2-Column Response

Students color code their column-2 responses according to the patterns they notice in their responses.  See bottom of page for the key to the code for this student’s response to the Brandt essay on religion.  Pattern-noticing is a crucial part of this assignment sequence because it helps students go from a mere list of observations to a own coherent idea about an essay (not just a further discussion of the Brandt essay’s ideas).

What I noticed on the second reading.

My response to what I noticed.

		�I�m old enough to know now that there�s no living without illusions of some sort��		What kind of illusions is he referring to? Perhaps a different word would have made things clearer.
		he asks a lot of questions		I like that in an essay. He asks questions to the readers and to the parents he interviewed. It makes the reader think a little harder when you ask a question.
		�I asked one father what he had done about his kid�s religious education,,,�		He asked many parents of whether they regret not having their children raised without religious experience.
		The mention of faith, a secular society, believers, meaning.		These words are obviously connected in a religious sense, but he seems unsure of all the meanings.
		His distinct mention of psychologists: Erikson, Rizzuto, Kohlberg, Coles, and Piaget.		These people are taught not to take religion into consideration because it could affect the meaning of the truth. So why does he use them?
		Morality can survive without religion.		This is of course true, most families do it now, but this is the opinion of the psychologists, not his.
		Tells story after story of parents who raise their children with and without religious training.		Tells stories of other children, but only one of his own. To me this says he is not sure where he stands
		�To believe is to be connected, and those of us who don�t believe cannot help but miss the feelings that come with belonging to something larger than ourselves.�		This quote seems that he is leaning more over to the side where children should be raised with a religious background.
		� �I very much wish I had had some religion, for my kid�s sake,� one father told me.�		Another quote that implies his opinion, but still he never states it.

Patterns in my response:
1. Uses many quotes from other psychologists and families.
2. Uses in vocabulary-doesn�t elaborate.
3. Things I agreed with in his essay.