Sajeda Ahmad 

March 26, 2019 

 
The Chronicles of Journaling  
 
I have been reading novels and writing essays for as long as I can remember, 

however, this time was different. I always struggled with understanding what a story is 

trying to tell or what I should be thinking about while annotating what I have read. 

Honestly, literature was not always my strongest subject because I have struggled so much 

with developing themes, theories, and implying meanings into context. This time I read a 

novel, ​Beloved, ​written by Toni Morrison, and with such difficult context and so many 

different perspectives going into the book, I understood this novel perfectly. An amazing 

literature teacher of mine came up with a new technique for us students to analyze what we 

have been reading, and thankfully, it has worked out the best for me. Journaling. I journaled 

what I read no matter how small the detail, or how powerful one word might take into 

context, it helped. It felt so good to me that I actually understand a novel fully, I have put so 

much hard work and time into my journaling, it was all worth the tears and sweat I used to 

work up when regularly annotating, because I never understood what would go on while 

reading. Like I said, I always struggled reading novels but with the journaling I have done 

while reading ​Beloved, I​ have become a more developed reader and writer, and I am 

stronger in the areas where I was weak in. Using my Critical Reading Journal really helped 

me understand deep aspects and thoughts, and will develop my future in helping me 

becoming more professional in writing by viewing a bigger picture when reading a novel. 

Reading in general has never been easy for me. Growing up with English as my 

second language gave me a few struggles to really understand deep contextual meanings. As 

I have grown older, I have improved and I have done better but I have never reached to the 
point where I wanted to be. I always felt like my teachers were proud of my work and 

effort, but never impressed with my work, usually because I have a hard time explaining 

what I am trying to come across. For example, I would read and read for hours but I would 

have no idea what I would be reading. I just could never understand. Imagine all the time 

you put into to read for at least two to three hours, but not have any clue what is going on 

in the book you are reading. It is really tough. Even with annotations to guide me through 

my reading, they never helped me sink in information to my mind. With my Critical Reading 

Journal nonetheless, I was able to develop something more, it was like sparks went through 

my brain while I was reading. I was actually aware and was comprehending what I was 

reading. I did not get it all from the start though, it took me a few chapters in to really 

understand a simple, yet intense story. For example, in one section of my Critical Reading 

Journal, while writing about chapter one, I stated “Denver describes the ghost as ‘lonely and 

rebuke’(page 16). What makes her think the ghost is rebuked and not sad? The reason why 

the house is haunted probably because of the fact that the ghost is rebuked, disapproved of 

someone’s behaviors/actions”. It is clear to see that I am questioning what I am reading, I 

ask multiple questions until I get to the gist of what the story or chapter is trying to tell.  

Not only have I focused on small words and their meanings, but words that stand 

with each other but have unfamiliar meanings. For example, “‘Roses of Blood’ (page 109) 

These two words together aren’t something people would expect to be written in the same 

sentence. What does it mean? I can’t understand if it resembles something good or bad”. As 

I kept reading I started paying attention to the small and simple details while reading. An 

example would be from chapter nine “Morrison says ‘the crawling-already? girl’ three times 

already. Why doesn’t she give the name of the baby? Why do her sons have names but not 

the ‘crawling-already? Girl’ (page 110)”. Taking focus onto small details is now taking more 
of a bigger stance on my reading. Using a journal to jot down anything that I notice in my 

reading really helped me get a better insight on what I have been working during my 

readings from ​Beloved.  

Using my Critical Reading Journal has helped me become a stronger writer as well. 

After reading B
​ eloved​, I was assigned to write an essay writing on perspectives from the 

novel. After thinking about what I should write about for a good amount of time, I realized I 

had my journal to rely on. My journal had all the answers, and what I realized I wrote most 

about in it was about women, Sethe in general. For example, I wrote “Throughout all these 

centuries, women have been belittled and still are, and honestly I do not understand the 

purpose why. This is my time to stance my voice and give out my opinions about the issue, I 

will address every detail I know and have just to spread some awareness”. While writing this 

essay, I wondered how my diction became so exquisite. I never used to write so 

professionally no matter how hard I tried. The development of writing has progressed 

throughout the past month most significantly and I can tell just by the way I have been 

improving through grades and how much easier it has been for me to write essays and 

assignments. 

In all, I have instantly made progress throughout my reading and writing and 

substantially have shown growth as I have journaled with this novel. In the future, the 

development that I am going through right now will most definitely help my future. As I 

grow older and soon will become a college student, reading and writing are going to be a 

daily part of my life. Using my critical reading journal is an amazing skill that I used to read 

the novel B
​ eloved​ and really helped me develop more analysis and deep thinking that I have 

never been able to do before. As I continue to read novels, books, and stories, I will 

absolutely use the technique of journaling and guiding questions to assist me, because I have 
never been able to comprehend a novel as much as I do right now, which feels amazing to 

me.