how to write a response paper

How To Write A Response Paper -Beginners Guide

Here's What We'll Cover

High school and college students are, at times, tasked with a response paper assignment as part of their coursework. So, How do you write a response paper? When students get tasked with class-work assignments or academic writing, they get to embrace impersonal and formal writing styles. Nonetheless, there are instances when a tutor instructs the students to write a response paper about a film watched in class, an article, or a book read during the lectures.

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A reaction essay fails to observe all the usual writing standards and laws as it is written in the first person. That’s why most students end up failing it, but to avoid such instances, you can hire online writers to guide you through it

Types Of Response Papers

There are two main types of response papers.

1.      Single-text

A single-text response paper requires you to write a response to a single text or piece of work—for example, a response to a question in class or an essay by a single author. Often you will only be required to present your answer in class or group discussions and homework.

2.      Multiple –text

A multiple-text response paper requires you to respond to several texts examining their themes and their similarities and differences. They are often used to examine related literature work and explain how they relate to each other. It requires you to understand each text individually and how it accomplishes its objectives before understanding how each relates to the other.

The Difference Between a Response Paper and a Summary Paper

A summary paper is an overview of the original work. It contains the actual work thesis and main ideas and omits your argument on the main idea. When writing an essay summary, you may make concise statements of the author’s main idea but do not use the author’s examples or supporting details. It is advisable to present the main point in the original work order. It should be a maximum of a third of the original work.

On the other hand, a response paper is your response to an author’s essay. It is a paper to show your opinion and thoughts on the original work. It is like a profound and poignant letter to the author praising or criticizing their work. A well-written response paper tells the reader how much you have thought about the author’s concepts and interpretation.

A response paper examines ideas and explains why you agree or disagree with each idea. It examines the strengths and weaknesses of reasoning and logic with ideas and examples. A response paper helps you refine your reading, interpretation, and analytical skill as a scholar.

Sections For Writing a Response Paper

A response paper has three main sections, and each section serves a different objective for the paper.

Part 1: Summary of The Work

The vital objective of this part is to summarize the original work. When writing a response paper, include the following in the first part of the paper.

Author and title description.

In the first sentence of your response paper, mention the original author and the title of the work. Also, in parenthesis, include the publisher and publication date.

An informative summary of the material.

The second and third sentences of your response paper should describe what you read in a nutshell. Give a general overview of the original work. This should be able to give the reader an idea of what the original work is about.

Highlights of the main points and supporting points.

Highlight the main points of the response paper and include a condensed explanation of the supporting evidence of the original work. Use direct quotations, if necessary, to emphasize the important points.

Important ideas in the material.

Summarize all the crucial parts so that the reader gets a glimpse of the key aspects of the original work. Do not include too many details. Remember to keep the summary objective and accurate. Do not have, in this part, your personal opinion or reaction. 


Part 2: Response To The Material

This part is also called the paper’s body and should contain paragraphs supporting the thesis.  Each paragraph should have one idea. It can follow the following format;

Main problem or issue the author is addressing.

In the first paragraph, discuss the thesis of the original work. What was the main idea behind the author’s work? This also forms the backbone of your argument on the topic.

The author’s central claim or argument.

Discuss what the author’s opinion is on the issue and their supporting evidence. This shows that you have not only read and understood the author’s work, but you have also taken time to think and analyze the relevance of his thoughts on the topic.

Assumptions the author takes in the matter.

In the third paragraph, discuss the author’s theories and hypotheses in the original work and link them to your interpretation. Allow the reader to understand where you are coming from and how you relate to the subject.

Counter arguments to the material claims.

Here, now present your reaction to the work. Do you agree or disagree with the author’s argument? What is your stand on the topic? If you disagree, then present your counter-argument with supporting evidence. For each point, reference back to the corresponding part in the original work.

Strength and weaknesses of the material.

