Which Is True of a Reading Response Paper?

Virginia has been a university English teacher for over 20 years. She specializes in helping people write essays faster and easier.

The Reader Response Essay: Where the Reader Meets the Text

Reading Response Essays

Summarizes what yous read.

Gives your reaction to the text.

v Responses

Your reaction volition be ane or more of the post-obit:

1. Agreement/disagreement with the ideas in the text.
2. Reaction to how the ideas in the text chronicle to your own feel.
3. Reaction to how ideas in the text relate to other things you've read.
4. Your analysis of the writer and audition.
5. Your evaluation of how this text tries to convince the reader and whether it is constructive.

Your response to a slice of writing is your opinion. It is usually fine to utilize "I" in your essay.

PublicDomainPictures, C0 via Pixabay

How to Write Your Introduction

Your introduction will be 1-3 paragraphs. For this essay, considering you want to give both information about the subject and also briefly summarize the commodity yous are responding to, yous probably need at least two paragraphs. In all introductions, you lot want to:

• Get the reader's attention.
• Describe your subject field.
• Requite your thesis.

For a responsive reading essay, y'all also need to:

• Mention the author and title of the article you lot are discussing.
• Give a brief summary of the commodity or the part of the article that you are responding to.

Introduction Ideas

Paragraph One . Go the reader'due south attention by describing the discipline in one of the following ways:

• Use a startling statistic.
• Cite an interesting fact.
• Pose an appropriate quotation.
• Tell an anecdote.
• Describe a scenario.
• Write a chat.
• Tell a story.
• Put along a question your essay will respond.
• Give an example.
• Explain general information about the topic.

Using a Frame for Your Introduction and Conclusion

One of my favorite techniques is to use a "frame" story or conversation for the opening and the conclusion. The manner this works is that y'all tell half of a story or chat in the introduction and then tell the balance of the story in the decision. Or you lot could open with a dilemma or problem and then close with a solution. Another approach is to retell the aforementioned story in the conclusion with a different (unremarkably better) ending. Examples:

• In an essay about cell phone use in cars, you could open with a scenario showing a person getting a telephone call while driving and thinking most what to do. In the conclusion, y'all could tell the cease of the scenario—peradventure the driver pulls over to take the call or decides to allow voicemail take it.
• In an essay near dealing with a family unit member with Alzheimer'south, y'all could open with a conversation between family members trying to effigy out what to exercise and conclude with a chat between the same people after they take decided to place that person in a nursing home.
• In an essay well-nigh oil drilling in the Gulf, you could open past describing vividly the oil-soaked coastline and the dying wildlife. Y'all could conclude with what that coastline looks like at present.
• On any topic which you have personal experience, yous can open with part of your story, and then conclude with the ending of your story.

Sample Essays

How to Go a Republican. My analysis of a Harvard study that reported that watching fourth of July parades makes people vote Republican.

Reading Response Instance Paper: A reader response about Chris Adrian's commodity "Under My Skin" from the New York Times.

Read More than From Owlcation

Rea der Response to "Let's End Scaring Ourselves" past Michael Crichton.

Reading Response to "Why Nosotros Crave Horror Movies" by Stephan Male monarch

Introduction and Conclusion Ideas

Introduction	Decision
frame story: first a story (personal or from reading)	finish the story
expectations fulfilled: tell what you expected or thought before reading the article	tell how the reading met your expectations
expectations unfulfilled: describe your expectations	tell how these were overturned or changed
questions: ask one or more questions virtually topic	answers to questions
startling statistic or fact	how article helps us understand or interpret this fact or statistics
vivid description of subject with sensory images	tell how article helps united states empathise clarification
scenario: show a typical scene or conversation relating to topic (real or made up)	finish scene or conversation or repeat it with a different ending
what we all know virtually topic (statements well-nigh people believe)	what is actually truthful
quote or famous maxim	how quote explains your thesis

Writing Your Thesis Argument

Paragraph 2 : After your introduction, transition by explaining what the author of the article you take written has to say about this topic. Briefly explain the main points of the article that you want to talk nigh. Then you will give your thesis.

Instance: Co-ordinate to Mary Johnson in "Prison cell Phones are Unsafe," we should not use our phones while driving and should educate others not to utilise them either. Johnson gives statistics showing that talking on a cell phone is as unsafe as driving drunkard. Moreover, she points out the increasing number of accidents acquired by jail cell phone apply. Her decision is that we need to personally decide not to use a cell phone while driving and that we need to educate our friends and family unit to surrender cell phones while driving, too.

