Dialectical Journal #1

Choice Reading Reflection

Directions: Refer to the instructions sheet (click here) for more details on the assignment. Really pay attention
to MINIMUM SENTENCE REQUIREMENTS. You are only required to complete FOUR entries, but the
document includes more spaces if needed. To add more rows, just hit the “tab” button in the last column.
Student Name: Reagan Goslee
Text Title:Lamb to the slaughter
Quote Response
1. “This is going to be a bit of a shock to you, I’m This quote is the turning point in the short story,
afraid,” (Line 33) going from mellow to concerning. The man was
acting weird when he came home from work, not
acting like his usual self when he told his wife he
had some news. After the man tells his wife what
happened she becomes terrified and then kills him.
This is similar to Hamlet because when the ghost
tells Hamlet what Claudius had done, Hamlet begins
to see red and vows to take revenge. The wife is
definitely shocked after the news, but the story
never tells us what the news was. I know that we are
supposed to infer what happened but I think the
story would have been better if we knew the
motives for the wife killing the man.
2. Her first instinct was not to believe any of it, to This quote implies the reaction that the wife had to
reject it all. (Line 36) the news. At first she wanted to pretend like it never
happened, but when she realized it did, she quickly
came to her senses. This quote is similar to Hamlet
because when he finds out his father died, he didn’t
want to believe it because he was so deep in
mourning. He also didn’t believe that his father had
come back in the form of a ghost, he wanted to deny
it. This news was very shocking to Mary, so she
thought if she denied it, it wouldn’t be true.After
this event, Mary decides the best way to cope would
be killing her husband all together.
3. Keep things absolutely natural and This occurs right after Mary kills her husband. She
there’ll be no need for any acting at all. (Line 73) doesn’t want anyone to know that she was the one
who murdered her husband, so she want’s to keep
things normal. She goes to the store to get groceries
and she wants to keep things as normal as possible
without acting. This is similar to Hamlet because
once Hamlet finds out Claudius murdered King
Hamlet, Hamlet has to keep it a secret from
everyone else. I think this would be incredibly hard
to do, after murdering someone. She didn’t want
anyone suspecting that it was her, so she wanted to
appear more vulnerable.
4. She didn’t feel she could move even a yard at the At this point in the short story, she was acting for
moment.(Line 92) the police after she murdered her husband. When
 the police asked if she wanted to sleep somewhere
else for the night, this was her response. She didn’t
want them to suspect her, since she was pretty much
the only one around when it happened. This is
similar to Hamlet because when he was mourning
for his father, his mother went and married his
uncle. He told them that he was upset because she
moved on too quickly, but his uncle told him to
“man up”. There have been a few times where I
have been so upset, I didn’t think I could move and
I thought the best way to cope was by staying in one
spot and not socializing.

Overall Thoughts on the Text:

I think the text was very interesting and engaging. I liked the mystery of what the man did, and was shocked
how the wife reacted. However, later I found out that the news that the man had was that he was having an
affair with another woman so he was leaving his wife. I think that the wife was smart to have the police eat
the chicken leg, destroying the evidence. It would have been hard to have no reaction or to not be horrified
with yourself after she did what she did. I think the man was in the wrong, but the wife overreacted.

At least TWO themes you noticed in the text:

One theme would be betrayal when Mary found out he was leaving her and her unborn child. Mary was so
shocked at first, she couldn’t believe what she was hearing, but reacted quickly. The second theme would be
revenge, since Mary murdered her husband. Mary did overreact, but I don’t think that murder was the answer.
There were many other things Mary could have done instead, that didn’t put death on her conscience.
 Dialectical Journal #2
Choice Reading Reflection

Directions: Refer to the instructions sheet (click here) for more details on the assignment. Really pay attention
to MINIMUM SENTENCE REQUIREMENTS. You are only required to complete FOUR entries, but the
document includes more spaces if needed. To add more rows, just hit the “tab” button in the last column.
Text Title:Untethered
Quote Response
1. “mistake after mistake” (line 16) The narrator is talking about how they are going
mad with every mistake. In society, standards are so
high, that in order to meet them, it breaks a lot of
people mentally. The author wrote this after a
divorce and in the midst of COVID, so she was
feeling quite unwell. She wants to know if it was
something she did, and why it was happening. She
says that each mistake lives with her in her day to
day situations.
This line represents society’s unreachable standards
for what is accepted in the world today.
2. “inhabiting our minds and undermining The author is relating back to her life of a recent
limbs”(lines 23-24) divorce and in the middle of a pandemic. The
mistakes that are made are attached to one's mind in
their daily lives. It also affects their outlook on life,
and could sometimes become dangerous. This quote
is similar to Mary in “Lamb to the slaughter” when
she has just killed her husband and states she “can’t
move an inch.” After multiple mistakes, many
people might fall into depression and that would
affect their health. This line shows how easily
people break in the face of pressure.
3. “then get the strength to leave” (line 28) This line is the turning point in the poem, going
from depressed to empowered. Before, the author
was talking about mistakes tiring their limbs and
breaking their minds. However, they finally get the
strength to get up and continue with their lives.
These events will often make the world feel like it’s
going to end, but in reality, everyone is human.
Everyone makes mistakes and everyone has to learn
to pick themselves up. Sometimes the harder part is
not realizing one has made a mistake, rather how to
deal with it and continue with everyday life.
4. “we thrive until we grieve” (line 29) This line talks about how everyone is great, until
they are not. Life can be going great, until a tragic
event happens and one has to grieve. Sometimes it
takes longer to get back from mourning, but in the
end, life will continue. It also says that life is like a
 cycle going from thriving to grieving. Not everyone
recovers at the same rate, or has to grieve as often,
but everyone is human, and it happens all the time.
The whole poem talks about going from grieving
over a mistake and it’s destroying their mind, but
eventually they get their strength back and continue
with their daily lives.

