Revising Reading Responses

Last week we went over revising the FOCUS in reading responses/literary essays. Now let's look more closely at PARAGRAPHS; this is something we have been working on throughout the year with writing Appreciations, Forewords, and Picture Books. For the purpose of Reading Responses, we will focus on:

1. Details and Elaboration

• Typically, a body paragraph for an essay includes the following:
  
  
  

  q Transition / Connecting words or phrases + topic sentence – state main idea of paragraph; show how it relates to previous paragraph and to thesis

  
  

  q Introduction to example/quote – provide context for evidence; set up evidence

  
  

  q Evidence – quote, example, scenario from text

  
  

  q Elaboration/development – explain how example/quote relates to main idea of paragraph

  
  

  q Concluding sentence – sum up main idea of paragraph, relate to thesis, and lead into next paragraph



• The way that these elements are included can be obvious and explicit or subtle and implicit, as long as the paragraph has a clear purpose and supports the overall thesis/main idea of the entire essay


• Questions to consider when revising: a) Does my paragraph have a clear focus that supports the thesis/main idea of the essay? b) How can I more clearly and fully explain the main idea of the paragraph? c) What details should I take out or change?

Here are some examples of students who have written RAD Reading Responses; pay attention to how they organize and develop their paragraphs and which responses more explicitly and implicitly include the above elements.

• Tomin's revised Appreciation on The Giver by Lois Lowry


• Tulah's revised "My Papa's Waltz" response


• Kate's revised response on The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins


• Amani's revised response on Hurricane Song by Paul Volponi

Need more help? Check out these resources:

• How to Write a Traditional 5-Paragraph Essay


• Paragraphs with more implicit main ideas and clear development: Out with Winter by Pamela Paul, a book review on a children's book

2. Incorporating Quotations and Paraphrases

• When is it best to use quotations? To use paraphrases?


• How much of a quotation is necessary?


• Here is a comprehensive guide from a university website on everything you need to know about How to Use Quotation Marks (a more collegiate way of saying Reading Response/Literary Essay)

Focusing on Revision: Here are more examples of stellar student work that need a bit more revision:

• Julia's response on "The Starry Night"


• Gabe's response on Harry Potter