Practical Advice On Composing A Reaction Response Essay

Composing a high-quality response paper is more challenging than the normal popular essays. Reaction or response essays require the writer to respond to one or several texts that he or she has read. One not only needs to read text, understand it, to finally express his or her opinion in relation to the text; but must allow himself enough time to clearly understand what each text means and how they relate to each other.

Generally, a reaction paper can consist of a discussion of fascinating questions that arise from reading the text(s) in context, even though the discussion cannot be satisfactory by itself. Writing response paper is very overwhelming and requires you to synthesize one’s intellectual work.

• Questions to ask

First, you are expected to consider each text individually;

• What is the focal issue being addressed by the author?
• What is the author’s vital claim or point?
• What are the author’s assumptions?
• What are the author’s presented evidence?
• Are there any strengths and weaknesses of texts in context?
• Are there any counterarguments to the text’s claims?
• Are there any important or interesting problem(s) and or argument(S)

Then afterwards, you consider the texts collectively;

• How the texts relate to each other, are the authors in agreement or do they disagree?
• Show how argument of one text weaken or strengthen an argument of the others.


• Things to note


• Pay keen attention to your instructor’s instructions concerning your assignment. Your instructor may have precise expectations that you need to carefully take into account. Such requirements guide you to understand what is expected from the texts.
• Always explain key terms, the main arguments, and all the assumptions of each text.
• Carefully substantiate evidence presented by each text; point out their strengths and weaknesses.
• Show by explaining how texts are related to one another. Make effort to synthesize the texts if possible, otherwise state the barriers preventing the synthesis.
• If by chance you note that the authors’ arguments are weak, raise counterarguments watching out for the author’s omissions.


• Mistakes to avoid


• Don’t take too long to start writing your reaction or response paper. Reading and comprehending the texts is just among the initial steps to constructing your paper.
• Avoid summarizing the texts, what s required of you is to respond or react to them.
• If you encounter stuff in the texts that isn’t understandable, consult with your instructor to find out more about them.

Writing a reaction or response essay is quite trick, for more detailed information you can check it out here.