ENGLISH ASSIGNMENT

How to Write about Writing

A reading response is focused and brief, analyzing a piece of writing. Reading responses

require you to 1. take a position regarding the interpretation of this text, and 2. support

that position with evidence—embedded quotations--from the text.

Guidelines for responses are as follows. The response must:

 include an introductory statement and a concluding statement, even in short discussion

postings

 use quotes and specific examples from the text for support

 be focused on the reading and stray to conversations about “the world today” or anything else off topic

 NOT SUMMARIZE the work of literature

 correctly punctuate titles (see below)

Advice for writing your responses (based on common errors):

 Always refer to the writer by her last name, never her first. This is a common

courtesy of formal writing.

 Do not write with first-person pronouns:

It is assumed what you write is what you believe, so never write the redundant "I

think the writer means . . ." or "I believe the writer says . . ." or "I feel the last

paragraph . . . ".

Write convincingly and keep your focus on the story, not on yourself as a reader:

"The writer means . .." or "The writer says" is convincing and confident and instead

of making “I” the subject of the sentence, “the writer” is the subject of the sentence.

 Do not write with second-person pronouns:

Avoid using the too-informal second-person "you" in your responses, such as "You

can see in the introduction that . . . ". Reading responses are forms of formal,

academic writing, and third-person voice is required in this type of writing: "It is

obvious in the introduction that . . . " or “The audience is aware of the narrator’s

angst . . .”.

 Give legitimacy to your ideas. Always refer to the text to support your ideas by

embedding quotations (short embedded quotations are ideal) in your response.

Rules of Thumb When Writing about Writing:

1. Keep language in formal third-person voice. Using first or second voice is a shift

in person and is confusing to your reader. See below:

Singular Plural Person Subjective Possessive Objective Person Subjective Possessive Objective

1st I my me 1st we our us

2nd you your your 2nd you your your

3rd he/she/it his/her/it Him/her/its 3rd they their them

2. Know when to italicize titles and when to put titles in quotation marks.

 Long works and collections of short works are punctuated with italics  Short works and parts of long works are usually in quotation marks

Long Works: Italicize/Underline Short Works: “Quotation Marks”

Title of epic or book-length poem: The Odyssey

Title of poem within a book of poems: “The Raven”

Title of novel: The Scarlet Letter

Title of short story: “Young Goodman Brown”

Anthology of essays: Modern Writers and Their Readers

Title of individual essay: “The Fiction of Langston Hughes”

Title of play: The Importance of Being Ernest

Title of skit or monologue: “The Madman’s Lament”

Title of film: Bull Durham

Title of television series: Seinfeld

Title of episode in television series: “The Jimmy”

Title of magazine: The New Yorker

Title of article in magazine: “Tea-Sipping Sloth”

Title of newspaper: The Dallas Morning-News

Title of article in newspaper: “Dallas Girl Goes Global”

Title of Pamphlet: MLA Documentation: Educating Educators

Title of handout: “Parts of Speech, Parts of Sentences”