Response to Literature Essay
Response to Literature (47L)
• Purpose: To show your understanding
about a character’s traits, the setting, plot,
or theme.
• Support your ideas by referring to the story
(use direct quotations)
• Written in 3rd person (No I or You in essay)
• Written in present tense
Response to Literature
Organization
• 5-paragraph essay
– Introduction
– 3 Body Paragraphs
– Conclusion
• We will use an outline to help us organize
our thoughts
Response to Literature Outline
•
Intro Paragraph
•
•
•
•
Hook – quote or one-liner to capture attention
Connection – connects hook to topic of essay
Brief Summary – 1-3 sentences that provide
background information to your topic—assume
that your reader knows nothing about the subject.
Also must include the title and author of the piece
if this is a response to literature essay.
Thesis statement – 3 part statement that tells the
topic of your essay
Hook
• The first sentence in your introduction that
captures the reader’s attention (attention
grabbers):
• Types of hooks:
– Quote
– Question (no yes/no questions)
– Personal Anecdote
• Sentence starters (3rd person, present tense)
– Imagine…
– How would life be if…
(page)Summarizing “I, Juan De
Pareja”
• Somebody – Juan De Pareja
• Wanted – To paint
• But – Juan is a slave, and it is against the law for
slaves to paint
• So – Juan paints secretly
• Then – Diego writes a letter that frees Juan.
Thesis Statement
• Sentence starters:
– Though born a slave, Juan experiences
freedom…
– Though born a slave, Juan experiences many
freedoms…
• Complete the sentence with three
examples of Juan’s freedom.
Body Paragraph
• Body Paragraph #1
– Reason #1 Topic Sentence
– Quotation from the novel that supports or
gives an example of the topic sentence
– Commentary (2-3 sentences) explains the
importance of the quote.
– Transition Sentence
(51R) Reason #1 Topic Sentence
1. Let’s look back at our thesis statement:
1. Though born a slave, Juan experiences
freedom when he paints, runs errands
alone, and loves.
2. How can I restate my first reason in a
complete topic sentence?
1. One way Juan experiences freedom is by
painting.
(51R) Quotation
• Hmmm, now I have to find a quotation to
support my topic sentence.
• I went back to the book and found this
quote:
– “But I gloried in my disobedience” (87).
(51R) Commentary
•
I have a quotation: “But I gloried in my
disobedience” (87).
• How does the quote support the topic
sentence? One way Juan experiences
freedom is by painting.
1. Juan takes glory in his painting and to feel
glory is to feel free.
2. Juan feels glory, because he is able to freely
express himself.
3. He later expresses himself when he paints a
negro Madonna.
Commentary Cont’d.
• Sentence starters:
– This quote shows…
– This quote is an example of…
• The commentary will be three sentences
explaining how the quote supports the
topic sentence.
(51R) Transition
• Wrap up the current paragraph.
• Give a glimpse of the next paragraph.
• Example: Painting is one way that Juan
experiences freedom, but there are other
examples.
Let’s put it all together:
One way Juan experiences freedom is
by painting. “But I gloried in my
disobedience” (87). This quote shows
that Juan takes glory in his painting and
to feel glory is to feel free. Juan feels
glory, because he is able to freely
express himself. He later expresses
himself when he paints a negro
Madonna. Painting is one way that Juan
experiences freedom, but there are other
examples.
(52L) Plagiarism
• What is it?
– Plagiarism is “the act of taking the writings of another
person and passing them off as your own”
(Encyclopedia Britannica).
• Why is it bad?
– In school (middle and high school) that means a
ZERO on the assignment, even in this class.
– In college that means a ZERO on the assignment,
possibly getting kicked out, and other punishments.
– In some cases it means being penalized, possibly
serving jail time, and/or being sued.
• Plagiarism is SERIOUS. DO NOT DO IT!!!!
(52L) Avoiding Plagiarism
• When using words that are not your own,
give credit to the source.
• When quoting directly, paraphrasing, or
summarizing the words and/or thoughts of
another author, give that person credit.
• We are using Elizabeth Borton De
Trevino’s words in this essay. How can we
give her credit?
(52L) Embedding Quotations
copy this diagram exactly as it is:
Open quotation
marks
Closed quotation
marks
Page
number
“But I gloried in my disobedience” (87).
Parenthesis
1. Use quotation marks around the
exact words you take from the story.
2. Show the page number you got the
quote from.
Punctuation
AFTER, AFTER
parenthesis