1. Response to Literature
What was the selection really about?
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2. “We write to taste life twice. ” So it is. with response to literature
“We write to taste life twice.” So it is with response to literature. We partake of the pleasures of a good book once again when we revisit the text in conversation with friends or as we find new mediums-music, art, drama, and the like-to represent our experience with the book. Indeed, not only do we “taste” the book twice, but our initial experience is deepened, expanded, and refined as we return to the text-perhaps again and again-and push our understanding in new ways each time.                                    Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell, ,                                                                     
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3. Good readers think about what they read before, during, and after they read
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4. Responding to Literature
Continually respond and predict as you read
Take notes
Think about patterns—especially literary elements
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5. Literary Elements Setting Characters Conflict Resolution Tone
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6. A response to literature is one way to keep thinking about what writing means.
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7. Ask yourself What was the text really about?
How did the author ensure the reader got that message?
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8. A Response to Literature
Beginning
Middle
End
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9. Include the title, author, and event or aspect focused on.
Beginning
Include the title, author, and event or aspect focused on.
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10. Middle
Describe the event or aspect of the selection. Try to describe how the author told this part of the story.
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11. End
Explain why the event or aspect is important to the selection as a whole.
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12. A Good Response to Literature
Mentions the title and author of the piece
Tells the main events that happen
Makes a judgment of the piece
Supports the judgment with details from the text or personal knowledge
Gets the reader’s attention
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13. A Good Response to Literature
Tells the plot of what happens
Includes details about character and setting
Has a sense of closure
Tells the theme (message)
Makes connections (text to text, text to self or text to world)
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14. Real world reasons for writing a response to literature:
• To review/recommend books in magazines for kids (Stone Soup, etc.)
• In magazines for adults, librarians, kids (Horn Book)
• On book jackets to entice a reader to buy the book
• In classrooms (to show that the reader understands the book)
(The El Paso Collaborative for Academic Excellence Copyright © 2003 Literacy in Action)
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