Reaction+Paper+Guidelines


 * //REACTION/REVIEW PAPER: GUIDELINES//**

Six reaction/review papers are required of all students. These should be **//no more than one page//** (12 point font, 1” margins). The reports should focus on the assigned readings/films. These reports should **//not//** be synopses or content summaries. They should, rather, focus on particular sections, subsections, scenes, themes, or characters and address **//one or more//** of the following questions:

1. What is the purpose of this work?

2. What techniques or methods does the author or artist use to make his or her points?

3. How effective is the work?

4. What was your reaction to the particular points the author addressed?

5. How does the author or artist deal with a particular issue or employ specific stylistic devise?

6. What can the reader learn about effective writing from this work.

The report can be personal and address issues from your point of view. Thus you can present your reactions using the first person and referring, perhaps, to your experiences. The report could, however, deal with the issues and ideas from a more detached "objective" viewpoint. Such an approach would be most effectively rendered in third person.

Tip: In so short a paper, you are more likely to be successful if you limit your focus to a particular point or very few points and address that point(s) with great specificity.

Evaluation will focus on clarity in addressing the ideas you endeavor to convey and explore in the report.