Reflect on your own thoughts and memories using writing prompts and discussion inspired by the Kansas Reads 2011 selection “What Kansas Means to Me.” Save your writing for yourself, or share an excerpt in the comments.
- What makes someone a Kansan? What makes you a Kansan?
- What is the Kansas “state of mind”?
- Why do you think Kansas means something to her residents? Why does Kansas mean something to people from other places?
- Describe the Kansas that you know – geographical, time-frame, cultural, or other factors.
- What sort of Kansas will future generations of Kansas residents see?
- How does Kansas’s past effect our future? How does Kansas affect your future?
- What does Kansas mean to you?
Recommended journaling books
- Writing from life: telling your soul’s story by Susan Wittig Albert, New York : G.P. Putnam’s Sons, c1996. Call #: 808.066 ALB
- The new diary : how to use a journal for self-guidance and expanded creativity by Tristine Rainerm, Los Angeles : J. P. Tarcher ; New York : distributed by St. Martin’s Press, c1978. Call #: 158.1 RAI
- Keeping a journal you love by Sheila Bender Cincinnati, Ohio : Walking Stick Press, c2001. Call #: 808.0669 BEN
- Leaving a trace: on keeping a journal: the art of transforming a life into stories by Alexandra Johnson, Boston : Little, Brown, c2001. Call #: 808.06692 JOH
- A walk between heaven and earth: a personal journal on writing and the creative process by Burghild Holzer, New York : Bell Tower, c1994. Call #: 818.5403 HOL
The Kansas Center for the Book at the State Library of Kansas is proud for the fifth year to present 2011 Kansas Reads…What Kansas Means To Me, seventeen selections by 20th century writers edited by Thomas Fox Averill describing the spiritual consciousness of Kansans. Learn more about the Kansas Reads 2011 project