Then add a thesis statement like 1 of the following examples:

(Agree) I concord with Johnson considering I have observed many people driving dangerously while talking on prison cell phones and have even been in an accident myself while talking on the phone.

(Disagree) I disagree with Johnson because I don't think that using a prison cell phone is any different from eating in a motorcar or talking with other passengers.

So reverberate and expand:

(Reflect on author's experience) I believe Johnson has come to her conclusions because of her own traumatic experiences while using a jail cell phone while driving. (Optional: you could add an extension, like "just personal experiences are not a good basis for public policy.")

(Expand on an assertion fabricated in the essay) I hold with Johnson's exclamation that cell phones are dangerous, but I'd become even further than she does because I think we cannot control this problem by simply educating the public. Nosotros need to have laws prohibiting the use of cell phones while driving.

Writing Your Response

Here are half-dozen different ways to answer to an essay:

1. You can hold with the article and explain three or more reasons why you agree.
2. Yous tin disagree with the commodity and explain three or more than reasons why.
3. You can agree with some parts of the article and disagree with other parts and explicate why.
4. Yous can clarify the rhetorical situation (occasion, purpose, audition, and context) of this article and explicate why the author's personal feel causes them to write this piece.
5. You tin can take i office of the essay, agreeing or disagreeing with it, and aggrandize on that idea, giving reasons for your reader to hold with yous.
6. You can explain your reaction to the article and then analyze how the writer's manner, tone, word choice, and examples made you experience that manner.

Remember that all essays have three primary parts: introduction, body, and decision. There are many means to write a good essay, but I will give y'all a general guide to follow which will help you to organize your ideas.

How to Write the Body

Here you lot will argue your thesis and requite support for your ideas from your personal feel and your own thinking and reading. You can besides use bear witness from the commodity y'all read but don't simply repeat the ideas in the article.

• The body of your newspaper should have three or more paragraphs.
• Each paragraph should have a topic sentence which communicates ane response idea you lot accept about the newspaper such equally, "I agree with Jones that _________" or "My personal experience makes me relate to _____ because _______".
• The rest of the paragraph should give details to back up that bespeak. You can use examples from the reading, your own life, something else you accept read, or mutual experiences we all take. Y'all tin can also use reasoning to evidence your points. Explain why you think this mode.
• Don't forget to employ "writer tags" when y'all are talking most something in the story.
• The best essays do refer back to the text and explain why and how the reader'southward response relates to the article.

The start fourth dimension yous talk nigh the article, you should requite the full proper noun of the author and the championship of the article in parenthesis: John Jones in his article, "Taking Back Our Lives," states _________."

• After that, you lot demand to always tell when you are paraphrasing the article instead of giving your own view.
• Apply "author tags" to bear witness you are talking about something in the article and not your own ideas.
• Author tags apply the final name of the author and a verb. Effort these variations:

Jones argues
Jones explains
Jones warns
Jones suggests
Jones advises
Jones contends
Jones investigates
Jones asks

For more on using Author Tags, run into my article Other Words for Said. A sample list is below.

Other Words for "Said"

said	concludes	defines
explains	elucidates	repeats
tells united states	reports	argues
deduces	analyzes	suggests
warns	advises	investigates
asks	points out	comments
agrees	inimated	implies
hints	proposes	informs
quips	questions	denies
reassures us	demands	declares
remarks	relates	mentions
cautions	reveals	objects
insists	chides	pleads

How to Write Your Decision

Opposite to what you may have learned in previous writing classes, you should not repeat or summarize your arguments in the conclusion. That is sometimes appropriate for in-class essays when yous are non certain you lot've been clear nearly your main points, but information technology is non appropriate for college writing.

Instead, you lot need to actually conclude your arguments. Yous can often utilise the same type of technique that you lot utilise in an introduction. You tin also:

• phone call attending to larger problems
• telephone call for a modify in activeness or mental attitude
• conclude with a brilliant image
• appeal to the reader to agree with you
• or link back to your introduction by finishing the story/scenario, revising it, or explaining how it proves your point

Should cell phone utilize exist banned while driving?

VirginiaLynne, CC-BY, via HubPages

Sample Student Essay: Prison cell Phones are Unsafe

This is a sample reading response essay to an article titled "Cell Phones are Dangerous" past Mary Johnson, like-minded with the article and extending one of the ideas.

