Unit 1
Expository Writing
Responding to
a Short Story
Responding to a Short Story
What is a literary response?
• In a literary response, a writer
—tells how he or she reacted to a literary selection
—explains his or her reaction using specific details and
examples from the text
• In this workshop, you will learn how to
write a response to a short story
that you have read.
Assignment: Write a response to
a short story I have read.
Goal: Clearly present a personal
opinion of or personal reaction to one
aspect or element of a short story.
Strategy: Use evidence from the
story to support and explain my
opinion or reaction.
Writing Rubric: My response to
literature should include the following:
• an introduction that names the story and its
author and includes a clear thesis, or
statement of my response to the story
• body paragraphs that support and explain my
thesis
• evidence from the story to support each main
idea in my body paragraphs and my thesis
• precise language appropriate to my audience
and topic
• a conclusion that sums up my response
Responding to a Short Story
When you respond to a short story
• explain your personal reaction to it—one way to
do that is to say, “I liked the story” or “I didn’t like
the story.”
• focus on something specific about the story that
affected you, such as the main character, the
setting, or a surprise ending.
• discuss whether you could see yourself or people
you know in the story.
Walter Dean Myers recounts how his
teacher made him read a book when he
misbehaved. Note his use of personal
details and point of view.
Reading a book was not so much like entering a different
world—it was like discovering a different language. It was
a language clearer than the one I spoke, and clearer than the
one I heard around me. What the books said
was...interesting, but the idea that I could enter this world at
any time I chose was even more attractive. The “me” who
read the books...seemed more the real me than the “me”
who played ball in the streets.
—WALTER DEAN MYERS, Bad Boy
➊ PREWRITE
Narrowing Your Topic
• First, decide on a story to write about.
—Which stories do you feel most strongly about?
—Which stories changed your understanding of
something or made you question what you thought you
knew?
—Which stories did you find especially enjoyable,
surprising, or strange?
• Whichever story you choose, be sure that it is one
that inspired a strong reaction and one that will
give you enough to discuss in your response.
➊ PREWRITE
Gathering Details
• Once you choose a story to write about, gather
details related to your response.
• Consider how specific events, characters, and
settings shaped your feelings about the story.
• Then make a reactions chart
like the one on the next slide
to record your thoughts and
reactions to specific details
in the story.
Reaction Chart
Use the chart to record the key parts of the story, as well
as your reactions, predictions, and questions.
Details from Story
My Reactions
➊ PREWRITE
Deciding on Your Purpose
• Now write a thesis statement or main idea
statement that includes your response.
• Remember, a personal response states your own
reaction, so write in the first-person, using
pronouns such as I, me, and my.
• Use model thesis statements on the following
slides to come up with ideas for your own thesis
statement.
➊ PREWRITE
Model:
I liked the story “The Goodness of Matt Kaizer”
because Matt was such a believable character.
My Ideas:
I
because
the story
.
➊ PREWRITE
Model:
For me, the best part of “The Circuit” was the
ending because it showed the circuit, or circle,
of the narrator’s life.
My Ideas:
For me, the best part of
was
because
.
➊ PREWRITE
Model:
“The All-American Slurp” made me think about
the funny things that can happen when people
adjust to a new culture.
My Ideas:
about
made me think
.
➊ PREWRITE
Deciding on Your Purpose
• You can also create your own sentence model that
includes the name of the story, how you felt about
it, and why.
Thesis: “Lob’s Girl” is a great story
because of all the surprises it contains,
the way the surprises get bigger and
better, and the fantastic surprise ending.
➊ PREWRITE
Deciding on Your Purpose
• Now that you have chosen a story and a thesis, ask
yourself whether you can write a whole paper
about it.
• To test your thesis and get ready to draft, jot down
ideas for at least two paragraphs that explain your
main idea.
• If you think you can support your thesis, move on
to the drafting stage. If not, come up with a new
thesis and try again.
➋ DRAFT
Organizing Ideas
• Often, the best method of organization is story
order. For most stories, story order is the same as
chronological order, or time order.
• To use story order
—put your details in the same order in which they appear
in the story.
—discuss details at the beginning of the story first.
—then move on to details that appear in the middle and at
the end of the story.
➋ DRAFT
Story Order
• Detail(s) from the Beginning
—Lob finds Sandy—love at first sight
• Detail(s) from the Middle
—Lob walks from Liverpool to Cornwall twice
• Detail(s) from the End
—Lob finds the hospital
—Lob brings Sandy out of her coma
—Lob was buried at sea
➋ DRAFT
Putting Your Thoughts on Paper
• A response to literature is a type of expository
writing.
—Expository writing is writing that explains something.
—Expository writing typically includes the following
framework.
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
➋ DRAFT
As you draft your response, follow this
organizational plan:
Part
Purpose
Introduction
• lead your reader smoothly into your topic
• state the title, author, and thesis
Body
• write a topic sentence for each body
paragraph
• provide support from the story
Conclusion
• briefly sum up your main points
• add a final thought or insight
➋ DRAFT
Making Connections
• Your goal in a personal response is to let your
audience know how you reacted and to explain
why you reacted that way.
