How to Write Reaction Papers Text

Jonathan Friesen - Writing Coach

Other frequently assigned papers some assignments may require you to formulate a reaction to your readings, to your instructors lectures and comments, or even to your classmates, including those in your online courses. Reaction writing may be informal or formal and is primarily analytical reactions may be included in critiques, reviews, illustrations of ideas, or judgments of a concept or theory. Like reviews, reactions go beyond the literal content of the text, requiring that you bring to the text meaning not explicitly stated, to elaborate on or explore the implications of the authors ideas. Your reactions may include your subjective interpretations you may even use the first person narrator i. Your reaction paper need not follow the organization and ordering of the text you are writing about in fact, reactions can begin with the last point the author made and then move to other points made earlier. Although the reactions are focused on your own thinking, you can also include summaries, paraphrases, or quotations from the examined text. The organization of a reaction varies according to the audience, purpose, and limitations of your assignment.

You may use a structured format, such as those for argument, or you may use an informal one of your choosing. However you organize your reaction paper, be sure that your approach emphasizes and reflects your analysis and serious consideration of the authors text. Writing reactive assignments enables you to examine relationships of ideas among the various parts of the passages, and between the authors ideas about a given topic and your preexisting knowledge of and experiences with the topic. When you relate your own ideas to the authors, you can bring your personal knowledge and experience to bear on the topic in such a way as to analyze the authors message in a familiar context. When you carry on a dialogue with the author, you are expanding and speculating on the authors ideasentering an academic conversation with the author.

Writing reactions usually calls for an expressive writing style in which you can let your thoughts flow, be imaginative, and experiment with language. Although reactions often seem like freewriting or reacting in continuous writing, you want to organize your thoughts with a thesis, introduction and conclusion, and supporting statements. Consider these general steps as you plan your writing: first, freewrite in order to expand and speculate on the authors ideas. A reaction paper requires you to formulate analysis and reaction to a given body of material such as readings, lectures, or student presentations. The purpose of a reaction paper assignment is to focus your thinking on a topic after a close examination of the source material.

Student services: 1616 mccormick drive, largo, md 20774 reaction papers are intended to provide students with the opportunity to think about and respond to a text in an organized and meaningful way. The basic idea is to juxtapose the ideas and positions expressed in the text against your own. This doesn't mean that a reaction paper should focus exclusively on those points with which you disagree. Reaction paper assignments will vary from teacher to teacher, but there are some generally applicable steps to approaching this type of essay. Take notes on the author's positions on the topic and any noticeable bias he seems to have. Think about the text as you read and ask yourself whether you agree with the author's position, whether the author makes a sound case for his position, whether he assumes a certain level of knowledge in the reader, if he leaves any important information out or uses suspect evidence, and what the implications of the writer's thoughts and beliefs on the topic are. Take general notes on these and similar matters as you read, marking any passages that particularly stand out to you.

Choose five to 10 pieces of evidence from the text that particularly stand out to you. Write a brief, accurate summary of the text in the first paragraph of your reaction paper. For example, if you're reacting to a paper or book in support of environmentalism, include a sentence or two describing that author's specific position. Your personal reaction to the text's contents should be left for subsequent paragraphs. The goal from here on is to demonstrate that you have understood the text in question and to establish your position using specific examples. Devote each paragraph to a specific piece of evidence or a few pieces of closely related evidence.

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If this paper is being written for a course with numerous readings, briefly compare and contrast the text in question with related texts from the course readings. You're more likely to notice mistakes and omissions if you take a break before editing. In writing a good reaction paper, it is not enough to simply praise the strengths or criticize the weaknesses of the text in question. It is important to provide the reasons why, for example, the first chapter of a novel is dragging, or why the thesis of a particular essay carries a strong point. Of equal significance is your ability to further support your reasons with academic theories or even statistical data.

It is highly advisable to create an outline before you start writing your reaction paper. It also affords you the opportunities to search the justifications you need and to list the supporting theories to them. In a paragraph, start your reaction paper with your introduction that includes a brief summary of the material you are tasked to respond to.

For instance, after stating that i think the first chapter of the novel is dragging continue with another sentence such as after the first five pages, the protagonist does nothing exciting or provocative. Further substantiate your reason by adding a theoretical perspective that will explain your observation. Apply the previous method with the succeeding paragraphs for your other reactions. As much as possible, use personal indicators such as i believe, i think, i suppose, in my opinion, and others. You may wish to wrap up your reaction paper with a challenge to your reader, if not the author of the work you have just responded to. In writing a reaction paper, keep in mind to state your opinion and analysis of the work. It is thus appropriate to use the singular first person point of view the i , but also adopt an academic tone.

If you know how to write a reaction paper, it will be easy to identify and justify your reactions. Hire us and we'll write your papers for you! 1 do not retell the story.   you don’t even need to write a synopsis in fact, it is better if you don’t. What you should try to do is to write an essay about the major theme or themes in the movie.