How to Write a Reaction Paper PDF

# How to Write a Reaction/Critique/Review Paper A reaction paper, a review, and a critique are specialized forms of writing in which a reviewer or reader evaluates any of the following: - A scholarly work (e.g., academic books and articles) - A work of art (e.g., performance art, play, dance, spor...

# How to Write a Reaction/Critique/Review Paper A reaction paper, a review, and a critique are specialized forms of writing in which a reviewer or reader evaluates any of the following: - A scholarly work (e.g., academic books and articles) - A work of art (e.g., performance art, play, dance, sports, film, exhibits) - Designs (e.g., industrial designs, furniture, fashion design) - Graphic designs (e.g., posters, billboards, commercials, and digital media) Reaction papers, reviews, critiques usually range in length from 250-700 words. They are not simply summaries but are critical assessments, analyses, or evaluation of different works. As advanced forms of writing, they involve your skills in critical thinking and recognizing arguments. A Reaction/Review or a Critique Paper is a response, or reaction, to some sort of prompt. The prompt may be a question, a current event, or a form of media, including movies or video clips. ## REACTION PAPER REACTION PAPER is a form of paper writing in which the writer expresses his ideas and opinions about what has been read or seen. ### In summary... a reaction paper is/ should NOT: - a stream of consciousness paper - include a lot of "I think," "I feel," or "I believe" statements - use the pronoun "you" - be autobiographical papers about why you like or do not like something - simply repeating what the author has already said ### A reaction paper is/does/ must... - A reaction to something you have read or seen - be organized - have citations and references - include your opinions but be careful to support your opinions with evidence - summarize what you are reacting to in the beginning of the paper - explain your reaction(s) to the topic and explain why you think this way about the topic - judge, analyze, or evaluate the issues of the topic - identify and discuss the polarizing issues of the topic ## How to Write a Reaction Paper? - A reaction or response paper requires the writer to analyze a material, then develop commentary related to it. - It is a popular academic assignment because it requires thoughtful reading, research, and writing. ### Part 1: Prewriting and Actively Reading/viewing Understand the purpose of a reaction paper. Reaction or response papers are assigned so that you will think carefully about what you feel or think about the materials. ### Part 2: Figure out what the assignment is asking Before beginning your paper, you must figure out exactly what your teacher or professor is looking for. Some teachers want you to react by analyzing or evaluating the reading. Other teachers want a personal response. Make sure you understand which kind of reaction the assignment calls for. - Close-analysis of a film - Evidence-based reaction - Cite specific lines in the movie - Understand the character - Know the director/writer's background - Dwell into the deeper meaning of the movie - Notice symbolisms, figures of speech - Understand the behaviour of the characters - Include analysis on cinematography, setting - Personal impact of the movie to you - What specific emotions inside you were raked by the movie ### Part 3. Start Writing your reaction right after it was seen. To complete reaction paper, you don't just read/watch, give your opinion, and turn in the paper. A reaction paper synthesizes everything, which means you take the information you saw and bring it together so you can analyze and evaluate. You have to give yourself time to do the analysis, but more importantly, to digest what you've read so you can put the ideas together. - One of the biggest mistakes that students make is waiting until the last minute to read and react. A reaction is a thoughtful consideration after reading/watching, and rereading/rewatching several times. - You may need to rewatch the film multiple times. First, to familiarize yourself with the film, then again to start thinking about the assignment and your reactions. ### Write down your initial reactions. After you saw through for the first time, jot your initial reactions to the text. Do the same thing on any subsequent materials. Try completing some of the following sentences after you read: "I think that...", "I see that...", "I feel that...", "It seems that...", or "In my opinion...". ### Part 4. Annotate the text as you read. As you watch the film, make annotations. Annotating allows you to easily remember quotations, plot lines, character development, or reactions in the film. If you fail to annotate thoroughly, it will be more difficult to create a cohesive reaction paper. ### Part 5. Question as you watch. As you watch the film, you have to start questioning it. This is where your evaluation of the material and your reaction begins. Some questions to consider include: - What issues or