Making connections between what you read and your own life experiences is one important way to call upon and build background knowledge, or prior knowledge, about a topic. The journal prompts associated with each reading selection are designed to give you an opportunity to extend your experience with the topic of the article, and to think more about how it applies to your own life. You may use these prompts to get started, but the purpose of your journal is to write freely. If you find yourself going off in another direction than that indicated by the questions, that's fine. Any connections you can make with the reading topics will be valuable. Reading One: How to Find Time to Read How do you think this "15 minutes a day" strategy would work for you? List all the opportunities throughout the day when you could read for 15 minutes. During that time, what would you choose to read? Would you read school assignments, magazines, fiction? What other areas of your life could you improve using a similar strategy to fit in something you would currently like to spend more time doing? Reading Two: Parenthood What are your personal views on parenthood? If you are a parent, how did your life change after having a child? If you are not a parent, do you plan to be one someday? What societal, cultural or individual pressures affect your decisions regarding parenthood? Reading Three: Art in the Service of Religion Which of these architectural styles appeals most to you? Can you think of other examples of great architecture associated with a place of worship? Are there any local examples of beautifully designed churches, synagogues or mosques that you are familiar with? Describe one or more of them and tell what is appealing about the site(s) to you. | 
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