Intro:

Paragraph i: Dramatic re-telling of a personal story of picking up my cell phone and then realizing that I am going to crash into some other car. Terminate the story right before the crash.

Paragraph 2: Like almost people, I idea I was a proficient plenty commuter to handle using a cell phone while driving. I found out I was wrong. It turns out I'm non unusual. In her commodity "Cell Phones are Dangerous," Mary Johnson argues that as statistics of jail cell phone use while driving goes upward, then do accidents. According to Johnson, we should non utilize our phones while driving and should educate others not to utilize them either. Johnson cites statistics showing that talking on a cell phone is every bit unsafe equally driving drunk. Moreover, she points out the increasing number of accidents caused past cell phone use. Her conclusion is that we need to personally decide not to employ a cell telephone while driving and that we demand to educate our friends and family to surrender using jail cell phones while driving too. I agree with Jones that cell phones are unsafe and that we should personally choose to not use one while driving; even so, I'd go farther than Jones past calculation that nosotros need to have laws that prohibit anyone from using prison cell phones in cars.

Trunk:

Each of these statements would be the topic sentence of ane of the torso paragraphs. For the beginning one, I as well give examples of the type of arguments and support I would use to write that paragraph and testify my indicate.

i. Laws make people realize that cell phone driving is dangerous. (Beneath is an instance of some support I could use to back up this idea—you lot tin utilise ideas from the article but do not echo the article.)

• support with an anecdote of friends or family thinking a telephone call is more important than driving
• use statistics from article
• argue some people will be convinced by being educated, but not everyone
• employ example of seatbelt laws saving lives
• argue that using a cell phone endangers others and non only yourself

2. New technology requires changes in public policy.

three. People in my generation experience obligated to take a telephone call, but if information technology is illegal to telephone call while driving, they won't feel that pressure.

4. Using hands-complimentary headsets won't piece of work because it is the call which is distracting, non holding the phone.

v. This law volition save a lot of lives.

Conclusion:

I would return to my personal story and pick it up where I left off. I exercise crash and there is a lot of damage to my car, but no one is hurt. I tin explain my great relief that my cell phone use did not finish more tragically, and my personal decision to put my cell phone where I can't reach information technology while driving. End with an appeal to the reader to do the same, but to also support legislation to prohibit jail cell phone use while driving.

Link to Original Essay

• Should Jail cell Phone Use by Drivers Be Illegal?
  

Reader Response vs. Evaluation Essays

You codify an evaluation any time you reply someone'due south question, "What did you retrieve of that book (commodity, movie, class, or news report)? Responding personally to an article is usually the get-go of any analysis of writing, so it is a proficient first paper type to write. However, unlike a review or evaluation newspaper, your purpose in a response paper is not to tell someone else whether or not they should read this article. Instead, your purpose is to explain your reaction and to give reasons (this will be the trunk of your paper) why you reacted that fashion. Doing an evaluation newspaper would take the reading response a stride further and is probably one of the papers y'all will practise side by side in your course.

Questions & Answers

Question: My reading response paper is about a short story that we read in our grade. Our assignment is to write a response to the story and express our opinion, Tin can you explain how to exercise this?

Answer: I'm glad you've asked whether a reading response newspaper tin be about a piece of literature. You can really utilize many of the same techniques in writing about a short story as yous do in writing about not-fiction articles. Here is a pace-past-step:

1. Begin your paper with a brief description of the story, using the author and full title of the story to kickoff. Here is an example:

In the short story, "I'm Afraid of Bears" by Jon Junko, a swain in college named Ben goes on a camping trip with friends to overcome his fearfulness of being outside which started when he was flake in the head by a bear while sleeping in a tent with his parents when he was eight. Ben's journeying on this camping trip parallels his journey through his fears to overcome them and includes...

two. Terminate this paragraph with a thesis judgement which tells your main response and stance about the story. Hither is an instance:

Junko'south story is engaging, and his character of Ben is believable, authentic and relatable; moreover, I found the story suspenseful and was moved to think near how I needed to confront and overcome my fears.

three. In this "roadmap thesis," y'all can give yourself (and your reader) an outline of everything you will exist talking virtually in the paper. So plough these ideas into topic sentences. Example:

Junko's story is engaging

The graphic symbol of Ben is well described and believable.

The story is suspenseful.

While reading, I was moved to think about how I need to confront and overcome my fears.

4. Conclude your paper with why you liked or did not like the story and maybe what you will keep to recollect about or exercise later on having read the story. If the class discussion also influenced you lot, you can talk nearly that likewise.

