1. The Essay: The What and the Why

2. “Have you seen ‘Breaking Dawn’? Was it any good?”
What vs. Why
Identification vs. Analysis
Book Report vs. Essay
The purpose of the Response to Literature Essay

3. What is a Response to Literature Essay?
Sample Response to Literature Essay
INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPH
HOOK, SHORT SUMMARY, THESIS STATEMENT
BODY PARAGRAPHS
TOPIC SENTENCE/CLAIM, SUPPORTS, EVIDENCE, TRANSITION WORDS
CONCLUSION PARAGRAPH
RESTATE THESIS, CLAIMS, CLOSURE

4. Introduction Paragraph
First, you have to introduce your argument. And you have to hook your reader.
Introduction Paragraph:
A. Hook
B. Short Summary of the Text
C. THESIS STATEMENT (Your main argument)

5. The Hook
If you want your reader to read your whole essay, you have to HOOK them!

6. Types of Hooks
A Quote (either from the text or a relatable quote from another source)
ex/ "Teresa is going to be my girl," (Soto, 1)
A Question (Something ANY reader could answer)
BAD EXAMPLE: Have you ever really liked a girl but couldn't get her attention?
GOOD EXAMPLE: Have you ever really wanted something, but didn't know how to get it?

7. Types of Hooks (cont.)
A Clever Pitch for the Story Itself (Similar to an advertisement)
ex/ A UFO lands in a pond. Two state troopers find a trail of footprints leading from the site to a small diner. Inside they find seven travelers, six came from a bus, one from the UFO...which one is the Martian?
An ANECDOTE (A short short story relating to the discussion at hand)
ex/ When I was eight, my mother became very ill with pneumonia and had to be hospitalized. While she fought the illness in her hospital bed, I struggled with questions. Would she recover? What would become of me if she died? Luckily, my mother survived and returned home the following week. However, in ....

8. TOGETHER: Write a hook for “The Three Little Pigs”
1. A Quote: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. A Question: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. TOGETHER: Write a hook for “The Three Little Pigs”
3. A Pitch: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. An Anecdote: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. GUIDED: Write a hook for “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs”
1. A Quote: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. A Question: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11. GUIDED: Write a hook for “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs”
3. A Pitch: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. An Anecdote: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

12. INDEPENDENT:
Write a hook for “Birthday Box” and identify the type of hook used.
Write a hook for “Seventh Grade” and identify the type of hook used.

13. A SHORT SUMMARY…
A SHORT SUMMARY OF THE TEXT should follow the hook. This way, the reader has a basic understanding of the text and will be able to follow your essay's reasoning if they haven't read the text. A SHORT SUMMARY should include:
An introduction of the AUTHOR'S NAME and THE TITLE OF THE TEXT (in quotation marks or underlined)
Two to three sentences telling what happened in the story from beginning to end.

14. GUIDED: A Summary of The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Sciezka
REMEMBER: BOOKS ARE UNDERLINED AND SHORT STORIES, ARTICLES, AND POEMS ARE PUT IN QUOTATION MARKS.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

15. INDEPENDENT: Write a short summary of “Seventh Grade” by Gary Soto
REMEMBER: BOOKS ARE UNDERLINED AND SHORT STORIES, ARTICLES, AND POEMS ARE PUT IN QUOTATION MARKS.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

16. THESIS STATEMENT: The most important part of your essay!
A THESIS STATEMENT identifies your argument.
For the Response to Literature essay, this should pertain to how the theme is revealed through a literary device (or three literary devices).
ex/ Through the character development of Victor, the reader learns the importance of being yourself.
The THESIS STATEMENT is hugely important as it is your main argument. Without it, the reader has no idea what your essay is about.
Consider it your road map for the reader.

17. TOGETHER: Write a THESIS STATEMENT FOR THE FOLLOWING TWO SCENARIOS
SCENARIO ONE: I want to write an essay that analyzes how the theme of The Three Little Pigs is revealed through the use of plot development and situational irony.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

18. TOGETHER
SCENARIO TWO: I want to write an essay that argues that the Twilight saga is poorly written due to its ineffective use of characterization, plot, and writing style.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

19. GUIDED Write a THESIS STATEMENT FOR THE FOLLOWING TWO SCENARIOS
SCENARIO THREE: I want to write an essay that analyzes how the theme of The True Story of the Three Little Pigs is revealed through the use of the reader's background knowledge, tone, and situational irony.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

20. GUIDED
SCENARIO FOUR: I want to write an essay that analyzes how the theme of "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up" is revealed through the use of flat characters, tone, and suspense.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

21. INDEPENDENT
INDEPENDENT: Write a THESIS STATEMENT FOR THE FOLLOWING TWO SCENARIOS
SCENARIO FIVE: You want to write an essay that analyzes how the theme of "Birthday Box" is revealed through the character development of Katie.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SCENARIO SIX: You want to write an essay that analyzes how the theme of "Seventh Grade" is revealed through the character development of Victor.

