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Chapter 24: What Is a "Response" to a Reading?
Why are responses needed? What are intelligent
responses?
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Introduction
What
is a response to an expository reading? It is,
simply, your own written thought about an academic text. Expository texts are
almost always nonfiction essays and are considered academic writing or,
sometimes, professional writing. An expository text, for example, could be
a short essay interpreting history, a book about politics, a long newspaper
editorial, or a printed speech on an intelligent topic. Typical written responses
to expository texts include
summaries of readings, analyses, disagreements with them, evaluations of them,
and reviews. Specific examples of expository texts are
Plato's Republic, St. Augustine's City of God, and the works
of Sigmund Freud. Expository speeches include Lincoln's
Gettysburg Address and Martin Luther King's famous "I have a dream" speech.
Why & How?
Why
write responses to expository texts? The most
immediate answer is because sometimes you are expected to. A majority
of college courses--especially those beyond the first year or the lower-division
required sequences--expect you to develop your own thoughts about what you are
learning. Much of this learning occurs through texts, and at many
colleges, you are required to write down your thoughts about those texts.
Such writing sometimes may be free form: what often is called journaling,
freewriting, or brainstorming. More often, however, if you are expected to
write, then you are assigned formal papers, ones using certain patterns or methods of thinking. That is
what this section is about: how to learn and use these patterns in writing.
So,
the first answer to the question of why you should write such papers is that sometimes it
is required. However, this answer does not really go to the more important
question, "Of what value is such writing?"
People moan and groan about writing papers, they wait until the last minute to
do them, and they get frustrated--or worse yet, feel personally wounded--when
they receive their grades. Much of this, of course, can be avoided by learning ahead
of time how to write such papers so that you know what is expected.
However, in spite of the complaints, most people who successfully learn how to
write college papers recognize that they have learned how to think better or
differently in one or more ways. Writing helps you remember
what you have read, connect ideas to each other, and develop new ideas about a
subject. It also may help you connect the subject to real life--yours or
others'. These are some of the powers of writing. Why do they
happen? Writing is a
form of thinking.
This
idea is so important that it bears repeating: writing is a form of
thinking. Talking is, too. Listening carefully to a lecture (or
reading a book thoughtfully) is a different form of thinking. Taking notes is,
too. Seeing and making visual examples of a
lecture or textbook idea are yet two more forms of thinking. Each type of
thinking uses different pathways in your brain; as a result, each one processes thought differently
in your mind. The greater the number of
methods you use, the more likely you are to remember the material and the more
thoroughly you will understand it. This becomes obvious if you examine the
value of talking, which is one way of developing thoughts. Children, for
example, talk incessantly, repeating what
they hear, asking questions until they drive their parents crazy, and talking
with their friends as they grow older. Such talk helps them understand,
remember, and apply what they know. If all people talked about their
school subjects as much as they talk about their personal lives, the general
public would be highly educated. Talking alone can accomplish quite a bit
of thinking; when other forms of thinking are added to it, the overall affect is
powerful.
A
written response to a text is an opportunity to think: to process what you have read more
thoroughly so that you can remember it and also make it your own. Language is in many ways the primary method
a person uses for
communicating, not only with others but also within himself or herself as a
thinking individual. Thoughts are not formed ahead of time and waiting in
some kind of thought library in a person's head. Rather, talking and
writing are thoughts--they are thoughts just as much as the private
thinking you may do inside your head, except that talking and writing are
versions of thinking "out loud." By using language--by talking
and writing--each individual builds her own sense of self, her sense of the world, and
her values more widely and more deeply. Responding to texts is a
primary method of thinking in college.
