These papers should be approximately 760 words in length (a little longer is fine) I will mark errors inspelling, punctuation, and grammar, but I’ll grade the response papers primarily on content (originality of thought and level
of analysis). These papers are informal, which means you
may write in first person and assume that your reader is familiar with the
text, but you should focus on one major question/issue and use specific
examples from the text to illustrate and support your argument

For example,here are some appropriate topics for a response paper:
-What contributions or innovations does this text make to the novel form?
-How does an understanding of genre or narrative structure shape your understanding andenjoyment of this novel?

-Focus your comments on a single formal element (plot, theme, setting,
character, style,
symbolism). Explore possible meanings of a symbol or examine a pair of binary opposites(e.g., light/dark; male/female; real/ideal).

-Choose an important passage to analyze through close reading. Investigate the diction,dominant imager
y, and meaning of this passage. How does it relate to the text as a whole?

-If you’ve read this text before, how is your reading this time different? Anything new strike you? Have you changed your mind about the meaning?
Do you identify more easily or less easily with the characters or speaker
this time?

-Compare the text to other works by the same author(e.g., MED and A Christmas Carol,both by Dickens)OR to another author’s treatment of a similar idea(e.g.,Brave New World and 1984).

-Relate the text
to something else you’ve read, an experience you’ve had, or a familiar
problem or situation. Look at differences as well as similarities. What can be learned frommaking this comparison/contrast? Remember to stay grounded in the text.

-If you were
troubled, angered, or offended by a text, explain what bothered you and why. Be
specific!(Note: The words bore, bored,and boring are forbidden in this exercise
.)