Short Response Essay about The Bill of Rights

The Bill of Rights

US Constitution

TheBill of Rights

Amendments I - X (Adopted 1791)

Amendment 1

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment 2

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment 3

No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment 4

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment 5

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment 6

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Amendment 7

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment 8

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment 9

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment 10

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

Rules of Response Paper

Writing a Response Paper

Writing a “response paper” might seem to imply that you will be writing about your emotional responses and reactions to a particular text, that you will be answering the question: “How did you feel about the text?” This is NOT what you are to do in a critical response paper. In this sort of paper, “How did you feel” is a legitimate starting point perhaps, but what is more interesting is why you felt that way.

This course asks you to be an active reader—to consider the act of reading as a full contact sport—and to create meaning from the text rather than simply absorbing the material. In this vein, a reading response paper should engage the text in some fashion. The paper should examine and begin to formulate the questions that a more formal analytical argument essay might argue.

Ultimately, your college career will most likely ask you to devise your own paper topics—rather than responding to the questions a professor might pose about a text (literary or otherwise), you will be asked to make an academic argument—without the guidance of “leading” questions. The purpose, then, of this response paper is to help you begin to see the kinds of issues that most interest you in the texts you read. From there, you can begin to take control of your academic voice.

Writing a response paper means that you may choose to write about your own reaction to the essay or book as a whole, or you may choose to write about a particular point or points made by the author. Whatever you choose to focus on, the response must be critical, not simply a description of your own personal feelings about the essay. The response paper consists of your close examination of the text and the questions in the text that most intrigue you. It does not need to be a fully structured and argued essay (no sources are required)—it should, however, pull together your thoughts about a particular issue in the text.

Some Suggested Approaches:

1. Choose a concept or theme in the text and mark all of the occurrences in the text.

· Is there a pattern to the instances you marked?

· What does this concept seem to do for the text as a whole?

· What else does the concept/theme mean in the “wider” world?

2. What questions do you have about the text? What was confusing?

· Where do these questions occur?

· Can you come up with any answers from the context?

· Is your question related to any other themes of the text? Can these help answer the question?

Use these questions to help you formulate a claim—a specific and arguable response to the aspect of the text that you are responding to. DO NOT simply summarize the text. You will briefly summarize the article or book to familiarize your reader with the ideas you are discussing, but the focus of a response paper is your argument. Be sure to organize your thoughts in a logical manner and to include quoted evidence from the text to support the claim you make.