GEN104 Week 1 Reading Notebook Questioning Activity ✓ Solved

GEN104 Week 1 Reading Notebook Questioning Activity: Using t

GEN104 Week 1 Reading Notebook Questioning Activity: Using the Declaration of Independence (have the text open), preview the text by skimming the introduction and conclusion to identify the main idea. Before reading the full passage, answer questions 1–5: 1. What do you already know about this text? 2. What are you hoping to learn from reading this text? 3. What feelings or biases do you have toward this text? 4. Write additional questions you would like to ask before reading and answer them. 5. Scan the text and write guide question(s) you want to answer after reading. While reading, answer questions 6–7: 6. As you read, write clarifying questions (who, what, when, where, how) and answer them. 7. As you read, write monitoring-understanding statements (I think, I like, I agree, I don't understand, I was confused by) and answer them. After reading, complete statements 8–13: 8. I was confused by… 9. After reading the passage, I learned… 10. I agree with… 11. I disagree with… 12. This passage reminds me of… 13. Write your guide question(s) again and answer them. Use the Declaration of Independence passage for all responses.

Paper For Above Instructions

Introduction

This notebook applies active reading strategies to the Declaration of Independence. The assignment requires pre-reading reflection, during-reading questioning and monitoring, and post-reading synthesis. The purpose here is to model answers to questions 1–13 based on a careful reading of the Declaration and to demonstrate how questioning improves comprehension and critical engagement with a foundational political text (Jefferson, 1776; Maier, 1997).

Pre-reading Responses (Questions 1–5)

1. What I already know: The Declaration of Independence (1776) is the formal statement by which the thirteen American colonies declared independence from Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson drafted it, and it articulates Enlightenment ideas such as natural rights and government by consent (Jefferson, 1776; Bailyn, 1967).

2. What I hope to learn: I want to clarify Jefferson’s main claims, the rhetorical structure of the document, how grievances are organized to justify separation, and how the Declaration reflects broader eighteenth-century political philosophy (Maier, 1997; Wood, 1992).

3. Feelings or biases: I approach the text with respect for its historical importance but also with critical interest in omissions—especially its silence on slavery and on the perspectives of women and Indigenous people (Zagarri, 2007; Norton, 1996).

4. Additional pre-reading questions: What specific legal and moral arguments does the Declaration use to legitimize revolt? How does the structure move from principles to grievances to resolution? Preliminary answers: it uses natural-rights language, enumerates specific abuses by the King, and culminates in a formal declaration of independence (Jefferson, 1776; Maier, 1997).

5. Guide question(s) to answer after reading: How do the Declaration’s introductory principles function as a framework for the listed grievances? After reading, I will trace how each grievance connects to the principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

During-reading Clarifying Questions and Answers (Question 6)

Clarifying question (Who?): Who is the intended audience? Answer: Both domestic colonists and international audiences, including other European powers and “the opinions of mankind,” to justify the colonies’ actions (Jefferson, 1776; Maier, 1997).

Clarifying question (What?): What is being asserted? Answer: That the colonies are rightfully independent because a government violating natural rights loses legitimacy and consent of the governed (Jefferson, 1776; Bailyn, 1967).

Clarifying question (When/Where?): When and where is this taking effect? Answer: July 4, 1776, in Congress at Philadelphia; it declares an immediate political separation (Jefferson, 1776; Middlekauff, 2005).

Clarifying question (How?): How are grievances used? Answer: The grievances are specific examples of the Crown’s abuses meant to demonstrate a systematic pattern of tyranny that nullifies allegiance (Jefferson, 1776; Wood, 1992).

During-reading Monitoring-Understanding Statements and Responses (Question 7)

I think: The document strategically pairs abstract principles with concrete complaints to build moral and legal justification (supported by Maier, 1997).

I like: The clarity of the opening statement of rights—concise and rhetorically powerful.

I agree: That a government must be accountable to the people; this reflects the Lockean tradition cited by historians (Bailyn, 1967).

I don't understand: How Jefferson chose which grievances to include and which social issues to omit; this reflects political compromises and the limits of audience and purpose (Rakove, 1996).

I was confused by: The absence of mention of slavery; reading clarifies this was a deliberate omission to maintain colonial unity (Maier, 1997; Zagarri, 2007).

Post-reading Reflections (Questions 8–13)

8. I was confused by… why the document framed some abuses in legalistic terms and others in moral language. Answer: The mixture of legal and moral claims strengthens the document’s persuasive reach to multiple audiences—legalists and moral philosophy adherents alike (Wood, 1992).

9. After reading the passage, I learned… how carefully the Declaration crafts a chain of causation: abstract theory → historical facts/grievances → political conclusion (Jefferson, 1776; Maier, 1997).

10. I agree with… the principle that governments derive just powers from the consent of the governed; this remains a foundational democratic claim (Bailyn, 1967).

11. I disagree with… the implicit universality suggested by “all men are created equal” given the political reality that not all persons were included (slaves, women, Indigenous peoples). The text’s rhetoric exceeds its immediate practice (Zagarri, 2007; Norton, 1996).

12. This passage reminds me of… later rights-based movements that invoke the Declaration’s language—abolitionists, suffragists, and civil rights advocates who reinterpret its principles to expand claims to equality (Maier, 1997; Rakove, 1996).

13. Guide question(s) revisited and answered: How do the introductory principles function as a framework for grievances? Answer: Principles set a standard of legitimate government; each grievance demonstrates failure to meet that standard, justifying dissolution. For example, claims about legislative obstruction and trials without juries reveal specific violations of consent and justice that the principles condemn (Jefferson, 1776; Wood, 1992).

Conclusion

Applying pre-reading, during-reading, and post-reading questions to the Declaration produces a deeper comprehension of its rhetorical strategy, historical purpose, and ideological legacy. The method reveals both the power of its principles and the limits of its immediate political inclusivity. Questioning improves critical engagement and shows how the Declaration simultaneously served as a constitutional-style argument and a persuasive proclamation to international and domestic audiences (Maier, 1997; Middlekauff, 2005).

References

• Jefferson, T. (1776). The Declaration of Independence. National Archives. Retrieved from https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
• Maier, P. (1997). American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence. Vintage.
• Wood, G. S. (1992). The Radicalism of the American Revolution. Vintage.
• Bailyn, B. (1967). The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution. Harvard University Press.
• Middlekauff, R. (2005). The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763–1789. Oxford University Press.
• Zagarri, R. (2007). Revolutionary Backlash: Women and Politics in the Early American Republic. Cambridge University Press.
• Rakove, J. N. (1996). Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution. Knopf.
• Norton, M. B. (1996). Liberty's Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women. Cornell University Press.
• Beeman, R. (2009). Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution. Random House.
• Storing, H. J. (1981). The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates. Liberty Fund.