WHAT I LEARNED, AND HOW I LEARNED IT

You should be ready to “explain” each work of art that you’ve studied at home. What’s this explaining supposed to look like in class? Let’s walk through it.

Rather than a “report” of what you read, tell us the story of what happened as you studied—step by step—the mental process you went through. Tell us “where your mind has been”—what you learned and how.

So, you’ll need to jot down some notes as you go, keep a record of what went on, what you thought, where it led you. It’s kind of like a “lab journal” that you’d keep for an experiment, to track what you did each day and the results. (“Monday, I fed the plant “x” minerals. Tuesday, it was growing faster than before.”)

Follow the outline in the “Working on Your Own” handout. First, before you read any text, look at the work of art for yourself. The class will want to know things like:

What did you notice? What did the work look like?

What did it make you think of?

Where did your eye land? Where did it go next? What did you find?

Did the work connect with other things we’ve studied—different, similar?

Now, move to the textbook. What happened?

How did things you were reading expand on what you’d seen on you own?

Did it change the way you viewed the work?

Start putting it together—your ideas with the book’s ideas. Where did it lead?

Finally, what did you come up with? What did you decide in the end? These “conclusions” could actually go up front when you talk to the class. Tell us where you ended up, then give us the story of how you got there.

Let’s say about 5 minutes max—even if there’s more to tell. Be selective. Boil the story down. Pick what’s really important. We don’t need to know every breath you took (what kind of soda you grabbed out of the machine). Keep us riveted to our seats—don’t just “fill space.”