Response Essays.
Your response can be positive, negative or both. You can respond to one or more of the
following:
• Ideas in the article.
• The way the article is written.
• The topic.
• The personality of the writer.
• How this relates to your own experiences.
• How this reminds you of something else you’ve seen or read
Consider the following questions to guide your response:
• What do you think about the ideas in the article? Do you agree or disagree? Why?
• How do the ideas in the article relate to your own experiences?
• How do the ideas in the article relate to other things you’ve read?
• What do you notice about the way the article is written? What about the way it is written
makes it more or less persuasive?
Your thesis answers the question: “What do you think about this article?” Your body paragraphs
will give details from the article as well as your own thoughts to back up the ideas. Each
paragraph will have a topic sentence, which is one of the reasons to believe the thesis. Your
conclusion will reflect on the ideas you have discussed.
ESSAY REQUIREMENTS:
• Word count : 1,000 – 1,200 words. (Roughly 2.5 – 3 pages).
• You will write a minimum of five paragraphs for this essay. Keep in mind that a well-
developed paragraph is at least 5-10 sentences. You should follow this format for the
organization the essay.
o First paragraph: A distinct introduction to your essay. Include a thesis (indicates main
idea and purpose) and a forecast statement (previews the main ideas of your essay).
This paragraph functions to only introduce what you have to say about the article, not
what the article is about.
o Body paragraphs: Body paragraphs discussing your main points. Only discuss one
main idea per body paragraph. You should have 3-4 main ideas. You may discuss
each main idea for 1 or 2 paragraphs. When you start a new paragraph (or set of
paragraphs) on a main idea, you must start with a topic sentence that introduces your
new main idea. Think of a topic sentence like a mini-thesis statement. It should not
just be an announcement of your main idea.
o Final paragraph: Distinct conclusion. You MAY summarize your thesis and main
ideas. You MUST offer final, concluding thoughts on your main ideas. Consider the
SO WHAT question.
• The first-person voice is appropriate for this essay.
• Adhere to MLA Guidelines.
o Make sure to include in-text citations for specific material (quotations, facts,
statistics).
o Create a Works Cited entry for the article you respond to, even if you never directly
quote it.
o If you choose to include any additional outside source material, you must also use in-
text citations and list the source(s) on your Works Cited page.