Description
To develop analytical and argumentative skills, each student will write a 500-word response papers discussing elements of the assigned reading over the course of the semester. These papers, which are due on the dates listed, give students a chance to ponder and grapple with the reading and practice getting ideas down on paper. Response papers should consist of three parts: (1) an introduction + a very brief summary, (2) a response, (3) a conclusion. In the first paragraph, students should provide a clear and concise introduction and then restate the argument of the reading in their own words. In preparation, consider writing a brief summary, draw a flowchart or a diagram of the reading. Consider this paragraph a resource you can return to in the course as well as subsequent study. The second part of the response paper should be comprised of scholarly reflections and reactions to the reading: analyze it; illustrate it through previous related study or experience; refute it; question it; doubt it. Students should conclude their papers by considering how the reading illuminates major course themes, contradicts other readings, or builds on class discussion.
Write Introduction + Brief Summary
Write Response
Write Conclusion
Actions to Take
Explain the key terms, main arguments, and assumptions of each text.
Do your best to characterize each text’s arguments fairly and accurately.
Evaluate the evidence that each text presents: point out strengths and weaknesses, both internal to the text and in relation to the others. For example, if one text makes an argument based on an assumption that another text either confirms or refutes, then you can use the latter text to evaluate the plausibility of the claim made by the former.
Explain how the texts relate to and “speak” to one another. Synthesize them if you can, and if you cannot, explain what the barriers preventing such a synthesis are.
Consider both sides of issues at stake. If all the texts are on one side of an issue, consider the other side. If the texts fall on both sides of an issue, consider where agreements and disagreements lie and what each side’s strengths and weaknesses are.
Include your own voice by weighing arguments, evaluating evidence, and raising critical questions. If there seems to be something important that none of the authors addresses, point it out and state what you think its significance is. Try to be as specific as possible.
Keep an eye out for authors’ omissions, and raise counterarguments when you detect authors’ arguments are weak.
Actions Not to Take
Do not offer an impressionistic account of whether you liked the work.
Do not wait too long to start writing. Remember that reading and understanding the texts are only the first steps toward putting the paper together.
Do not write an autobiographical essay. Reaction/response papers are not about how you feel— even how you feel about the texts. They are not simply a venue for you to say whether you like or dislike the texts. Give praise or blame where you think it is due, but avoid commendation or condemnation for its own sake.
Do not just summarize the texts. You are supposed to be reacting or responding to them, not simply repeating what they say. If there is no analysis involved, then you have not responded, only regurgitated.
If there are things in the text that you don’t understand, do not try to gloss over them. Try to find out what the text means. Ask questions of your instructor. If you still cannot make sense of an argument in a text, then it may be the case that the argument does not in fact make sense. If that’s the case, point it out in your paper.