How to Write a “Response to
Informational Text” Paragraph
for US History
Basic Outline:
I. Topic Sentence
– aka thesis statement
– Your argument, as a rephrasing of the question
asked or the problem posed
II. Transition
– provides background of author & historical
context of source
– APPA from APPARTS Chart
III. Provide evidence
– Quote or paraphrase the source
– Parenthetical citation (author)
IV. Analysis of evidence/quote
– RTS from APPARTS Chart
– Repeat steps II, III & IV when providing more than
one quote
V. Closure
– summary statement that signifies the piece of
writing is concluded
VI. Work(s) Cited - separate page
Example Prompt
• “The first steps of the slaveholder to justify by argument
the peculiar institutions is to deny the self-evident truths
of the Declaration of Independence. He denies that all
men are created equal. He denies that he has inalienable
rights.”
– John Quincy Adams, “Letter to the Citizens of the Twelfth Congressional District (29
June 1839),” The Hingham Patriot, MA, in Thomas Hughes Rare and Early
Newspaper catalog, No. 141.
• Prompt: According to John Quincy Adams’ letter, did he
agree with the arguments slaveholders used to justify
keeping slaves?
Topic Sentence
• The Topic Sentence is the thesis; the
first sentence of the response to the
info text paragraph
• The Topic Sentence must respond to
the essay prompt (the question you are
answering)
– Include language or a ideas from the prompt
Tips to Remember about Topic
Sentences / Thesis Statements:
– At it’s most basic, the topic
sentence can simply flip the
question into a statement that
answers the prompt
• Prompt: Why is XY a Z?
• Topic sentence: XY is a Z
because…
Topic Sentences
• They need to be direct and focused.
• They need to serve as an umbrella which can be used for the entire essay.
• They must address a specific topic and put forth a clear main idea.
Example Topic Sentence
• “The first steps of the slaveholder to justify by argument the peculiar
institutions is to deny the self-evident truths of the Declaration of
Independence. He denies that all men are created equal. He denies
that he has inalienable rights.”
– Excerpt from John Quincy Adams, “Letter to the Citizens of the Twelfth Congressional District
(29 June 1839),” The Hingham Patriot, MA, in Thomas Hughes Rare and Early Newspaper
catalog, No. 141.
• Prompt: According to John Quincy Adams’ letter, did he agree with
the arguments slaveholders used to justify keeping slaves?
Example Topic Sentence:
•
In his “Letter to the Citizens of the Twelfth Congressional District (29 June
1839),” John Quincy Adams made it clear he disagreed with the arguments
slaveholders used to justify keeping slaves.
APPARTS CHART
• Take a look at the APPARTS CHART
analyzing the quote and laying the ground
work for writing the info text paragraph
The transition follows after the topic
sentence and comes before the source
quote and/or paraphrase
•
Provide Historical Context
–
–
–
–
What was going on at this point in time?
The transition is usually a couple of sentences long, at
most 3-4
Incorporate info from your APPARTS Chart from the
following categories: Author, Place and Time (and
Prior Knowledge, if appropriate) and Audience.
Five Ws: make sure the transition answers
•
•
•
WHO?
WHERE?
WHEN?
The transition
•
Who is the Author?
–
–
–
•
Write a brief biography (1-2 sentences).
Especially reference facts that connect to the main
idea of the quote/thesis of the paper.
DO NOT REFER TO AUTHOR BY FIRST NAME!
Where and When: Place and Time
–
–
–
if a speech, an image, a chart, book or magazine
article: when and where was it spoken, written or
published?
Who was the intended audience for the speech,
article, image, etc.?
What significant events/controversies were taking
place at the time -- an election? a debate? A war?
- A, P, P, A from your APPARTS Chart -
Choosing the source you are going
to quote and/or paraphrase in the
paragraph.
• Don’t be lazy! Make sure the quote(s) are long enough to
be “analyzable” - include main point(s)!
• Use…ellipses…to connect two or more passages from a
quote
• Don’t quote something you can easily say yourself
• Use [brackets] to add words to make a quote
grammatically correct
• Cite quote in parenthesis (author’s last name or if that is
not given, the first word in the title of the document)
How to paraphrase a source
• General advice
– When reading a passage, try first to understand it as
a whole, rather than pausing to write down specific
ideas or phrases.
– Be selective. Unless your assignment is to do a
formal or "literal" paraphrase, you usually don?t need
to paraphrase an entire passage; instead, choose and
summarize the material that helps you make a point
in your paper.
– Think of what "your own words" would be if you were
telling someone who's unfamiliar with your subject
(your mother, your brother, a friend) what the original
source said.
– Click here to see an in-depth example.
Writing the quote analysis
• First, define and explain any key terms found in quotes.
• Explain the main idea in your own words.
• Explain the significance of the main idea in connection with your
thesis statement.
• Avoid starting your analysis with “What this quote means…” or
“What _____ is saying here is…”
• Do NOT provide analysis of information that is not included in the
quotations or paraphrase
• Use the following info from your APPARTS Chart: Reason, The Main
Idea, Significance
• Review and make sure the quote analysis explains
– WHAT
– WHY
R,T, S from APPARTS Chart
Closure
• the last sentence of the paragraph.
• Make a clear connection to the thesis by
using language from the topic sentence
and summarizing the evidence used to
support the main points of the argument
• Avoid starting the concluding sentence
with clichés such as “All in all,” or “So
as you can see” or “In conclusion…”
Works Cited
• At top of next page after the conclusion provide
a Works Cited page (as in this example above,
with the words Works Cited centered in plain text
at the top of the first empty page after your
paper ends)
• Use the citations provided
• If none are provided generate one using
EasyBib
• Format citation(s) with hanging indentation(s)
• No spaces/extra empty lines between citations
Example Works Cited Page
Works Cited
John Quincy Adams, “Letter to the Citizens of the Twelfth Congressional District (29
June 1839),” The Hingham Patriot, MA, in Thomas Hughes Rare and Early
Newspaper catalog, No. 141.