Question: Where should a response-to-literature essay identify the author and title of the literary work being discussed?

Answer: You need to identify the writer and championship of the literary work equally soon as you start talking about them in your essay, which is usually in the introduction. Mostly, you lot will also tell the main point of the literature at the aforementioned fourth dimension, so you might want to put this at the end of the first paragraph or the beginning of the second paragraph. You can put it in the very first judgement if it is a brusque essay, but mostly, you may desire to beginning with a bit more of an interesting introduction. For more aid, you might want to expect at my "How to write a Visual Essay": https://hubpages.com/humanities/How-to-Write-a-Vis...

Question: What is the word count required of a Reader Response essay?

Answer: In that location is no particular word count required for this sort of newspaper. Your teacher will probably take this information for y'all. However, I normally assign at least a iii-4 page essay to make sure the students do a thorough job.

Gloria on June 09, 2020:

This is very helpful. Thank you lot.

Maribel Gibbs from Paoli, Pennsylvania on May 13, 2019:

Wow! Astonishing guide for the response essay. Incredibly helpful.

Virginia Kearney (author) from U.s. on November 27, 2018:

Hi Dae--what you lot are describing is a personal experience essay. You tin can notice my instructions on that past Googling that title and my name.

dae on Nov 27, 2018:

I'm writing a personal response to any story we've read in class, and and so I have to relate to our real life events or how nosotros relate to this character. Is it the same process as the one demonstrated above?

sai on September 28, 2018:

Excellent post!!!. The strategy you accept posted on this technology helped me to get into the next level and had lot of information in it.

sofian on August 22, 2018:

thank you a one thousand thousand

Virginia Kearney (author) from United states of america on May 21, 2018:

You should start past identifying the book and author and giving i sentence which tells your chief reaction. Ideally, that judgement will tell ii unlike ideas so y'all can do one in the first paragraph and the other in the second paragraph. You tin tell what yous liked and what you disliked, two things yous liked, how you felt about the plot and how you felt about the style it was written, or two other aspects of the story. Here is an example: I really enjoyed Anthony Trollope'south novel Can You Forgive Her? because of the interesting female characters and the description of the life of the upper classes in 19th century England.

Then the rest of the outset paragraph who talk about why I liked the female characters and what I liked about them. The 2nd paragraph would explicate why l liked learning about 19th century England. Information technology would assist to conclude with what you learned from the book or how it inverse your way of thinking about something.

Annotation: You lot should underline or italicize the championship of a novel just I can't do that in the question widget.

Annoymus on May 19, 2018:

My task is to write a response to our favourite book in two paragraphs could yous please help with that

Saif on November 30, 2017:

Hullo Ms. Virginia Thank you very much for this wonderful explanations. it is actually helpful for my assignment. It is one of my favorite topics that has been explained conspicuously. I over again capeesh your efforts.

Tank you

Virginia Kearney (writer) from Us on Oct 31, 2017:

Hi Daisy, I'm very glad this is helping y'all and I hope you lot will wait at my other articles for assist on your assignments.

Daisy on October 31, 2017:

hi,Ms.virginia thanks soo much for this ..i didnt know how to start my assignment but afterwards reading from this hub, i know the way forrard..i actually appreciate you. cheers

Lisa Combs on September 24, 2017:

Coming into my assignment, I was very nervous. I've never written a reader-response paper. The data I establish on your site gives me the conviction to motion forward! Thank you so much!

Carmel Therese C. Crauz on August 21, 2017:

Hi Ms. Virginia, thank you a lot for a very helpful article. Been searching for a while on how to write a synopsis on our assignment.

Thank YOU SOOOO MUCH! GOD BLESS You!

Virginia Kearney (writer) from United states on October 22, 2015:

Maria, I'grand and then glad that you found this article helpful to you. Writing responses to things you read is such a key part of many college tasks that mastering this ability makes you a much better student overall.

Maria I Reyes on October 21, 2015:

Ms. Lynne cheers and then much. This was extremely helpful. I like the fact that y'all added examples for a meliorate understanding. I besides added it every bit a favorite so that I can refer to it equally oftentimes as possible. Thanks again!

Virginia Kearney (writer) from United States on Feb 08, 2015:

ChocoMoco--all papers need to accept a thesis sentence because a thesis sentence is the main idea of the paper. Still, not all thesis sentences are "roadmap" ones which tell everything you will talk about. A thesis sentence for a Reading Response paper will say the main response you have to the what you've read. Here is a Reading Response paper with examples about a thesis:https://owlcation.com/humanities/Reading-Response-...

