Journal Entry: Structure, Features & Example

«Dear diary, today was a great day. I ate ice cream with Anna and Tobias after school. It tasted heavenly good!»

You’ve probably had your own thoughts and feelings about someone at some point Adventure wrote down that you were very moved. Also in German lessonst you may encounter the task that you do as an exercise or as homework diary entry should make. This is not always easy because it is a very personal type of text and you often get out of it perspective of a character should write from a story.

Characteristics and definition of a diary entry

in one diary entry you talk about positive and negative events you have experienced yourself. Here you describe your own thoughts and feelings.

A diary entry is therefore primarily a personal one autobiographical text formsince the own feelings, thoughts and experiences be presented in great detail. The diary can function as a kind of friend, i.e. as an indirect listener. It also serves as reminder and can also at the processing unpleasant experiences help.

In German lessons, however, it can also happen that the diary entry is from the perspective of a particular character a story is to be written in order to interpret this story. The diary entry is always saved in the First-person perspective written.

A diary entry is either in the past tense (when explaining facts, feelings or thoughts that happened in the past) or in the Present (when describing what feelings are occurring right now).

Inner monologue

A diary entry follows the same characteristics as a inner monologue. Your own thoughts or those of a character from a story are explained and processed. In a journal entry, the character can see into the past or into the future. However, this is not possible with an inner monologue, since a certain moment in the foreground stands. So the figure is in a certain situationin which their thoughts are reflected.

Here’s an example of an inner monologue to illustrate:

The lessons are once again boring and boring. Why is Mr. Deppert simply unable to explain mathematics in an understandable way? Always the same…

Write a diary entry

in one personal diary entry you can experience it yourself Happenings Write down and describe your personal thoughts and feelings. This also helps you to reflect on your own behavior. At school, too, you may be asked to write a personal diary entry (e.g. about your class trip).

If you want, you can do one first writing plan create to structure your thoughts. Of the building a personal Diary entry is divided, just like the entry from the point of view of a character, in introduction, Bulk and Ending. The content is identical in each case, but you describe everything from your point of view and not from that of a character in a story. So you can use the following descriptions as a guide.

If you have a diary entry as interpretation If you want to write a story from a character’s point of view, you should do the following six steps note:

preparatory work:

  1. Read the story carefully several times.

  2. Write down what the character experiences and feels in the particular situation (a brainstorming session or a mind map can help you with this).

  3. Analyze your notes and put them in a structure.

  4. Create a writing plan.

Swrite:

5. Write your diary entry.

6. Check your diary entry.

Steps 1 to 4 belong to the preliminary workwhich you perform before you can start, the to write a diary entryn. When you have finally finished writing the diary entry (step 5.), you should check it again afterwards (step 6.). the control takes place both according to formal (spelling errors, etc.) and content-related aspects (was the diary entry written in an appealing way? Were all the feelings and thoughts of the character presented clearly? etc.). You can find out which questions you can use as a guide during the check below in the explanation.

In a mind map important content and information on a topic are presented in a systematic way. At a brainstorming on the other hand, all ideas that could contribute to solving the problem are written down unfiltered for a while. So you write down everything you can think of about your topic in order to structure and organize it afterwards.

A diary entry you write like one letter. It serves as a species friendwho you can contact. In the right corner you write the date, then you write a salutation (for example: «Dear diary!») and start writing down everything you would like to say.

The situation is somewhat different, however, if you make an entry from the Point of view of a character from a story should write. Here you need a certain one preliminary work. First you should source texti.e. the story multiple thoroughly read. Mark passages that seem important to you and take notes. You look up difficult words in the dictionary or on the Internet.

Then you create one writing plan.

A writing plan is one basic frameworkto help you, everyone information and Testify for your text collect and to sort by. Your own opinion is structured and analyzed here.

You can find more information on the writing schedule in the relevant «Writing schedule» explanation.

Example of a writing plan

Here’s an example of one writing plan. The diary entry refers to the short story «Spaghetti for Two» by Frederica de Cesco and is written from the point of view of the character Marcel.

Synopsis of «Spaghetti for Two»

The short story «Spaghetti for Two» describes how Marcel wants to eat vegetable soup in a restaurant. Heinz wants to do the same, he puts his bowl of soup on a table, but then runs back to the counter to get a spoon. On the way back, however, he bumps into Marcel’s table. Because of his racial prejudice, Heinz now thinks that Marcel (a people of color) stole his vegetable soup. So he also sits down at the table and simply eats Marcel’s soup. Marcel, in turn, is surprised at this behavior, but allows it to happen. Later, after he had invited Heinz to a plate of spaghetti, he realized with embarrassment that he had sat at the wrong table. He apologizes hesitantly and timidly. Marcel then invites him to dinner again the next day.

One task in German class could be something like this: Write a diary entry from the point of view of the character Marcel. First create a writing plan.

A writing plan for one Diary entry from the point of view of the character Marcel can be structured as follows:

Points of view or criteriaKey points or explanationsHypothetical interpretation of the text excerpt (formulates the main statement of the text in one sentence)It is described how quickly prejudices can lead to misunderstandings.Perspective of the selected characterI perspective from Marcel’s point of viewTense form of the diary entry (preterite and present tense)When Describing the event alternates between past and present tense.Example: I, the peace missionary par excellence, think to myself: «Okay, then we’ll just eat the soup for two, so at least there won’t be any trouble.» That’s how it happened. Content aspectsDue to a misunderstanding, a racist incident occurred in a restaurant. A strange man just started eating Marcels’ soup. Realizing he’s wrong, the man apologizes. Heinz then invites him to another meal in order to get to know him better.Current feelingMarcel is initially surprised and frightened, but finally happy and relieved when the situation has cleared up.Conclusion/OutlookThere is another meal together, where the Get to know the characters (Marcel and the man) better.Writing style of the diary entryThe writing style is partly emotional and sometimes colloquial, i.e. adapted to a young person.Justification and reflectionThe racist incident arose from a misunderstanding and could be cleared up. The man then apologized to Marcel.

Structure of a diary entry

A diary entry is structured, like many text typesin introduction, Bulk and Ending. The following explains how a diary entry can be used to interpretation a narration or history is made. For this you put yourself in the respective figure and describe their personal experiences, feelings and thoughts.

introduction

Before you start to write the entry, you write the date of the event at the top rightthat you want to report on. Note that you are writing the entry from the point of view of the character in the story you are reading. in the source text is described, when the events described take place or have taken place. Then you formulate it salutation (For example: «Dear Diary»). Now you explain the significant situation and hint how the character felt about it. However, you should initially only hint at the events described. In the main part you explain them in more detail.

Here is an example of the introduction. The diary entry refers to the short story «Spaghetti for Two» and is written from the point of view of the character Marcel:

Munich, May 20, 2022

hey diary,

I thought a lot about grandpa again today. He regularly reports on the times when people avoided us because of the color of their skin. Luckily I haven’t had to experience anything like this before. Today, however, that should change.

Bulk

In the main part, the thoughts and feelings of the character from whose point of view the story is written are explained in detail. Here, the following W-questions be helpful: What it happened? Where was the character? who was there too? which other people were there with the character? As does the character feel now? What does the character think about it? which Could the event have an impact on the character? Became hopes, fears or desires caused by the event in the character?

The feelings and thoughts of the character are also analyzed. It describes what the character feels in certain situations and why she felt that way.

Here you can find an example of that Started into a main part. That complete Example is at the end of this explanation. The diary entry refers to the short story «Spaghetti for Two» and is from the point of view of the character Marcel…