Topic: Choose a short story or poem either from our reading list, or one that you have encountered before and feel strongly about, that has characters or events that remind you of ones from your own life. Compare and contrast the elements of this work with your own experiences to show what made the work and/or character compelling for you. Be sure to use details and passages from the work to illustrate your response.
Defining the response essay
The response essay uses comparison and contrast to help the writer access and appreciate a work of literature by relating it to a personal experience. While personal anecdote will be an integral part of the essay, the paper should also focus on particular elements of the literature. Try to maintain about a 50/50 percent balance in analyzing the story or poem, and in relating your own experiences and drawing connections between them.
Are there areas where the character’s experience is markedly different from your own, or where a reaction or statement confused or surprised you? Why do you think this was? You should explore which particular elements of the work evoked the writer’s response and build the essay around those connections. Analyze if your reactions are due to any particular assumption, belief, or perhaps bias on your own part, and be honest. For instance, do you and the character have different social perspectives, but similar parental dynamics? Look for the nuances of a character, relationship, or situation and not just the broad strokes of it. You will use direct quotations and paraphrases from the source to support your thesis.
Use MLA style to include parenthetical citations after all summarized, paraphrased, and quoted material within your essay.
Include a “works Cited” page using MLA style – you will cite just the one story or poem that you are using as your main source.
Paper requirements
The essay must be typed, double-spaced, and in standard font and 1 inch margins. Your name should be typed at the top of the page along with my name and the class information. Double space from this heading and center your title (required), and then double-space and begin the essay. Pages should be numbered.