In this paragraph, discuss your view of the work. Tell the reader why you like or dislike the work and what could be improved. Point out the principal strength and weaknesses of the author’s discussion point.  

The merit of the work

While discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the author’s work, you can point out whether the work is;

  • Accurate – Tell the reader whether the author’s points and supporting evidence are genuine, factual, and relevant.
  • Complete -Are the point and data presented complete and provable?
  • Organization – How is the work organized? Does it follow the correct academic writing guideline and citation styles?

Part 3. Conclusion

This is the most crucial part of your paper and clearly state your final thoughts. After you have laid down the author’s argument and your reaction to the points, you now need to give the final verdict. Your conclusion should be at most two paragraphs and should;

Indicate whether or not you would recommend the work to others and why.

Based on your analysis, tell the reader why you recommend – or otherwise. You should be able to reference back your verdict to your argument in the essay’s body and cite the merits of the work.

Discuss Whether the material influenced you to change your perspective in any way?

Relate the work to your everyday life and explain how the text influences your perception

Steps Which Will Help You Write a Remarkable Response Paper

  • Read or observe first.
  • Take notes
  • Take time to read through your notes.
  • Detail your thoughts
  • Develop a thesis
  • Design an outline
  • Write your essay
  • Express your opinion

Read Or Observe First

You cannot respond to something you have not seen or read through.

Therefore, take your time and read the book or the article assigned. Where you are to watch a given film, ensure you watch and re-watch it for thorough understanding.

You can only react or write your reaction essay, where full comprehension is witnessed.

Take Notes

As you read the given book or watch the video, you should consider taking notes.

Note-taking helps you capture your immediate and first reactions towards a given phrase or segment.

People receive different impressions, and through note-taking, your opinions will be recorded right.

You should consider making all the pages interesting by using sticky flags.

Take Time To Read Through Your Notes.

After you read through the book and have all the exciting parts marked and notes taken, you should consider going through those notes.

Rereading the notes helps you reflect on your impressions and understand the response you need to avail of all the exciting parts.

Detail Your Thoughts

It is only after reflecting on your notes that you discover your thoughts.

Jotting down your ideas helps simplify the reaction paper writing process.

Therefore, ensure you take your time and detail or record down all the reactions and thoughts you have concerning the subject matter.

Develop A Thesis

Like any other form of writing, when you write a response paper necessitates a thesis.

Nonetheless, the thesis statement is always in support of your personal opinion about the book or the article you are reviewing or reacting to.

In other words, you need to read and respond. Therefore, the thesis statement is part of your response, showcasing your convictions.

Design An Outline

Writing gets more comfortable when you have your thoughts organized. It is where you understand what to write first and what to finish up with.

Therefore, ensure to develop an outline that will guide you through the writing process.

In the outline, ensure to jot down short sentences concerning your thoughts and ideas.

Write Your Response Paper

You need to write your response essay with a lot of keenness.

Hastiness and unwanted disruptions might ruin the entire process. Therefore, ensure to write when you have no interruptions or distractions.

How To Write The First Paragraph

The introductory paragraph of your essay sets a path for the readers to acknowledge your stand and opinion.

Therefore, you need to craft a hooking introduction. Asking a rhetorical question helps snatch the attention of the readers in pursuit of answering the question as the essay unfolds.

Nonetheless, the first sentence of a reaction essay or paper showcases the title of the book, article, or film and the author. Your thesis statement should surface in the last sentence of the introductory paragraph.

Express Your Opinion

When you write a response paper gives you a golden chance to express and point out your opinion.

Some students are always unsure of whether to use phrases like, ‘I believe,’ ‘I feel,’ ‘I did not like,’ ‘I enjoyed the part,’

‘In my opinion, the author was,’ and many others in the response paper.

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 A Word Of Caution -How To Write A Response Paper

When writing a response paper, students often forget to draw a balance between availing or crafting insulting reactions and statements and writing critiquing comments.

It is okay to critique the book or the author but never okay to insult them.

