CONSIDER ALL FIVE SECTIONS (A THROUGH E) IN THIS INITIAL SET OF JOURNAL ASSIGNMENTS IN A SERIES OF ENTRIES WRITTEN OVER A PERIOD OF DAYS, not all at one sitting.   
  
Do not label or number these entries as if answering a set of questions; instead compose a connected series of (dated) personal observations around the suggested topics and issues raised in the assignments. 
  
BE SURE TO ATTACH A PROPERLY PREPARED COVERSHEET TO YOUR JOURNAL BEFORE SUBMITTING THIS SERIES OF ENTRIES TO THE INSTRUCTOR 

JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT A:   

In your journal, tell me about yourself and your current interests (whether or not they are related to China). In doing so, you might answer each of the questions listed below. The intention of this exercise is threefold: (1) to help you identify general interests you already possess, (2) to give you the opportunity to relate these general interests to the study of Chinese civilization and culture and (3) to give the instructor an opportunity to know you better. Please feel free to go beyond the questions posed to describe more fully what already interests you in general terms and how these general interests might be used to stimulate your inquiry into modern Chinese civilization and culture.

1. If you were required to undertake a presentation on any topic (not necessarily related to the study of Chinese history in any way), the one you felt you knew best, what would the title (and content) of that presentation be?
   
   
2. If you were given the opportunity to meet with a group of people to discuss a common shared interest, describe the group with which you would choose to interact and the topics you might discuss together.
    
   
3. If you could study anything you wanted to, for credit, what would the subject be? Why? 
   
   
4. What specific interests do you wish you had more time to pursue?
   
   
5. How would you choose to spend your time if you were awake, alone and well fed but had finished what you had to do?
   
   
6. How might you relate any one (or more) of the interests you have identified above to the study of modern Chinese civilization and culture? (Your response to this question might at first seem to require a bit of a stretch, but use your imagination!)

JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT B:   

In your journal, answer the following series of questions concerning your reactions to the list of topics to be covered in the course as listed and described in the course schedule. This assignment (and those that follow) are designed (1) to expand the list of possible interests guiding your study of modern Chinese civilization and culture and (2) to elicit questions you might use to provoke your inquiries into specific interest areas and suggest topic possibilities for your extended essay.   

1. What topics noted in the syllabus interest you most? List a minimum of three, than choose the one among them you most would like to investigate further. 
   
   
2. What specifically would you like to find out about your chosen topic?  In paragraph form, formulate at least three specific thesis statements or inquiry questions you might use to guide your exploration.
   
   
3. Why undertake such an investigation? How do you feel the insights gained from this investigation might be useful to you personally? professionally?

JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT C:   

In your journal, answer the following series of questions concerning your reactions to the topics listed in the table of contents in the history texts being utilized in the course, Richard J. Smith's China's Cultural Heritage and Jonathan Spence's The Search For Modern China. As you ponder your responses, you might want to thumb through the books themselves, examining the subtopics covered in various chapter.   

1. List a minimum of three topics from each book as listed in the table of contents (or subtopics considered within specific chapters) which interest you at first glance. 
   
   
2. Which of the above topics would you most like to investigate further on your own?  Why?
   
   
3. What specifically would you like to find out about your chosen topic?  In paragraph form, formulate at least three specific thesis statements or inquiry questions you might use to guide your exploration. 

JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT D:    

Examine the preface, the table of contents and other introductory materials associated with Jung Chang's Wild Swans.  Comment on what value a book of this sort might have for a course in modern Chinese history and how it might contribute to your increased appreciation of Chinese civilization and culture.  

JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT E:   

In your journal, answer the following series of questions concerning your reactions to the topics discussed in the lecture on MODERNIZATION AND WESTERNIZATION: DEFINING CONCEPTS. 

1. What subject matter discussed in the lecture interested you most? List a minimum of three ideas or topics. 
   
   
2. What notion discussed in the lecture would you most like to find out about in your future investigations of modern Chinese civilization and culture? 
   
   
3. How will insights gained from this lecture influence your approach to the study of modern Chinese civilization and culture