Response Letter Guidelines
PURPOSE: To encourage active reading habits.
To improve your ability to respond to text in writing and verbally.
To develop your identity as a participant in the academic community.
To introduce citation practices required in the academic community.
REQUIREMENTS:
Writer A: Respond to the assigned readings in letter form, ~2/3 page, send response to Writer B by 9:00 PM on Tuesday evening and copy it to me (mbowling@radford.edu).
Writer B: Respond to letter from Writer A by 9:00 PM Wednesday (2/3 page) and copy your response to me.
Suggestion: Print a copy of both letters for to refer to during class discussion on Fridays This copy also serves as a back-up if your e-mail does not go through..
CONTENT:
1. Always state the author’s name and the title of the reading that you are discussing.
2. Identify the author’s thesis or purpose. Ex. In “I Want a Wife,” Judy Brady critiques men’s expectations of their wives’ role in marriage.
3. Cite a page number whenever quoting or paraphrasing. You should have at least one citation per response. (See BG 616 for example.)
4. End your response with a discussion question. This question should have more than one possible answer and should require that the respondent refer back to the reading to answer it. Reword yes/no questions when possible to encourage more discussion possibilities. Poor example: Does Judy Brady’s sarcasm improve her essay? Better example: How does Judy Brady’s tone affect the strength of her essay? (Note: You do not have to answer your discussion question in your response letter, but you should have some ideas ready to share in class.)
5. Sign your letter with your full name and the class name and section number (i.e. Carol Smith, English 101-14)
A BRIEF “HOW TO”
Read actively, highlight passages that spark a reaction, write notes, reactions and questions in the margins. Label main ideas if comprehension is a factor. Try to come up with a thesis statement for the piece or underline one from the text.
Analyze, identify thesis, notice what types of evidence and support are being used, identify underlying assumptions, compare to other texts or your own experience, look at how the text is organized. Notice the invisible: author’s tone, purpose, background, and information that may be missing.
Reflect, review your annotations, examine your personal reaction to the text, decide on a starting point.
Write, paraphrasing and quoting as necessary to support your points.
Review and revise, making sure that you’ve used examples, included citations, and written a good discussion question at the end.