Writing a response paper
by Prof. Hangen - January 27th, 2011
A couple of students have asked about the response papers and what they should look like.
How Many: Three. 1 = this Friday 1/28, for everyone. 2 = on any other presentation Friday you choose, some week when you’re not presenting. 3 = on your presentation day. If you are presenting this Friday, you’ve noticed you have two due on the same day. In that case you can take a couple of days longer to submit the presentation response paper.
Length: 2-3 pages, double-spaced.
Formality and Style: Fine to use the word “I” to refer to yourself. Please cite (footnote) any direct quotation, but don’t make a separate Works Cited page.
Title: Give it a title, rather than “Response Paper #1.” Don’t make a separate title page (wastes paper).
Grading: Each one is graded on a 5-point scale, and is 5% of your final grade.
Content if it’s a response paper to the readings: somewhere between a mini-critical essay and an editorial. This isn’t an “I liked it/I hated it” book report. It’s an opportunity for you to offer COMMENTARY or DISCUSSION about something in our week’s reading. Or to CONNECT the reading to something we discussed in class, or to LINK two readings together with a COMPARISON or UNIFYING THEME. It’s an opportunity to raise (and perhaps make a stab at answering) CRITICAL QUESTIONS. I’m looking to see you ENGAGE with the readings and their ideas.
Content if it’s the paper that accompanies your Friday presentation: you can AMPLIFY something you plan to talk about in your presentation. You can HIGHLIGHT something fascinating that you came across, but didn’t have time to include in the presentation. You can TRACE your research steps, explaining how you approached making the presentation and what you learned as you did so. You should provide a BIBLIOGRAPHY of the material that goes into your presentation, although it doesn’t have to be a separate attached page.
Any questions I didn’t answer? Leave them in the comments below.
