The reader response essay: where the reader meets the text

The Reader Response Essay 

What is a reading response essay?

A reader response critical essay that tells the reader what the specific reading means to you.  It reflects a close reading of the work, contains specific examples drawn from the work (documented parenthetically with page numbers), and provides your well-considered opinion of the work's strengths and/or shortcomings.  The essay demonstrates that you have read the text, internalized and contextualized its arguments, and can articulate and substantiate your reactions to it.  In reader-response theory, the reader plays a central role in shaping a text's meaning, breathing life into it. The purpose of a reading response is to analyze, elucidate, and defend your personal reaction to a text. When crafting a reader-response writing, adopt an informed adult tone, addressing other adults or fellow scholars. 

Ask yourself the following questions as you prepare to write a reader response paper.  You don't need to include the answers to these questions in your paper, but they can help organize your thoughts and decide what you'd like to write about in your response.

• What were the main arguments of the text?  Did the author, in your opinion, do a decent job of following through ono those arguments? Why or why not?
• How is the text "talking" to other parts of the historical literature?  Is the author styling him or herself as a particular type of writer?  (women's historical, social-historical, political historian etc.) Who are their subjects? What is their purpose in writing this text?
• What parts of the text do you like the most, and why?
• How does this book relate to what interests you about this study within History? What did you learn from it?  If you didn't learn much, why was that?
• What questions did this text leave with you?  What would you like to learn more about?
• What about the author's style and methodology do you like or dislike? How are they using sources and how does this reflect on the integrity and validity of their arguments?  

The requirements of this essay are as follows:

1. The essay must be at least (4.5 to 5) full pages. Those who do not meet this requirement will one lose a letter grade automatically. The essay must be in MLA format (12pt font, Times Roman). 
2. For this essay, you will write about one or more of the supplemental articles we have read for this module. The topic is up to you, but must be more detailed than “This is a good article” or “This article sucked.” This type of writing is not acceptable. NOTE: Learning to Read can't be used for this paper. If the Rosenberg article is used, it must be connected to one of the other articles within this module. 
3. As always, choose a topic that is interesting to you. Also always try to write about something you know. This essay should require little to no research. While you may use outside sources, the text should be your main source of evidence. This means you should use the article as your textual support. 
4. This is a formal academic essay. The use of “you” and NOT allowed. There should also be no contractions in this essay. As a reader response is an opinion, it is okay to use “I,” but you may want to attempt to write without it, as the readers should automatically assume this is your opinion.  Overuse of personal pronouns is reflective of poor writing skills. 
5. Transitions are still important in this essay. Some transitions that could be used in this essay are: also, another, not only…but, while. 
6. This is still the important part, folds. You must use evidence to back up any statements. That means specific examples and explanations. Don’t use “I think”; this is your essay, it’s a given that this is what you think. 
7. This essay IS NOT a summary of the article. It requires critical thinking and reflection. This paper is about what you learned from the reading and how you are going to apply it to your life. This means you need textual support to back up your claims. 

Structuring a Reader Response Essay

This essay can be written as a compare/contrast essay, an argumentative essay, a cause and effect essay, an exemplification or a definition essay.

Some genres one can use for this paper:

1. Argumentative Argument 
2. Compare and Contrast 
3. Cause/Effect  

  Attributes of a good Reader Response Essay  

• Details and examples from the text, BUT the whole paper should not be a summary analysis/application is needed. 
• Explanation of any points or examples.
• A thesis statement that explains what you are saying in your paper. W/C is appropriate.

Sample format for a reader response paper of 4.5-5 pages min.

• Introduction/theme: 1-2 paragraphs that “set the stage” for what will follow. Possible entry
  points include: a broader trend that interests you in the text and how this text's
  contents explain it; another text (or school of thought) that this text either supports or
  refutes; assumptions or opinions you hold that this book might challenge. 
• Background: 2-3 paragraphs that introduce the book/article, its main arguments and context in which
  it was written, and place the text in its historiographic context (i.e., how it relates to other
  literature/texts on the subject).
• Analysis: 2-3 paragraphs use the remainder of the paper to hone in on a certain element of the text and
  provide your opinion of it. This, as much as anything, is the “thesis” of this essay. You may
  choose to focus on the main argument of the text, or just one element of the text (for
  example, the author’s treatment of gender, or the author’s conclusions about the durability of
  third parties, or the author’s style and research methodology). The analysis should contain
  direct quotes or paraphrased examples from the book (all cited with page numbers) to support
  your argument.
• Conclusion:1 to 2 paragraph that brings us back to your entering statement and states the wider
  significance of this work to you, and to the literature/text.
• CITATION: MLA style.  (Works Cited is not included in the page number min.)

Essay value: 100 points

Updated Rubric Reader Response Essay