When writing the response paper, ensure to provide irrefutable evidence backing up your critiques and personal opinions.

With the right approach, format, and guidelines, writing a response paper becomes an easy task to handle.

Therefore, ensure to follow the above guidelines, which, when employed, instils irrefutable knowledge on how to craft the best response paper ever.

Sample Of a Response Paper.

Student’s Name

Professor’s Name

Course

Date

Influence of globalization trends

          Numerous considerable trends connected to globalization include scientific, interdependence, economic, governance, and demographic.  These trends are collective and cannot be easily separated. Various factors that are related to globalization trends have been shown to influence growth in population. More so, enhancement in technology has shown a significant effect on society. Technology has enabled world trade transactions to be done at a faster rate and a large volume in all national bounders. This paper will analyze globalization trends and their influence on society and retail industry development.

             The first globalization trend is the upcoming of linking technology in the entire world. Among these connecting technologies includes transportation, communication, information, and computers. ( Pieterse,  Nederveen.2019.) Computers simplify life either in business or individual activates.  Computers’ technology systems are inseparable from the information and communication technology systems.  These technologies function as one unit in complementing and supporting each other. The final linking technology is the transportation world. They are the development of innovation and containerizations of airplanes. Containerizations assist businesses or individuals to increase efficiency and effectiveness in shipping goods globally.

                      The second globalization trend is the investment barriers and declining trend worldwide. The influence of this trend can be portioned into two components which include production globalization and market globalization.  The market globalization can be referred to as the upcoming of the historical apparent and divided national market into one large international market place.

Collapsing barriers to cruise border trades have enabled international trade. Production globalization refers to the sourcing of services and goods from the regions around the world to take advantage of differences in national quality and costs of production factors for business.

                   The key advantage of globalization to the countries is comparative. I.e. the ability of one nation to produce services or goods at a cheap opportunity cost than the other. This assists in strengthening of globalization as a propeller of world consumption among nations of all capabilities. While the concept of globalization appears simple, it faster becomes counterintuitive when evaluated more deeply. The theory proposes that two nations with the capacity of producing various commodities at distinct costs have a great advantage by exporting commodities where comparative benefits exist.

          For example, a developing nation may have a comparative benefit in manufacturing cement and a developed nation may have a comparative benefit in manufacturing semiconductors. While the developed nation would still be in a better capacity to produce cement more efficiently than the developing nation, the developed nation would still be better off to concentrate on semiconductors production due to its comparative benefit. This the reason why globalization is considered powerful as a driver of world consumption between nations of all capacities.

              Factual evidence proposes that a positive growth impact occurs in rich nations when matters to do with globalization are considered. ( Samimi, et al.2014)  For economies and investors, globalization also offers a chance to minimize output volatility and consumption, because services and products can be exported or imported easily. Less “bubbles” emerge from a mismatch in demand and supply if the production of services and goods is more flexible.

         Globalization is a progressive process that develops trends which offer its influence on the advancement of retail industries and the society as well. The rise of linking technologies and declining investment barriers and trade globally are among the main trends of globalization. These trends led society into the globalization realm.  Countries get the advantage of globalization as businesses and people are brought together through the global exchange of ideas, money, and cultures. 

Work cited

Pieterse, Jan Nederveen. Globalization and culture: Global mélange. Rowman & Littlefield, 2019.

Samimi, Parisa, and Hashem Salarzadeh Jenatabadi. “Globalization and economic growth: Empirical evidence on the role of complementarities.” PloS one 9.4 (2014): e87824.

What is a response paper?

This is a short essay that covers the writer’s reactions or opinions about a certain piece of work.

What is an example of a response

A reaction is a response to something. A good response should be honest

How do you write a critical response?

Explain each of your main points in separate body paragraphs. Ensure that the most strong statement with the following supporting evidence is placed first. Afterward, explain your other points and provide examples and evidence from the original text

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