The expressive reading journal aims to break through student passivity by asking students to write extensively and expressively about what they read, each time they read, and to make discoveries and take possession of what they read. This type of journal in the academic course depends for its usefulness on the nature of expressive language, the language that submits itself to the free flow of ideas and feelings and is relatively unstructured. It is important to teach students the mechanics of setting up a journal, but it is more important to provide them with an atmosphere that encourages their thinking and writing and that provides nonthreatening feedback. As students develop self-confidence, they can read more advanced materials--specifically, the texts they have to interpret for academic learning. As used in the reading journal, expressive language, because it is verbalizing consciousness, can transform objective, distant knowledge into personal knowledge. Whatever form it takes, the expressive reading journal demands from teachers a belief in the heuristic qualities of language; it demands that they help their students see themselves as people who can accomplish learning through writing. (CRH)