What does it do

How Write a Reading Resp paper mar23SF.pdf

• [x] summarizes what you read.

• [x] gives your reaction to the text.

• [x] Your reaction will be one (or more) of the following:

  • [x] Agreement/disagreement with the ideas in the text.
  • [x] Reaction to how the ideas in the text relate to your own experience.
  • [x] Reaction to how ideas in the text relate to other things you've read.
  • [x] Your analysis of the author and audience.
  • [x] Your evaluation of how this text tries to convince the reader, and whether it is effective.

• [x] Do not use “you, I, we”

  <aside> 💡 This is a formal, academic essay. The use of "you" is NOT allowed, nor are contractions. As a reader response is an opinion, you must avoid using "I" and “we.” The readers will automatically assume this is your opinion. An exception could be made when you refer to your own experience.

  Do not	Do
  I agree with Johnson because I have observed many people driving dangerously while talking on cell phones	Mr. Johnson is right…
  I believe Johnson has come to her conclusions because of her own traumatic experiences while using a cell phone while driving…	Johnson has come to her conclusions, it would seem, because…
  </aside>

Set it up step by step

Introduction: For this essay, because you want to give both information about the subject and also briefly summarize the article you are responding to, you probably need at least two paragraphs. In all introductions, you want to:

• [x] Get the reader’s attention
• [x] Describe your subject
• [x] Give your thesis (thesis in French could be translated as problèmatique)

For a Responsive Reading essay you also need to:

• [x] Mention the author and title of the article you are discussing
• [x] Give a brief summary of the article, or the part of the article, that you will be responding to.

1. Introduction Ideas for Reading Response Paper

Paragraph One: Get the reader’s attention and describe the subject in one of the following ways: use a startling statistic, an interesting fact, an appropriate quotation, an anecdote, a scenario, a conversation, a story, a question your essay will answer, an example, or general information about the topic.

One of my favorite techniques is to use a “frame” story or conversation for the opening/conclusion. The way this works is that you tell half of a story or conversation in the introduction and then tell the rest of the story in the conclusion. Or you could open with a dilemma or problem and then close with the solution. A different version of that is to re-tell the same story in the conclusion with a different (usually better) ending. Examples:

1. On an essay about cell phone use in cars, you could open with a scenario showing a person getting a call while driving and thinking about what to do. In the conclusion, you could have the end of the scenario—maybe the driver pulls over to take the call, or decides to let voicemail take it.
2. On an essay about dealing with a family member with Alzheimer’s, you could open with a conversation between family members trying to figure out what to do. You can conclude with a conversation between the same people after they have decided to place that person in a nursing home.