ChocoMoco on Feb 08, 2015:

For a responsive paper is information technology necessary to have a thesis sentence?

Selina on November sixteen, 2014:

Give thanks you this saved life!

Virginia Kearney (author) from Usa on October 27, 2014:

Hello Lex--I have several other sample papers that you can encounter if yous just search on HubPages for Reading Response sample essays.

Lex on October 27, 2014:

I really similar how y'all give your example , it sure assistance me a lot . Please add more to help other people that need information technology!

Kristi Tipps-Deutsch from Colorado Springs on July 23, 2014:

I enjoyed this hub very much. Information technology'south and then helpful to have sample papers that students can try to recreate with their own content. I will happily rob you of this fabulous step by step tutorial. Give thanks yous for taking such fourth dimension and endeavour to make information technology so attainable.

Abrar on January 27, 2014:

Thank y'all it was and so helpful I had two videos and the Dr. asked us to write responds I did what have said give thanks you

Eric on Jan 01, 2014:

Cheers for your response examples.

.

honey on October 14, 2013:

i was awesome i got lots of idea . thanks. : )

Virginia Kearney (author) from United States on Baronial 21, 2012:

Glad that my Hub reassured you lot reniesaenz. I take been so happy to find that many students both in my class and out have been able to write improve and faster when given clear instructions.

reniesaenz on August 20, 2012:

To be honest I was a little nervous going into your class. Later reading this hubpage I'g actually not as nervous considering I know that post-obit your hubpages will give me the assist I need to right the essay's this semester.

Virginia Kearney (author) from United States on June 12, 2012:

Thanks then much for stopping by!

Thank you! it is really helpful on June 12, 2012:

Thanks! It is actually helpful.

Virginia Kearney (author) from United States on April 20, 2012:

Cheers so much peytons for letting me know that this has helped you. I tin can't believe how many people are reading this hub, which I originallly put upwards more often than not for my own students to use. Finally, I Googled this topic and realized that at that place isn't much on the web explaining how to write reading responses, even though that is a very mutual essay topic in a lot of disciplines. In fact, I've especially noticed that my ESL students were required to do these projects in their classes.

peytons on April twenty, 2012:

Cheers for your hub, and I have learned a lot almost the skills of writing a reading reponse.

You recommended means of introduction are exceptionally engaging and desirable.

Virginia Kearney (author) from United States on Feb 21, 2012:

Hi--the two samples in the bluish block are reading response essays my students have washed. Skilful luck on your consignment! Check out some of my other hubs for other writing assist.

Claudia Tello from United mexican states on Nov xix, 2011:

Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. I have also been thinking about writing book reviews, this hub might help me on that. Cheers!

Virginia Kearney (author) from United States on November 18, 2011:

Cheers for your comments Claudia. I have written reading response hubs on Chinese books for kids and early on readers. My "Rock Age" hub is really a reading response too. Actually, I take a ton of hubs planned of this blazon only I haven't gotten to them nonetheless. Reading Response is really a lot like a volume review, and and then that is always fun!

Claudia Tello from United mexican states on November eighteen, 2011:

I used to write reading response essays for a literature form I engaged in during my college years. I relish writing and analyzing my response to the things I read. It was quite fun in those days because the professor obviously chose books that where especially thought provoking and that made it much more than interesting and like shooting fish in a barrel besides. Do yous write many reading response hub-essays?

Virginia Kearney (author) from United States on Nov 03, 2011:

Cheers Carol3san--I've been very surprised at the number of people who accept looked at my writing hubs and I'1000 always grateful for positive feedback. Thanks for stopping by!

Carolyn Sands from Hollywood Florida on November 03, 2011:

Thanks for the hub. Great info. I voted yous up.

Virginia Kearney (author) from United states of america on October 30, 2011:

Thanks somethingblue! I appreciate your comment and the time you lot've taken to respond at length. Although my hubs on writing instruction don't always accept a lot of comments, they take gotten more views than I expected. I know that many writing instructors don't have a lot of previous experience or teaching in education writing before they are put in a class. Sometimes the books they apply aren't particularly helpful at explaining the process. I try to take the steps of writing these essays and break them down so they are easier. Thanks once again!

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Source: https://owlcation.com/academia/How-to-Write-a-Reading-Response-Essay

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