22. BODY PARAGRAPHS BODY PARAGRAPHS--The "meat" of your argument
Next, you have to make your CLAIMS and support them with EVIDENCE. Each CLAIM gets its own paragraph. Since we are beginners, we will stick with three CLAIMS.

23. TOPIC SENTENCES
-CLAIMS: Your main reasons or supports for your argument. These are introduced in the form of a topic sentence.
-TOPIC SENTENCE: One sentence, appearing at the beginning of a BODY PARAGRAPH, that directly pronounces your CLAIM.

24. TOPIC SENTENCES (CONT.)
YOUR TOPIC SENTENCES DIRECTLY RELATE TO YOUR THESIS STATEMENT.
IF YOUR THESIS STATEMENT SAYS YOU WILL DISCUSS “THE READER’S BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE, TONE, AND SITUATIONAL IRONY”, THIS IS WHAT YOUR CLAIMS ARE, AND THUS YOUR TOPIC SENTENCES.

25. TOGETHER
THESIS STATEMENT: “THROUGH THE USE OF READER’S BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE, TONE, AND IRONY, THE READER LEARNS TO QUESTION WHAT THEY READ.”
TOPIC SENTENCE 1: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

26. TOGETHER
THESIS STATEMENT: “THROUGH THE USE OF READER’S BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE, TONE, AND IRONY, THE READER LEARNS TO QUESTION WHAT THEY READ.”
TOPIC SENTENCE 2: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

27. TOGETHER
THESIS STATEMENT: “THROUGH THE USE OF READER’S BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE, TONE, AND IRONY, THE READER LEARNS TO QUESTION WHAT THEY READ.”
TOPIC SENTENCE 3: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

28. GUIDED
THESIS STATEMENT: “The Twilight Saga is a bad story because of its poor use of plot, characterization, and writing style.”
TOPIC SENTENCE 1: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

29. GUIDED
THESIS STATEMENT: “The Twilight Saga is a bad story because of its poor use of plot, characterization, and writing style.”
TOPIC SENTENCE 2: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

30. GUIDED
THESIS STATEMENT: “The Twilight Saga is a bad story because of its poor use of plot, characterization, and writing style.”
TOPIC SENTENCE 3: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

31. INDEPENDENT
THESIS STATEMENT: “Through the development of the character Katie, the reader learns that when one is depressed, they should fill themselves with love and memories.”
TOPIC SENTENCE 1: In the beginning of the story, Katie is ________________________.

32. INDEPENDENT
THESIS STATEMENT: “Through the development of the character Katie, the reader learns that when one is depressed, they should fill themselves with love and memories.”
TOPIC SENTENCE 2: Towards the climax of the story, Katie is ________________________.

33. INDEPENDENT
THESIS STATEMENT: “Through the development of the character Katie, the reader learns that when one is depressed, they should fill themselves with love and memories.”
TOPIC SENTENCE 3: At the resolution of the story, Katie is ________________________, and learns that ________________________.

34. INDEPENDENT
THESIS STATEMENT: “Through the character development of Victor, the reader learns the importance of being yourself.”
WRITE THE THREE TOPIC SENTENCES FOR THIS THESIS USING CHARACTER TRAITS OF VICTOR. IMITATE THE PREVIOUS METHOD USED FOR “BIRTHDAY BOX”.

35. BODY PARAGRAPHS—SUPPORT AND EVIDENCE
After you make your claim in the topic sentence, you have to prove it! You do this via evidence. Evidence is direct citations (quotes) from the text you are discussing or from texts that support your argument. You also need to write supporting statements to go with your evidence, almost to set up the evidence.

36. Body Paragraph setup: 1. Topic Sentence (Your claim)
2. Supporting Statement (connected to evidence)
3. Evidence to Prove Claim (Quotation)
4. Supporting Statement (connected to evidence)
5. Further Evidence to Prove Claim

37. Together: The True Story of the Three Little Pigs Body Paragraph 1:
Topic Sentence:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

38. Supp.Statement: __________________________________________________________________________
Evidence: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

39. Supp.Statement: __________________________________________________________________________
Evidence: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

40. Guided "Birthday Box" Body Paragraph 1:
Topic Sentence:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

41. Supp.Statement: __________________________________________________________________________
Evidence: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

42. Supp.Statement: __________________________________________________________________________
Evidence: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

43. Independent: "Birthday Box" Body Paragraph 2: Body Paragraph 3:
Great! Now write it out with an indent (of course) and double-spacing!

44. The Conclusion Paragraph
A CONCLUSION PARAGRAPH closes up your essay by restating your argument and claims. It also should revisit your hook.

45. Conclusion Paragraph
First, RESTATE your THESIS. This means REWORD it--don't simply copy it down. Perhaps, the best way is to reorganize the order of your thesis statement.

46. Conclusion Paragraph
Next, revisit your claims and, again, reword them.

47. Conclusion Paragraph
Finally, revisit your hook. If you opened with an anecdote, relate how this text might have helped you. If you asked a question, answer it yourself. If you opened with a quote, revisit it by responding to it. If you want to recommend this story, do it now!