• Use specific details and examples in your body
paragraphs to explain your reaction.
➋ DRAFT
Making Connections
• Make sure each body paragraph has a main idea
and supporting evidence from the story.
• The main idea of each paragraph should support
your thesis. State the main idea in a topic sentence,
which is usually the first sentence of the
paragraph.
• Then explain the main idea in several supporting
sentences. End each paragraph with a statement
that links your ideas to your thesis.
➋ DRAFT
Making Connections
• In a personal response, remember that you need to
explain and support your main ideas with evidence
(details that come directly from the story).
• Include exact quotations or paraphrased evidence
from the story in your supporting sentences.
• Study the examples of supporting
evidence on the following slide.
➋ DRAFT
Which of these examples of supporting
evidence is paraphrased and which is a direct
quote?
Topic Sentence: The next two surprises are even
more incredible.
1. Evidence: Liverpool is “at the other end of
England from Cornwall.”
2. Evidence: Lob walks across the country to get
back to the Pengellys.
➋ DRAFT
Correct Answers:
1. Evidence: Liverpool is “at the other end of
England from Cornwall.”
Direct Evidence
2. Evidence: Lob walks across the country to
get back to the Pengellys.
Paraphrased Evidence
➌ REVISE
Evaluating Your Draft
• Always reread your writing.
• Add more explanation where it is needed and take
out words or sentences that are off the topic.
• Another good method for evaluating your draft is
to give it to a peer reviewer.
➌ REVISE
Delivering a Peer Review
• Be focused.
—Concentrate on content, organization, and style.
—Leave spelling and punctuation for the proofreading
stage.
• Be positive.
—Respect the writer’s feelings and genuine writing
efforts.
• Be specific.
—Give the writer concrete ideas on improving his or her
work.
➌ REVISE
Receiving a Peer Review
• Be specific.
—Tell the reviewer your concerns about the paper.
• Ask questions.
—Make sure you understand the reviewer’s comments.
• Be selective.
—Accept suggestions graciously, but don’t feel you have
to use all—or any—of them.
• Use the Revising Checklist on the next slide to
help guide you through your review.
Revising Checklist
 Does the introduction name the story and
its author and include a clear thesis?
 Do the main ideas of the body paragraphs
support the thesis?
 Are the main ideas supported with
specific evidence from the story?
➌ REVISE
Below is part of a literary response draft.
• The notes to the right indicate the reasons for the
changes in the draft.
• See the complete draft on page 123 of your
textbook.
 EDIT AND PROOFREAD
Focus: Word Choice
• When you write, use words that tell your readers
exactly what you mean. Use precise language that
is appropriate to your audience and topic.
• Use specific nouns, verbs, and modifiers to make
your points clearer and your writing more
interesting.
The biggest most remarkable surprises occur
at the ending.
David Almond is the author of many awardwinning books, such as Skellig and Secret
Heart. Almond acknowledges that writing
can be hard, but he encourages all young
people to look for the things they enjoy in
their work, and to trust their instincts and
imaginations:
Find something that you really like in everything you write,
even if it’s just a sentence or two. Be brave enough to tell
yourself that some of your writing is really good. Believe
that you are becoming a good writer. Train yourself to find
the good bits and to throw out or change the bad. Look
around you, and allow yourself to be amazed by the world
we live in.
 EDIT AND PROOFREAD
Focus: Appositive Phrases
• An appositive is a noun or pronoun that usually
follows another noun or pronoun and identifies it,
limits its meaning, or gives additional information.
• In the following example, Mr. Dodsworth is the
appositive. It identifies Lob’s owner.
Lob’s owner, Mr. Dodsworth, takes him home
to Liverpool.
 EDIT AND PROOFREAD
Focus: Appositive Phrases
• An appositive phrase is the appositive and words
that modify it.
• Commas set off an appositive phrase from the rest
of the sentence.
• Can you identify the appositive phrase in the
following sentence?
Lob, the amazing German shepherd, walks
across the country a second time!
 EDIT AND PROOFREAD
Correct Answer:
• Here, the amazing German shepherd is an
appositive phrase. It identifies Lob.
Lob, the amazing German shepherd, walks
across the country a second time!
 EDIT AND PROOFREAD
Proofreading
• The next-to-last step in the writing process is to
correct mistakes in spelling, punctuation, and
capitalization.
• Look for any misused words or errors in grammar
too.
• Use proofreader’s marks to show your corrections.
Student Model
Review the final draft of the Student Model on
page 125 of your textbook.
• Pay attention to the notes that identify the different
parts of the paper.
 PUBLISH AND PRESENT
Final Draft
• Always make a clean copy of your work for
presentation.
• Handwritten papers should be neat and easy to
read.
• Word-processed papers should be double-spaced.
• Choose a font style and size that
is easy to read. Many readers prefer
a twelve-point type size.