English 123 – Rosichan
Tips for the Short Response Papers
1. While you need to write an introductory paragraph ending with your claim for essays and may
choose to do so for the response papers as well, it is also possible and may even be preferable to
jump right in with your claim/thesis. (You can add the introduction if/when you expand the paper
into a full-length essay).
2. Do, of course, include the title and author of the work in your introduction whether it’s a
sentence or a paragraph.
3. Keep the claim focused on one clear, specific, unified idea/argument.
4. In response papers that incorporate a literary criticism (response papers #4-10), name the
criticism in your intro. Do so without announcing what the paper is about. This is tricky. (See the
sample papers at the ends of the literary criticism references on the website).
5. Don’t try to incorporate all elements of a literary theory into your analysis & especially into
your intro. For example, if you decide to use Marxist Theory, don’t take on power struggle,
mobility between classes (or lack thereof), and the privileges or relative value of the different
classes. Choose one element to focus on and to help you lead to your claim. (If others relate to it
and especially if they help you support & develop your claim, incorporate them into the body of
the paper, but do show their connection to your claim).
6. Also, be specific in your discussion of the literary criticism. From the moment you start
discussing the literary criticism, connect it to the specific text, characters, situations, etc., you’re
examining. For example, discuss the classes seen in “The Tempest” (how they’re
defined/perceived/described, etc., in the play), not in general.
7. Identifying a list of elements or even a single element of the literary theory is not a claim.
Simply stating that a power struggle exists between the classes is not a claim. Instead, your claim
needs to present the text’s argument about the power struggle or about power and the struggle for
it or who has it, keeps or loses it, or ends up with it, or how he/she uses it, and why and so what,
etc. Remember your paper needs to focus on one clear, specific, unified argument.
8. Support your claim with as many reasons (points) as you can reasonably support in the length
you have. This may be just one reason supported with multiple pieces of evidence (examples,
rich details, including specific examples from the text) and your warrants and backing
(interpretation/explanation of them, pointing out their meaning and relevance, how they serve as
evidence). Or you may include several reasons each with minimal support, but we should always
see the possibility of support and your thinking. Don’t forget to connect back to your claim in
your conclusion at least. (In a longer essay, this step is needed in every paragraph most likely at
the end of each paragraph where you will have more to think about).
9. Don’t worry too much about a conclusion. The paper isn’t really done. Just use the
opportunity to develop the claim, to add something new, To help you do this you might ask
yourself and answer one of the following questions or one of your own:
A. What are the implications of this argument?
B. What does it reveal about the society, or audience, that it reflects as well as &
especially about the current audience?
C. What is the author’s purpose? What does s/he need us to see or do and why?
10. Keep your focus on analyzing the text. Make sure that opinions/interpretations are always
supported by giving specific examples from the text. Also, don’t leave examples quotations or
descriptions to speak for themselves. Point out their meaning.
11. Don’t talk about events outside the text. Your personal experiences do not belong in literary
analysis. Limit discussion of events, situations, etc., from the outside world to your conclusion
where it’s possible and even desirable to consider the larger relevance, implications, &
significance of the argument.
12. Try to stay within the word limit (300-500 words). These should be your words. Use
quotations as needed—and do use them as specific support is vital for proving a claim—but
yours are the words that count.
13. Don’t turn to outside sources for help. Even using someone else’s ideas but putting them in
your words counts as plagiarism if not properly cited and documented. And the assignment calls
for your interpretation, so a paper fails on 2 counts: 1) plagiarism, 2) not following the
assignment.
14. Don't just drop quotations in. Introduce, integrate, and explain them.
15. Be sure to quote correctly following 2009 MLA formatting. This will vary based on genre:
prose, drama that includes poetry and prose, and drama that is written entirely in prose. For
everything to do with integrating sources, see the PowerPoint or PDF on my website “Everything
You Need to Know about Integrating Sources.”
16. Cite all quotations correctly using correct MLA in-text citation. Again, see the above
PowerPoint/PDF.
17. Do not use “I” to qualify your arguments: “I think,” “I believe,” etc. These apologies weaken
your argument. But you may draw upon your own response if it helps you prove a point, if
you’re using your response as an example. For example, Like many readers, I was horrified by
the ending of the story “The Lottery” not wanting to believe its vision of humanity. But always
build on your response to explain the meaning/purpose of the text, why it works the way it does,
why it depends upon horrifying the reader or audience.
18. Do not use “you” or address the reader in literary analysis. Stay objective; remember your
argument is about what the text is arguing.
19. Grammar, diction, and spelling count, so edit, spell check, and proofread every paper. Do not
use slang or text message language, spelling, or abbreviations.
20. Format your essay correctly following MLA style. See the handout with guidelines,
instructions, and a sample MLA-formatted essay.
21. You may skip two response papers and (theoretically) still pass the class (missing more
results in an automatic “F” in the course as they help fulfill the word count). Keep in mind that
each paper is worth 20 points, so missing two means a loss of 40 out of 180 points, meaning the
best grade you can receive on the short papers is 140, a “C.” Note: If you do not write a short
paper on a text, you will not be able to write the longer ressay about it either.