problems does the film address? - What is the film's main point? - What points or assumptions does the writer make, and how does she back that up? - What are strengths and weaknesses? Where are problems with the argument? - How do the events in the film relate to each other - How do these ideas connect to the overall ideas of the film? ### Part 6. Free write. Start by free writing your reactions and evaluations of the film's ideas. Try to put into words what you think the writer is trying to do and whether you agree or disagree. Then ask yourself why, and explain why you think these things. ### Part 7. Decide on your angle. Reaction papers have to be critical and have some evaluation of the materials. Otherwise, you are just summarizing what you saw. After freewriting, decide what your angle is. Keep asking yourself the same questions as you craft a coherent reaction. Think about why the author/writer has written the story of the film as they have. Why did he structure things in this particular way? How does this relate to the outside world? ### Part 8. Determine your thesis. Now that you have completed your freewriting and found you angle, you can now shape this into an argument. What interesting thing do you have to say about what you just read? Start to state why what you said is interesting and important. This is the core of your reaction paper. Take all your points, opinions, and observations, and combine them into one claim that you will prove. This is your thesis. Your thesis will be one statement that explains what you will analyze, criticize, or try to prove about the text. It will force your reaction paper to remain focused. ### Part 9. Organize you paper. Your paper should follow basic essay format. It needs an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each body paragraph should directly support you thesis. In each body paragraph, you should be reacting to a different portion of the text. Organize your reactions together into a few common topics so you can write them into paragraphs. ### Part 10. Gather quotations. After you organize your ideas into paragraphs, you need to find quotations that will support your points. You must back up your claims with evidence from the film. Look at your annotations for quotations that support your thesis. ## Remember! ## Avoid introducing yourself. Although topic sentences vary in structure and content from person to person, at least two things can be assumed about your paper: 1) that you have a title and entire paper to introduce a topic, and 2) your personal information is present somewhere on your essay. Therefore, never use statements such as "I am going to tell you..." or "My paper is about..." or "I studied [this] which is important because of [this]". The paragraphs/essay should tell me that information without an awkward topic sentence presentation. ## Avoid starting with a quote. You may have a fantastic quote in mind that perfectly introduces your topic. The problem is...they're not your words. The topic sentence should introduce the paragraph and hopefully include your opinion, not someone else's. If the quote is opinion-based, substitute it for your own opinion. If the quote is fact-based, save it and introduce it later in your paragraph. ## Watch the Movie. Even if you’ve seen it a hundred times, watch it again in order to discover new details, and to understand the characters and their motives betters. Watch the film at least two, or better yet three times. ## Quiz Time! 1. Which of the following is NOT true about the reaction paper? - A. The writer expresses ideas and opinions about what has been read or seen. - B. It may be informal, two pages long. - C. It has an introduction, body and conclusion. - D. It is a summary of the article. 2. Which of the following is the first step in writing a reaction paper? - A. Annotating - B. Active Reading/Viewing - C. Revising - D. Outlining 3. A good reaction paper is usually composed of how many words? - A. 200-500 - B. 500-700 - C. 250-700 - D. 700-1000 4. Which of the following is an example of a graphic design? - A. Posters - B. Film - C. Journal - D. Lectures 5. Which of the following should be avoided in writing a reaction paper? - A. Annotations - B. Repeating what the authors had said - C. Writing your reaction paper right after it was seen - D. Questioning the material being read/seen 6. Before beginning your reaction paper, what should you do first? - A. Make an outline for your write up - B. Research about the material - C. Free writing your thoughts - D. Figure out what the assignment is asking. 7. Which of the following is NOT among the questions to consider in writing a reaction paper for a movie? - A. What issues or problems does the film address? - B. Is the material relevant to your situation? - C. Is the film a box office hit? - D. Who are the actors in the film? 8. Which of the following will help you avoid mistakes in writing a reaction paper? - A. Give a summary of an article. - B. Give an overview. - C. Back your ideas with examples. - D. Do not give your personal opinion.