Response to Literature Essay

What is it?  A formal response to literature  Remember our quote responses  You will  Choose a story we read  Summarize it  Evaluate it  Connect it to your life  Minimum of 500 words

Day One  Terms Used  Basic Format  Pre-writing Activity

Terms and Definitions  Thesis – A sentence with a subject and opinion. The main idea of the entire essay.  Topic Sentence – The first sentence of a body paragraph. This must have a subject and an opinion.  Thesis: Essay::Topic Sentence: Body Paragraph

Terms and Definitions  Concrete Detail (CD) – Specific details that form the backbone of your body paragraphs.  Commentary (CM) – Your opinion or comment about something.  Ratio – The ratio of 1 part CD to 2+ parts CM  1:2

Basic Format  5 Paragraphs 1.Introduction Paragraph (25 words) 2.Body #1 – Summarize (150 words) 3.Body #2 – Evaluate (150 words) 4.Body #3 – Connect (150 words) 5.Conclusion (25 words)

Choose a Story  “The Dinner Party” pg. 565  “The Third Wish” pg. 672  “The Monkey’s Paw” pg. 680  “The Bet” pg. 285  “Rain, Rain, Go Away” pg. 554  “Future Tense” pg. 605  “Tell Tale Heart” pg. 624  “Charles” pg. S21  “The Fun They Had”  “All Summer in a Day”  “The Lottery Ticket”  “Those Three Wishes”

Pre-writing  Bubble Cluster  Start with the story you chose (label with a #1)  Create 3 linked bubbles (label with a #2)  Summarize – Identify the conflict, rising action, climax, resolution (label with a #3)  Evaluate – Perspective, vocabulary, mood, tone, plot, character, setting, theme (label with a #3)  Connect – Think of the themes, then begin thinking of how it relates to you (label with a #3)  See Example

Day Two  Elements of an Introduction  Hook  Necessary Information  Thesis  Body Paragraph #1 – Summary  Literary Précis

Hook  Imagine you are fishing for readers  You entice them with something, then they are “hooked”  Good ideas for hooks:  Quote  Question  Interesting Facts or Statistics  Definition

Necessary Information  You must include  Title of the story  Author  You will lose points if you don’t include it here.  Use this to connect the hook to your thesis

Thesis  Made up of two things  Subject  Opinion  States the main idea of the entire paper

Thesis Practice  I will give you a thesis, and you will tell me whether or not it is a valid thesis.  The 49ers are the best team in the NFL.  The Lakers are a basketball team.  Today the cafeteria is serving pizza.  I will give a subject, you will write a thesis about it. 1.The President 2.The Avengers 3.Mr. Franklin

Write your Thesis  Now you will write a thesis for your paper.  The subject is the story you chose.  You MUST include the subject AND an opinion.  Write your thesis on the “Outline” side of the handout I gave you yesterday.

1 st Body Paragraph - Summary  We will use a simplified format of the literary précis that you used earlier this year.  This will be the first body paragraph of your essay.  Pretty simple if you did your pre-writing correctly yesterday.

Literary Précis  (author’s name) ’s (title of the work) is a short story set in ­­­ ( setting).  The main characters are _____________________________ and __________________________.  The conflict of the story is (explain the conflict faced by the main character).  In (title of the work), (brief summary of the rising action).  The climax occurs when (explain the climax).  Eventually (explain the resolution-how it ends).

Day Three  Body Paragraph #2 – Evaluate the Writing  Topic Sentence  Concrete Detail #1  Commentary  Concrete Detail #2  Commentary  Repeat CD, CM, CM as necessary  Concluding Sentence

Topic Sentence  Remember, a topic sentence consists of:  A Subject  An Opinion  Since you are evaluating the author’s writing in this paragraph, you should give your opinion on how well written the story is.  Suggested TS: “Harry the Dirty Dog” is a very well written children’s story.

Concrete Details (CD)  The concrete details (CD) form the “backbone” of your body paragraphs.  They are what gives your paragraphs a structure to build your comments around.  For this paragraph, look back at your Bubble Cluster and choose 2-3 of the literary elements you feel most comfortable addressing.  For example, you could choose to write about the theme, mood and perspective.

Commentary (CM)  Commentary means your opinion, interpretation, insight, analysis, personal response, feelings, evaluation, explication, and reflection about a concrete detail (CD) in an essay.  In a literary response paper, your CM can be communicating a character’s feelings or responses or it can be what you feel are examples showing the CD to be true.  Paraphrase, Direct Quotes  It should relate back to your thesis and your topic sentence.  It can be difficult because all of the thoughts must come from you.  It is up to you to come up with original statements about your concrete details.

Commentary (CM)  Remember the ratio 1:2+  Example  TS: “Harry the Dirty Dog” is a very well written children’s story.  CD: For example, the story was written in the third person perspective.  CM: By using this perspective, the author was able to communicate things that were going on not just in Harry’s head, but also what others were thinking and saying.  CM: This was used best when Harry is trying to convince the family that he is Harry when they don’t recognize him.  CM: The reader gets to hear what Harry is thinking, but also knows what the family is saying and thinking as well.

Commentary (CM)  Repeat the CD, CM, CM pattern until you have addressed the TS sufficiently.  Example  CD: In addition, the story gives the message that someone’s views can change when circumstances change.  CM: At the beginning of the story, Harry was convinced that he hated baths.  CM: But when his owners didn’t recognize him, he changed his view.  CM: He feels so rejected by his owners that he quickly begs for the one thing he didn’t like.

Concluding Sentence  Transition sentence  Wraps up the thoughts presented in the body.  Moves the reader to the next paragraph.  CS: All of these literary techniques help to create a children’s story that is truly special.

Day Four  Body Paragraph #3 – Connect to the Literature  Topic Sentence  Concrete Detail #1  Commentary  Concrete Detail #2  Commentary  Repeat CD, CM, CM as necessary  Concluding Sentence

Connect to the Literature  Two ways  Relate a theme of the story to something you have experienced.  Put yourself in the position of one of the characters and tell how you would react differently or similarly.  Still follows the same format we discussed yesterday.  TS  CD, CM, CM  Concluding sentence

Example  TS: “Harry the Dirty Dog” is a great children’s story that also relates to everyday life.  CD: In the story, Harry learns that given the right circumstances, you can change your views on something.  CM: This is a valuable lesson in life.  CM: It can really make a difference in how you act and feel.  CD: This reminded me of how I changed my view on Steve Nash.  CM: I really disliked Steve Nash as a basketball player for many years.  CM: I was annoyed at how he sliced through the Lakers defense with his adept passing skills.  CD: Now, Steve Nash is a Laker, and it changed my opinion of him.  CM: I know he will be a great fit for this team.  CM: I will enjoy watching him slice through the other team’s defenses for a change.  CS: I completely understand what Harry was feeling in this story.

Day Five  Conclusion  All Commentary  Does not repeat key words from anywhere in the essay  It gives a finished feel to the paper  “Wrap it up”