Unit 1Unit 1Expository WritingExpository Writing

Responding to Responding to a Short Storya Short Story

Responding to a Short Story

What is a literary response?• In a literary response, a writer

—tells how he or she reacted to a literary selection—explains his or her reaction using specific details and

examples from the text• In this workshop, you will learn how to

write a response to a short story that you have read.

Assignment: Use my critical thinking skills to write a response to a short story I have read.

Goal: Clearly present an engaging response to a story or an aspect of a short story.

Strategy: Organize my main points and support them with evidence from the story.

Writing Rubric:

• an introduction that grabs the reader’s attention and sets up my thesis statement

• a clear organizational pattern• textual evidence (paraphrased and quoted)

that supports my main ideas• an awareness of my audience and an

appropriate tone• a conclusion that restates my thesis in a new

way

My response to literature should include the following:

Chaim Potok was a novelist, essayist, and poet. In this interview excerpt, Potok discusses how reading influenced hiswriting. Consider how your own readingexperiences inspire you.

I think it was...the realization that you could really create the world out of language...I figured if these writers could get me to be interested in two different...worlds that there was something about this form of communication that I wanted to be part of. That it captivated me the way it did, that it worked its magic on me, made me realize how powerful this medium is. And I wanted to become part of it.

➊ PREWRITENarrowing Your Topic

• First, decide on a story to write about. —Which stories do you feel most strongly about? —Which stories changed your understanding of something

or made you question what you thought you knew? —Which stories did you find especially enjoyable,

surprising, or strange?• Whichever story you choose, be sure that it is one

that inspired a strong reaction and one that will give you enough to discuss in your response.

➊ PREWRITE

Gathering Details• Once you have chosen a story to write about,

freewrite to gather ideas. —When you freewrite, you write without pausing,

reflecting, correcting mistakes, or changing ideas. —In freewriting, you simply write. Begin by setting in front of you a

pen and a clean sheet of paper.

➊ PREWRITE

Gathering Details • Think about your favorite story so far. Before

touching pen to paper, consider: —Why is this your favorite? —What is the best thing about it? —Who are the most important characters? —What deeper meaning might the story have? —How does the story affect you?

• Next, begin writing. Continue for five straight minutes.

➊ PREWRITE

Gathering Details• Read over what you’ve just written to gain some

insight into what you can focus on. • Circle each thing that seems like an important

detail from the story. • Underline anything that might be a good idea to

expand.

➊ PREWRITE

Deciding on Your Thesis• Make a list of what you have circled and underlined.

—These ideas should become part of your thesis or evidence to support the thesis.

• Skim the story to help you remember the themes of the story, recall details, and answer any questions you have.

• Reread any parts of the story that are unclear and ask a classmate or teacher if you have additional questions.

➋ DRAFT

Organizing Ideas• Choose an organizational pattern that will help you

explain your ideas clearly and effectively.• To emphasize your strongest points, organize them

by order of importance. —Least important to most important—Most important to least important

Least Important Point

More Important Point

Most Important Point

Most Important Point

Less Important Point

Least Important Point

➋ DRAFT

Organizing Ideas• Or, you may prefer to use chronological order, in

which you discuss details in the order they appear in the story.

• Whatever you decide, the order of paragraphs should be clear and logical to the reader.

Details from Beginning

Details from Middle

Details from End

➋ DRAFT

Write your response by following this three-part framework:

Introduction

Body

Conclusion

➋ DRAFTIntroduction

• Summarize the basic plot of the story.• Include your thesis.

Body• Include a topic sentence for each paragraph that

expresses the main idea of that paragraph. • Give supporting evidence in each paragraph to

support your main idea and your thesis.Conclusion

• Sum up your main points. • Restate your thesis.

➋ DRAFT

Before drafting, create a plan for your response.Example

Tone and Audience

As you write, keep in mind who will read your response. This is your audience.• Make sure you give your audience enough

background information.• If your audience has also read the

story, only summarize the main parts.• Use your introduction to

“hook,” or engage, your audience.

Tone and Audience

Your tone is your attitude toward the subject you are writing about.• Your tone tells the reader how you feel about the

subjects you discuss.• The tone you take can be formal or informal, and it

can show a variety of different attitudes.• The tone of your response should be natural, but

not too casual.

➌ REVISE

Evaluating Your Draft• When your draft is complete, look over your paper

to identify its strengths and weaknesses.• To get the best evaluation of your writing, conduct

a peer review.—Exchange papers with a

classmate. —Discuss ways you can improve

your work.

➌ REVISE

Delivering a Peer Review• Be focused.

—Concentrate on content, organization, and style.—Leave spelling and punctuation for the proofreading stage.

• Be positive.—Respect the writer’s feelings and genuine writing efforts.

• Be specific.—Give the writer concrete ideas on improving his or her

work.

➌ REVISE

Receiving a Peer Review• Be specific.

—Tell the reviewer your concerns about the paper.• Ask questions.

—Make sure you understand the reviewer’s comments.• Be selective.

—Accept suggestions graciously, but don’t feel you have to use all—or any—of them.

• Use the Revising Checklist on the next slide to help guide you through your review.

Revising Checklist Does the introduction grab the reader’s

attention and set up the thesis statement? Is the organizational pattern clear? Are the main ideas supported with

specific details and examples? Are the sentences varied and engaging?

➌ REVISE

Below is part of a draft of a literary response. • The notes to the right indicate the reasons for the

changes in the draft.• See the complete draft on page 133 of your

textbook.

EDIT AND PROOFREAD

Focus: Sentence Variety• Including a variety of sentences in your response will

make your writing more interesting. • As you revise your draft

—Check to make sure the length and type of your sentences vary.

—Add introductory phrases or change the order of the clauses in complex sentences.

—If you have several short, choppy sentences in a row, combine some of them with conjunctions.

—Use transitions to connect ideas.

EDIT AND PROOFREAD

Focus: Sentence Variety• An effective way to add variety is to use questions

to grab your reader’s attention.

Children find themselves in some unusual

situations. Can you think of some unusual

situations you found yourself in as a child?

Children will do very strange things to avoid

getting in trouble.

EDIT AND PROOFREAD

Focus: Commonly Confused Words• Some words can be confusing when you are

writing.—Review words such as whose and who’s carefully as

you are revising your draft.—If you are not sure which word to use, check a

dictionary.• Test yourself using the example

on the next slide.

EDIT AND PROOFREAD

Which is correct?

The story makes you wonder about whose who, and if there are any other Charles-es out there.

The story makes you wonder about who’s who, and if there are any other Charles-es out there.

1

2

EDIT AND PROOFREAD

Correct answer:

If you substitute the words who is for the contraction who’s you will see that the second example makes sense. The word whose is the possessive form of the word who, as in, “Whose umbrella is this in my backpack?”

The story makes you wonder about who’s who, and if there are any other Charles-es out there.

2

EDIT AND PROOFREAD

Proofreading• The next-to-last step in the writing process is to

correct mistakes in spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.

• Look for any misused words or errors in grammar too.

• Use proofreader’s marks to show your corrections.

Student Model

Review the final draft of the Student Model on page 135 of your textbook.• Pay attention to the notes that identify the different

parts of the paper.

PUBLISH AND PRESENT

Final Draft• Make a clean copy of your paper for presentation.• Handwritten papers should be neat and legible.• If you are working with a word processing program

—double-space the lines of text—use a readable typeface

• Follow your teacher’s presentation guidelines before submitting your work.