Creative Journal Topics Involving Different Perspectives

Woman writing in Journal in Creative Environment
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Writing in classroom journals is one powerful strategy to get students to respond to literature, gain writing fluency, or increase dialogue in writing with another student or the teacher. Journal writing is a great way for students to stretch their thinking and look at things from different perspectives.

Most journal writing is done in the first-person point of view, using "I." Journal writing can also be from an omniscient point of view, with the writing is done from an all-knowing perspective.

The following topics cause the writer to predict or try to things from an unusual perspective. These may be highly creative, such as "describe the events of yesterday from the perspective of your hair."

Journal Topics on Perspective

Students should have fun as they stretch themselves for these journal writing topics.

  1. What one non-living item would you take from your house if it caught on fire?
  2. Which five of these things (make a list) would you take from your house if it caught fire?
  3. Pretend you met an alien and explain school to him/her/it.
  4. Set your clocks ahead to the beginning of next school year. Where are you and what are you be doing?
  5. What would you do with a million dollars? List five things you would buy.
  6. You've landed on another planet. Tell the inhabitants all about the earth.
  7. You've gone 500 years back in time. Explain plumbing, electricity, cars, windows, air conditioning and other conveniences to those you meet.
  8. What animal would you be? Why?
  9. If you were your teacher, how would you treat you?
  10. Describe a day in the life of (choose an animal).
  11. Describe how you feel at the dentist's office.
  12. Write about the time as a child you played in a place you thought was magical: a treehouse, a cornfield, a construction site, a junkyard, an abandoned house or barn, a stream, a playground, a swamp, or a pasture.
  13. Describe the perfect place for you.
  14. What if your teacher fell asleep in class?
  15. Describe the life of your locker.
  16. Describe the life of your shoe.
  17. If you could live anywhere, what would you choose?
  18. If you were invisible, what would you do first?
  19. Describe your life five, ten, and then fifteen years from now.
  20. How would do you think your parent's views would change if they walked in your shoes for a week?
  21. Describe your desk in complete detail. Focus on all sides and angles.
  22. List twenty-five uses for a toothbrush.
  23. Describe a toaster from the inside.
  24. Assume you are the last person on earth and have been granted one wish. What would it be?
  25. Imagine a world that contained no written language. What would be different?
  26. If you could step back in time to relive one day, what would you do differently?
  27. You discover you have only six weeks to live. What would you do and why?
  28. Imagine you are 30 years old. How will you describe yourself as you are today?
  29. Describe how you would feel if you were YOUR parent. What would you do differently?
  30. Describe how you would feel if you were YOUR teacher. What would you do differently?
  31. What would you do if you were locked inside your favorite department store overnight
  32. What would you do it all the electricity in the world just stopped? 
  33.  What would you do if you could travel free anyplace in the world? 
  34. You being chased by a villain or villainous group through an abandoned warehouse. Why?
  35. Consider the phrase ‘If I’d known then what I know now, I never would have…’ 
  36. Finish this sentence: "That's what happens when you follow your heart..."
  37. Have you ever faced a difficult situation that required making adjustments? What adjustments did you make?
  38. The local TV reporter holds a microphone under your nose and says, "Channel 14 is doing a survey. We'd like to know: What really matters to you?"
  39. Describe the "group" you most identify with and tell why the members of that "group" might identify with you.
  40.  Would you like to be famous? Why or why not? What would you like to be famous for?
  41. What advice would you give to someone who stole something but now feels guilty?
  42. How do you define beauty? What things do you think are beautiful?
  43. If you were a fly on the wall in your house, what would you see your family doing?
  44. Script your acceptance speech for an award you never thought you would receive.
  45. Script your response to a surprise party...when you already knew about the surprise.
  46. Write a letter to a character in a Disney movie.
  47.  What do you plan to say to a friend who borrows things from you but never returns them?
  48. Write from the perspective of a ghost. What frightens you?
  49. We often don't know our own strength until something really gets in our way. Write about a time when you "stood your ground."
  50. List ways you can entertain your friends without spending any money.
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Your Citation
Kelly, Melissa. "Creative Journal Topics Involving Different Perspectives." ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020, thoughtco.com/creative-journal-topics-different-perspectives-7619. Kelly, Melissa. (2020, August 27). Creative Journal Topics Involving Different Perspectives. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/creative-journal-topics-different-perspectives-7619 Kelly, Melissa. "Creative Journal Topics Involving Different Perspectives." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/creative-journal-topics-different-perspectives-7619 (accessed March 28, 2024).