text? Do you have any thoughts
about why it might-or might not-- have been persuasive to the intended audience? Is this
something that you find persuasive now? Is there anything you would like to remember
from this text for your own life; if so, what and why? Do you have anything you would
like to say back to this author?

How should I choose quotes for the commonplace book?

• Find a line or passage that offers a powerful statement. You are allowed to define
powerful in any way you wish. Sometimes a quotation is particularly persuasive,
emotional, descriptive, or meaningful-but there are all kinds of other things that
set one line apart from the rest. Decide for yourself what is powerful, and then
think about what makes it powerful.Or

• Find a line or passage that helps you understand this text. Or

• Find a line or passage that confuses you. You find yourself wondering if you
might understand the whole text better if you could make sense of this part Or

• Find a line or passage that reminds you of another text (or "voice") in the
American conversation. (How is this similar to or different from the other, and
how can that comparison or contrast contribute to our understanding of the
conversation.) Or

• Find a line or passage that demonstrates a noteworthy way of connecting with and
persuading the audience. Or

• or Find a line or passage which made a strong impression on YOU. It could be

something you seriously disagree with; if so, go ahead and counter the argument.
On the other hand, if it's something you like, is this something you want to
remember and/or live up to in your own life? Would your life be any different if
you do?
 REMEMBER: This is a list of suggestions to help you identify the quotations for
your commonplace books. You don't have to follow all of these suggestions in
each log. If you did, we'd all be worn out.

Can I express my own opinions in my commonplace logs?

Commonplace books have always been used as places where readers can explore new
ideas and test old ways of thinking rather than simply as places to vent opinions. Of
course, an "opinion" presented in a persuasive fashion and supported by reasoning and
evidence is an argument and not an opinion. So go ahead and commuicate your thoughts
in a way that persuades other people to accept them or at least give them serious
consideration.

Do Style and Grammar Count?

You can use an informal style as long as you write in a way that does not undermine your
credibility as a commentator. (Significant grammar problems will affect your readability
and your credibility.) As I recently learned from an online commonplace book, Confucius
once said:

If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant;

if what is said is not what is meant, then what must be done remains
undone; if this remains undone, morals and art will deteriorate; if
justice goes astray, the people will stand about in helpless confusion.
Hence there must be no arbitrariness in what is said. This matters above
everything.

THAT is an explanation of the way in which style and grammar are assessed.
Concentrate on communicating clearly and effectively instead of worrying about
avoiding mistakes.

Why bother?

By saving key quotations from each text you read, you'll find yourself reading more
closely and remembering the text more effectively.

We will be using the commonplace logs in the class as the starting point for class
discussion, so be sure to note anything you find particularly significant or puzzling. By
sharing your questions-and even pointing out the things that confuse you-you'll be
helping us get right to the important points in our class discussions so that we can work
together to build a better understanding of the texts.

Does this count towards my grade?

Your commonplace book will count as 10% of your grade. Your logs will be evaluated
according to the criteria set forth above. Missing and late logs will have a negative effect
on the grade. The ultimate way of assessing the commonplace book will be to consider
the degree to which it reflected close reading, deep thinking, and intellectual growth
AND the degree to which it contributed to the ongoing conversation of the course.

Are there any warnings that can prevent me from constructing a weak
commonplace book?

Be careful to choose significant quotes rather than simply inserting random passages.
Also be sure to offer a thoughtful commentary rather than paraphrasing what it says or
saying you liked or disliked it, or agreed or disagreed.

Here are some additional important tips that have been provided by a man who teaches
other people how to construct spiritual commonplace books. His warnings and
suggestions also apply to our commonplace books:

Commonplacing has, at times, had an odium attached to it. This is partly because
commonplaces, when overused, have a tendency to become trite. It is partly because they
have sometimes been used in ways that are inapplicable or that show insensitivity to a
situation. But most of all, it is because they are frequently used in ways that violate their
original literary context, reflecting a mere show of learning and not genuine erudition or
care. Even today, most books of quotations perpetuate the tendency to quote out of
context by failing to provide title and page number, chapter and verse, which means that
readers are hampered in checking the original contexts for themselves. Some compilers
even go so far as to paraphrase their sources, which makes them unfindable even for a
person willing to read through hundreds or thousands of pages in order to locate a
quotation in context.

Ideally no quotation should appear without sufficient citation to be found in context

quickly and easily, which is not to say that this particular ideal must always outweigh all
other considerations. Unfortunately even pursuit of that ideal has hardly been the custom.
We have long had to tolerate the prevalence of excerpts totally disconnected from their
original contexts in quotation books and at the heads of chapters in other books. Now-a-
days this deficiency is expanding into new contexts, such as e-mail signatures. -- Norman
Elliott Anderson, Commonplacing in the Spiritual Traditions

How can I tell what a really good commonplace book should look like?

Choice of Quotations--A really good commonplace book allows us to benefits from the
observations of a really attentive l reader who notices when there is something puzzling,
or when there is a pattern, or when there is a moment of real power in a text. The reader
can help the rest of us even by being willing to confess what s/he doesn't understand.

Commentaries--A really good commonplace book doesn't mention what is "boring" or

"interesting" or "hard" or "easy" but instead comments on the possible meanings of texts.
Instead of paraphrasing what the quotation says, a good commentary comments on how
particular words, phrases, or patterns in that quotation might lead us to a deeper sense of
the text's meaning. Instead of saying "I agree" or "I disagree" with the text, a good
commentary might offer a more thorough explanation of the reasons for agreement or
disagreement. Finally, a good commentary takes into consideration the context in which
the text was originally written in order to evaluate its possible meanings and
effectiveness. Instead of concluding that a text is ineffective (or just plain bad) because of
confusing language or politically incorrect thinking, a good commentary will consider
whether anything can help us understand how the text might have been received in its
own time.

Writing--A commonplace book is serious but it is also a journal--a work in progress

rather than a finished "product." Hence, it does not need to meet the writig standards for
formal, completed academic projects. However, it usually is a way for the reader to
practice his writing and thinking. For this reason it does need to communicate ideas
clearly and persuasively. It also needs to be written in a fashion that can gain the respect
of readers.

Finally, a truly great commonplace book, although made up of separate entries about
separate texts, will reflect the gradual development of the reader's understanding of
American literature. Logs will sometimes refer back to earlier texts in order to compare
and/or contrast works or to consider the evolution of a particular way of thinking or
writing. As specific kinds of questions begin to strike the reader as particularly important,
the commonplace logs will begin to use those questions to explore those issues on a
deeper level.