Assignment: Response to “Too Dumb for Complex Texts” by Mark Bauerlein
A response paper calls for the writer to take a stance on what he/she has read or viewed. The
stance (opinion) becomes the thesis of your short paper.
Remember what we covered about good statements of purpose:
FOCUSED (narrow enough in scope to be covered fully in the allotted space)
UNIFIED (cohesive, holds together as a single discussion)
DIRECTED (clearly intentional; the writer is in control; transitions and “click”
establish confidence)
The following outline will work for most response papers:
A) Statement of guiding purpose
a. This may be proceeded with a short “hook” to draw the reader in: “After
seven hours of school, three hours of volleyball practice, and an hour of math
homework, is a student even capable of harnessing her mind to analyze a
difficult reading assignment? The stresses teens face today diminish their
ability to tackle dense text.”
b. However, in short papers, it often works well to start directly with a strong
statement of opinion: “Students’ willingness to probe dense text is weakened
by an overload of homework.”
B) Paraphrase the idea or point made by Mark Bauerlein that you are responding to.
Paraphrase means to put into your own words. If you use Bauerlein’s words, you
must put quotation marks around them.
C) Offer first piece of support for your opinion.
a. Provide examples, explanations, clarification (SUPPORT)
b. Pay attention: do you need a transition to glide the reader into…
D) Your subsequent point(s) supporting your opinion
a. Again, don’t just state your reason. Explain, give an example, convince me
(reader)
b. Take the reader smoothly through your thinking. Note that transition words
will help: Furthermore…Still…Nevertheless…For example…A second reason…
E) Conclusion of your argument.
a. At this point in your paper, the reader should be clearly following your
thinking.
b. Draw your thoughts together, reasserting your position, ending with a “click.”
In writing a response, it is appropriate to use your own insights and experiences. However,
beware of generalizations such as “all students” or “everyone.” Your voice will be more
convincing if you say, “I have struggled…” or “Several of my classmates…”
If you bring additional knowledge, reading, ideas (quotes?) to your opinion, be sure to give
appropriate credit to the source.
Length: 300 – 500 words