Write short papers from your choice of five of the six texts that we are reading this semester. In the papers you will discuss what you have learned or use the paper as an opportunity to investigate and write on something prompted by the reading. Six due dates are below in the course schedule but again, you only need to do five.
Elements of a Reading Response (Adapted from Professor Sarah Kanouse)*
General Information:
The purpose of the reading response is to go beyond summary and to engage actively with the reading to question the text, argue with its thesis, or reinforce its conclusions according to your own knowledge, experience, and opinions. Preparing for the reading response requires active reading and may entail going beyond the text to incorporate other ideas in your arguments.
In preparation for writing a response, keep the following questions in mind while reading:
Your from
With what do you agree or disagree? Why?
On what does the author based his/her argument?
What does the author leave out of his/her argument? What does this mean for the argument?
Does the author reinforce, question, or contradict other writers' ideas?
Can you find real-world situations that evidence orcontradict the author's ideas? Responses may be organized and supplemented with further evidence, including evidence outside the text. Consider the following approaches in developing your ideas:
Compare and contrast two texts on the same topic
Consider the text in relation to the toolbox of ways of analysis that I provided in the first PowerPoint about "reading" American Indian literature
Evaluate one author's argument from the point of view of another scholar in the field
In the case of older texts, address how recent scholarship and history might change the ideas developed in the reading
Consider the reading from a particular intellectual perspective (e.g. feminist, Marxist, postcolonialist, etc.)
Think about what other disciplines might bring to bear on the ideas being addressed in the text
Structure:
A reaction/response essay has an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. The introduction should contain all the basic information and argument of your response in one paragraph. State the title(s) and author(s) you read and restate their thesis/es very [very!] briefly. Remember that the purpose is to give your RESPONSE, not to summarize. Clearly state your thesis or the approach you will take with the remainder of the essay. You may agree, disagree, critique, or evaluate the text(s). Remember, this is a very short paper and so you must be very succinct in your message. Do not ramble and do not write it like a tweet or email!! The body of your response should contain several paragraphs that provide support for your thesis or develop the approach you describe in the introduction. Think of your conclusion as a way to weave together the various threads of your essay and reinforce your main idea. You should generally not introduce new information or evidence at this point.