What
is the best way to respond to texts? As
mentioned above, some instructors do encourage spontaneous journaling or
freewriting about what you have read. Others wish you to take
"notes"--either using a formula they provide or as spontaneous
responses. Such responses are very helpful, as they help you collect your
thoughts about what you have read and focus them. They also help you
better remember the content of your text. However, many instructors
want a formal response--graded or not--that shows signs of intelligent reading
and thinking. Intelligent responses usually exhibit at least a few of the
following traits:
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AN INTELLIGENT RESPONSE OFTEN IS
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Knowledgeable: |
It demonstrates familiarity with
and understanding of the text by referring to it often. |
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Interesting: |
It offers new or unusual insights about
the text. |
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Thoughtful: |
While it may contain some emotional
response, it does so with balance and respect for the text. |
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Organized: |
It uses an organizational plan to
present its ideas about the text, step by step. |
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Rational: |
It uses logic and reason in presenting
its ideas.. |
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Well Supported: |
It offers reasonable supporting details
for the ideas it develops about the text |
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What
are some of the main methods of responding?
There are many, and each academic discipline has one or more of its own methods
for responding to texts. However, most of these methods can be
summarized as one of five major types. The five types may exist as general
assignments (e.g., "Please analyze the interaction you just observed
between two people" or "State your disagreements and agreements with
the essay you just read"), or they may exist in slightly altered
discipline-based assignments (e.g., "Analyze a painting by Picasso using
basic the elements of visual art" or "Evaluate the quality of your own
oral presentation using the criteria of what constitutes a good
speech"). However they are presented, you can prepare for them by
learning them in their basic, most simple patterns first:
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Summary--a
simple, factual stating of the main points
Analysis--a
taking apart; a showing of the parts or pieces
Disagreement--an
opposing of part or all of a text
Evaluation--a judging of the overall quality of a text
Critical
Review--a combining of several of the above responses
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What
is the purpose of these different responses? Each
type has its own purposes, and each is good not only for college, but also--and
perhaps more importantly--for your professional life and in your personal life:
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TYPES OF RESPONSES |
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Summary |
A
formal, logical, consistent way of highlighting the main points. Purpose:
In school, to quickly and accurately describe something you have read;
in professional life, to provide a faster-to-read version of the
material to other readers; in personal life, to reflect as accurately as
possible on people, events, and one's memories of them. |
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Analysis |
A
taking apart of something to show its parts or pieces, often using a
special system, theory, or set of theories. Purpose: In
school, to think more about a subject and/or to apply the methods of an
academic discipline to a specific text; in professional life, to
apply a system or idea to a specific situation so that others understand
how to use something; in personal life, to examine one's own thoughts,
actions, and motives logically and consistently from a variety of
perspectives. |
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Disagreement |
A
debate against a text, as if it were your opponent. Purpose:
In school, to disprove something you have read in a logical, fair
fashion; in professional life, to stop something from happening by
showing logically and thoroughly why it should not be; in personal life,
to be able to hold rational arguments with oneself--to be able to
logically oppose one's own thinking to test it for weaknesses,
limitations, or faults. |
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Evaluation |
A
judgment of the value of a text to society or the quality of the way
it is argued or organized. Purpose: In school, to show how
well or poorly something has been done, or its effects on others beyond
its main ideas; in professional life, to help decide who to hire, how
well people are doing, and the quality and style of your own work; in
personal life, to look not so much at the contents of one's own thinking
and acting, but rather at the quality and value of that thinking and
acting. |
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Critical Review |
A
mixture of summary, analysis/disagreement, and evaluation. Purpose:
In school, a critical review is a recognized formal way to fully discuss
a book, movement, or idea; in professional life, it is a thorough,
useful method for presenting your overall judgments to others in your
workplace by first summarizing and analyzing, and only after that by
evaluating; in personal life, to use a consistent set of problem-solving
steps--summary, analysis/disagreement, and evaluation--to solve personal
problems. |
Conclusion
Writing responses is one of the most important
thinking activities you may accomplish while in college. If you do not
learn them in college, you certainly will need to learn most or all of them--in
some form or fashion--in your future professional life and your own personal
life if you wish to grow, be challenged, and challenge others productively and
positively in your life.
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