Overall Thoughts on the Text:

The text was very repetitive and emphasized many specific ideas. It was kind of hard to understand the
themes from the plot since it was so repetitive, but overall it was pretty good. It was easy to relate to with
COVID going around, with the ideas of breaking under pressure and being lonely. I feel like it would have
been easy for the author to write this poem going through COVID and a divorce. The poem has a meaning
that is very deep and I think everyone should read this poem, to get a feeling of what others are going through
as well.

At least TWO themes you noticed in the text:

One theme was learning to face conflict with others. While it is good to be independent, it gets overwhelming
when dealing with problems by yourself everyday. Another theme is not letting your mistakes get the best of
you. Dealing with conflict is hard and if every mistake wears you down, there will eventually be nothing left
and you will be very emotionally and mentally drained.
 Dialectical Journal #3
Choice Reading Reflection

Directions: Refer to the instructions sheet (click here) for more details on the assignment. Really pay attention
to MINIMUM SENTENCE REQUIREMENTS. You are only required to complete FOUR entries, but the
document includes more spaces if needed. To add more rows, just hit the “tab” button in the last column.
Text Title: Symbols and signs
Quote
1. “a young man who was incurably deranged in his
mind.” (no page #s)
2. “He was all right, she said, but a visit from his
parents might disturb him.”
3. “The last time the boy had tried to do it, his
method had been, in the doctor’s words, a
masterpiece of inventiveness;
Response
This quote helps with the context of the short story,
showing how the boy is mentally crazy. It is similar
to Hamlet because Hamlet is seen as menatlly
unstable, but for different reasons. Because the
young man in the short story is unstable, his parent’s
have a hard time visiting him. It is also very hard on
his parents because they just want to spend time
with him, but it is unsafe for himself and others.
Closer to the end of the story, his parents want to
take him home because they are close to dying.
However, they have to take many precautions to
look out for their sons safety and for theirs.
This quote was said by one of the nurses after a
suicide attempt by their son. She is afraid that his
parents will upset him and make him go crazy.
However, his parents just want to support him and
make sure he is ok. It is just as hard on the parents
as it is their son, but with them being close to dying,
they just want to see their son. On the other hand,
with a son as unstable as he is, it was probably the
right choice to withhold the parents. Because their
son has phobias with many inanimate objects, his
parents might set off a memory and cause him to be
afraid of them.
The boy’s ways of trying to take his life were very
inventive and not like anything the doctors have
seen before. He was not right in the mind and saw
inanimate objects as phobias or ways to harm
himself. This is similar to Hamlet because Hamlets
ways on telling Claudius about the murder are out
 of the ordinary. Instead of telling him to his face, he
tells him through actors in a play. In the short story,
the doctor said he would have been successful in
taking his life, if one of his inmates hadn’t seen him.
The boy is not right in the mind, but an inventive
genius.
4. “It frightened me,” she said. This quote is said by the woman right after she got
off a prank call. It was late at night and the woman
wasn't expecting it so it scared her. There are many
possibilities to what the final call could have been,
but it was putting the parents on edge. After the
terrible day they had, this was not the best end to
their day. Nobody knows what happens at the end of
the story, but people think it could have been
another prank call or the doctor calling to say the
boy killed himself. These poor parents faced many
traumatic events, and this was not the best way for
their lives to end.

Overall Thoughts on the Text:

I thought the text was confusing and very hard to understand at times. Because I couldn’t understand some of
the words, I couldn’t understand the plot or the themes of the story. I also didn’t like how the story ended
because it was a cliffhanger, but no details on what happened. Overall, the story was alright, but it wasn’t my
favorite because it was hard to understand.

At least TWO themes you noticed in the text:

One theme would be that misfortune happens even to the best of people. The parents had good intentions, yet
had no luck when it came to giving their son his gift. The second theme would be the struggles the family had
to go through to be together. The parents wanted to be with their son one last time since the father was dying,
but they had to go through such great lengths in order to be together.
 Dialectical Journal #4 (Optional)
Choice Reading Reflection

Directions: Refer to the instructions sheet (click here) for more details on the assignment. Really pay attention
to MINIMUM SENTENCE REQUIREMENTS. You are only required to complete FOUR entries, but the
document includes more spaces if needed. To add more rows, just hit the “tab” button in the last column.
Text Title:
Quote Response
1.
2.
3.
4.

Overall Thoughts on the Text:

At least TWO themes you noticed in the text:

 Dialectical Journal #5 (Optional)
Choice Reading Reflection

Directions: Refer to the instructions sheet (click here) for more details on the assignment. Really pay attention
to MINIMUM SENTENCE REQUIREMENTS. You are only required to complete FOUR entries, but the
document includes more spaces if needed. To add more rows, just hit the “tab” button in the last column.
Text Title:
Quote Response
1.
2.
3.
4.

Overall Thoughts on the Text:

At least TWO themes you noticed in the text: