Exclusive Guide on How to Write a Response Paper

We are often expected to do what other people expect us to do in several areas of our academic, personal, and professional lives. Maybe, this is the best way for humans to get along together in every way that is closely aligned to how we communicate by machine and at an interpersonal level. Where this observation is leading to is that when we are asked to write a response essay to an article, paper or literary piece, we are obliged to provide what the professors or instructors, who score the work, or those who develop an opinion by reading it expect. However, writing a reading response the proper way is really challenging at times. If you want to know how to write a response paper effectively, we will provide with a comprehensive overview and expert guide to writing a powerful response.

What Is a Response Paper?

Before you start writing, it is important to understand what a response paper is, since it is often mistaken for a review of an article, a movie, a book or an event, which it is actually not. Writing a response paper is your individual chance to share and explain your personal opinion and understanding of a certain idea.

For anyone who needs to write a response essay, the process is quite similar to writing analytical essays, i.e. you need to conduct an analysis of some given material and explain the results of that analysis. Nevertheless, response papers are the writer’s personal or own assessment of the work of another author; therefore, the subjective viewpoint you provide will be open to less scrutiny than, say, an analysis paper.

Thus, writing a response essay is a form of scholarly writing wherein the writer acquaints themselves with a given text, analyzes that text from every angle, takes notes, and writes a personal assessment based on what they have read and observed. Generally speaking, when working on response essays, the writer should describe to their readers what they experience or feel upon reading a text, listening to, or watching something.

What Makes a Good Response Paper?

What you write has to relate to an essay, research paper, a book or a newspaper article you are writing about. The difference from the usual review or a summary paper is that you have to speak of your own ideas, visions, and the values that are contained in the work in question. The most important task here is to connect the subject you are discussing with your own personal experience. Writing a response paper is an art and you have to approach it like an artist – give yourself time and space to think, to analyze and tell of what you have personally been through. You have to transform the content of an article or a book, a poem or a movie to a meaningful experience that your audience can relate.

A response paper is not a review and not a test of how you comprehend something. You should not write your response essay only in sentences like “I really liked …” or “The author tells of how he went to Paris and then moved to Italy”. It is not a summary of what you have read. On the contrary, a powerful response paper is what tells of how deep you have thought about the concepts discussed and what you have understood and learned from the author’s writing. A response paper should be like a poignant and a deep letter to the author where you speak of what has influenced and inspired you the most. Finally, a good response paper is the one that has the answers these three simple questions:

• What is the meaning that the author wants me to understand?
• What is my personal vision and attitude to what the author has told?
• How has it all affected my personal life and my daily interactions?

How to Write a Response Paper: The Process

While writing a critical response essay, there are a number of details that are essential to bear in mind to successfully complete the assignment. To reach certain heights in writing, one needs to understand the difference between response essays and summaries.

Writing summaries involves paraphrasing the key thoughts and/or ideas in a written piece. You need to use direct quotes and cite the author. In most cases, students present the most important points and paraphrased ideas in an identical order to the original order. However, some parts of an analysis can be put forward, but not direct evaluations or assessments. In responses like these, the writer offers their personal assessment of a given work e.g. a work of literature. The writer develops their own thoughts in a way that directly relates to the material they have analyzed.

If you are just learning how to write a response paper, and whether your essay is long or short, make sure you use an appropriate structure and format. A three-section structure is, for example, common in a lot of assignment types: an introductory section, a main body, and a concluding section.

In the case of, say, a movie response essay assignment or a book response essay, there are some options when it comes to response essay format: the MLA or APA style or the Chicago or Harvard style. You should nonetheless keep in mind that the choice of formatting depends largely on the subject, topic, and/or a professor’s instructions. Therefore, if a professor gives you one of these assignments, ask them what style you should use. In the event you are given freedom to select, choose a format you feel comfortable with or one that is familiar to you.

When writing a response essay, it is usual to provide a few points in your paper’s introductory section, which you will then go on to discuss in the main body paragraphs. Every type of essay has a thesis statement as an integral and central component; hence, you need to develop an eye-catching and interesting statement early on. A lot of experts recommend focusing on particular parts of a text instead of attempting to cover everything in a text. This method allows you to reveal aspects and elements that readers do not know about. Remember to align your impressions and thoughts with the main statements in the text. It also helps to develop an essay outline in order to divide your writing into different stages and to stick to whatever plan you develop.

Lastly, when you are finished, you should consider giving your work to another person to read with a view to identifying weaknesses. When every error is corrected, your paper is ready for submission. If, however, you still find writing a paper like this too complicated, contact Marvelous-Essays.com at any time!

How to Do Text Analysis for Response Essay Writing

Tips to Consider When Writing a Response Paper

• When writing any type of academic assignment, you should think of a detailed outline, which will help you to organize your thoughts and ideas. Sticking to the proper working plan, you will not miss anything that matters. Have a closer look at the different outlines used for paper writing. The most frequently used response paper outline is an alphanumeric outline, which is the most convenient one for academic essay writing.
• Writing a response requires a very careful preparation. To get started, you need to understand the subject of focus in the provided text by reading it several times noting down all areas of interest. You also need to plan your writing process the right way.
• Get started only after you have conducted in-depth literary analysis. Have a strong opening section. Brainstorm ideas on the eye-catching introduction. Keep in mind that the well-written beginning is a key to success.
• Don’t underestimate the role of the powerful thesis statement. Use a strong thesis statement to hook your target audience. You should write a sentence or two but they should be impressive.
• Let readers know the article or book you are writing a reaction to, and do not forget to include the text’s author(s). Use the introduction to state the main idea of your essay. Write whether you agree with the author or not and explain what you are going to discuss in your work.
• It is a good idea to find a reading response paper example and have it in front of you when working on your academic assignment. It is better to see once than to hear one hundred times! Having a good example, you will be able to differentiate between a good and a bad assignment format.
• Take into account that the reader will memorize your conclusion better than any other part. So do your best to make it really strong.
• Make sure that you have enough time to proofread and edit your paper thoroughly.

You will pass your paper with flying colors if you follow all above-mentioned tips and format your paper in accordance with the teacher’s requirements. However, should you need expert assistance because of the lack of time or writing skills, we will gladly help you out.

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