Responding to a Reading

Overview
When you respond to something you have read, you want to start by making sure that you really understand it. This means you want to read it very carefully, looking up any words or terms you are not familiar with. Then, you want to decide what parts of what the author argues you agree with and what parts you disagree with.

Introduction Paragraph
Remember, as always, your introduction paragraph should introduce the topic to the reader. In this case, you are introducing the topic of ---------------------------.

Introduction Paragraph
In your introduction you should introduce the title and author of the essay you will be discussing.

Introduction Paragraph
Practice doing that now: ______________________________

Introduction Paragraph
You should also briefly summarize what the author argues in the essay.

Introduction Paragraph
Practice doing that now: ______________________________

Introduction Paragraph
Finally, your thesis statement should clearly state your viewpoint on the specific question or questions in the prompt.

Introduction Paragraph
Your thesis statement should be a direct response to the prompt, so you cant do that yet. You can even use some of the wording in the prompt.

Example Introduction
We see homeless people every day, but most people dont think much about what can be done about this issue. In the essay Somewhere for Everyone, John Grisham argues that people try to pretend the homeless dont exist, but in the end this is a problem we cant ignore. I agree with Grisham because the problem of homelessness is very real and something that we should all be interested in making better.

Body Paragraphs
Once you have figured out what your position is on the question/questions in the prompt, you need to come up with reasons WHY you feel this way.

Body Paragraphs
Each body paragraph should cover one reason why you for the viewpoint/viewpoints you take in your thesis statement.

Body Paragraphs
Each body paragraph should begin with a topic sentence that clearly states what you will cover in that paragraph. Here is an example: One reason why I feel we dont do enough to help the homeless is because I have seen first hand how people ignore the homeless and pretend they dont exist. Then, the rest of this body paragraph would give details to explain and show how this is true.

The Support in Your Body Paragraphs

Its not enough to just state your viewpoint; you have to EXPLAIN and SHOW why.

The Support in Your Body Paragraphs

Most of the time, the support you use to explain your viewpoint will come in the form of information from the reading and your own observations. You can build a body paragraph around:
a quote from the article or around an example from your experiences/observations.

The Support in Your Body Paragraphs

You can and should use at least one quote from the reading to support your point of view.

The Support in Your Body Paragraphs

Dont forget to always introduce quotes with a signal phrase or work the quote into your own sentence. Ex: According to Grisham, we see the homeless every day but try to pretend they arent there. Ex: Grisham believes that we see the homeless every day but try to pretend they arent there.

The Support in Your Body Paragraphs

You should also use your own experiences and/or the experiences of people you know to explain why you agree or disagree with the author.

Conclusion Paragraph
As always, the point of your conclusion is to review what you went over.

Conclusion Paragraph
You should restate your viewpoint on the question/questions asked in the prompt. You can review the support you offered in your body paragraphs. Its a nice touch to end with an interesting thought about the subject.

Last Semesters Prompt

Los Angeles Southwest College Department of English and Foreign Language English 28 Common Final Essay Exam

Assigned Readings: Firestorm Erupts Over Virginia's Education Goals (Claudio Sanchez) Making Schools Work (David Kirp) Directions for Writing the Essay: You have 85 minutes to plan and write a composition of 300-500 words. Before you begin to write, consider the issue carefully and plan what you write. Your essay should be well developed, well-organized, and carefully written. In addition, it should contain textual informationdetails, paraphrase, and quotationfrom both essays and may include examples from your own experiences and observations. Write in ink on only one side of the paper, and skip lines so that you will have room to make corrections. Remember to proofread your composition before submitting it. The Writing Assignment: Of course desegregation was not a cure-all. While the achievement gap and the income gap narrowed during the peak era of desegregation, white children continued to do noticeably better. Thats to be expected, for schools cant hope to overcome the burdens of po verty or the lack of early education, which puts poor children far behind their middle-class peers before they enter kindergarten. (Kirp) "Rest assured, all of us hold all students to the same academic standards, but when it comes to measuring progress, we have to consider that students start at different points," Wright said. (Sanchez) Respond to the following question in a developed essay: Given the data on the achievement gap, do you think that Virginia is correct in using different standards for evaluating student progress based on race? Why or why not? State your opinion and support your answer using information from the articles, appropriate quotes and evidence.

Last Semesters Prompt

Assigned Readings: Firestorm Erupts Over Virginia's Education Goals (Claudio Sanchez) Making Schools Work (David Kirp) Directions for Writing the Essay:

You have 85 minutes to plan and write a composition of 300-500 words. Before you begin to write, consider the issue carefully and plan what you write. Your essay should be well developed, wellorganized, and carefully written. In addition, it should contain textual informationdetails, paraphrase, and quotationfrom both essays and may include examples from your own experiences and observations.
Write in ink on only one side of the paper, and skip lines so that you will have room to make corrections. Remember to proofread your composition before submitting it.

Last Semesters Prompt

The Writing Assignment: Of course desegregation was not a cure-all. While the achievement gap and the income gap narrowed during the peak era of desegregation, white children continued to do noticeably better. Thats to be expected, for schools cant hope to overcome the burdens of poverty or the lack of early education, which puts poor children far behind their middle-class peers before they enter kindergarten. (Kirp)

"Rest assured, all of us hold all students to the same academic standards, but when it comes to measuring progress, we have to consider that students start at different points," Wright said. (Sanchez)
Respond to the following question in a developed essay: Given the data on the achievement gap, do you think that Virginia is correct in using different standards for evaluating student progress based on race? Why or why not? State your opinion and support your answer using information from the articles, appropriate quotes and evidence.