What is a Reaction Paper?

 A reaction paper is a response, or reaction, to

some sort of prompt.

 The prompt may be a question, a current event, or a

form of media, including movies or video clips.

 Examples: editorials, essays that discuss social

phenomenon or common experience, reviews
(movie/gadget/travel/restaurant), and trip advisor
post
REMEMBER, that a reaction
paper asks about what you
think, but that what you
think needs to be informed
by what you have read.
 Be organized

Have citations
and references

Judge, analyze,
or evaluate the
issue/s of the topic
A reaction to
something you
have read or
seen
A Reaction Paper is/should NOT…

A stream of consciousness Simply repeating what the

paper author already said

Include a lot of “I think,” “I Be autobiographical papers

feel’” or “I believe” about why you like or do
statements not like something
 What is the difference
between a Reaction Paper
and a Diary?
 Reaction Paper Diary

societal(written for the self(written for the

Significance enlightenment of one’s enlightenment of
fellow human being) the self)

less formal and

more formal and
Form descriptive , no real
descriptive
effort to persuade

Purpose to inform and amuse to express feelings

 Parts of a Reaction Paper
1. Introduction
- introduce the topic and briefly summarize the issue of the topic.
- why is this topic being discussed? What is important about it?

2. Body
- support the main idea with evidence and examples(be sure to use citations to
the references)

3. Conclusion
- summarize what you have said and create a nice concluding statements in
the paper.
-remind the reader what you thought about the topic and how you have
changed your thinking.
Citing sources to support claims

Citation
 A "citation" is the way you tell your
readers that certain material in your work
came from another source. It also gives
your readers the information necessary
to find that source again.
 WHY SHOULD I CITE SOURCES?
Giving credit to the original author by citing sources is
the only way to use other people's work without
plagiarizing.
reasons to cite sources:
- helpful to anyone who wants to find out more
about your ideas and where they came from
- will keep you from taking the rap for someone
else's bad ideas
- shows the amount of research you've done
- strengthens your work by lending outside support
to your ideas
 DOES NOT CITING SOURCES MAKE MY WORK
SEEM LESS ORIGINAL?

Not at all. On the contrary, citing sources actually helps

your reader distinguish your ideas from those of your
sources. This will actually emphasize the originality of
your own work
 WHEN DO I NEED TO CITE?
 Whenever you borrow words or ideas, you need to acknowledge
their source.
 Whenever you use quotes
 Whenever you paraphrase
 Whenever you use an idea that someone else has already
expressed
 whenever you make specific reference to the work of another
 whenever someone else's work has been critical in developing
your own ideas.
 In-text citation – found in the body of your work
 Reference – found at the end of the paper

Most common citation styles:

 APA (American Psychological Association) is
used by Education, Psychology, and
Sciences.
 MLA (Modern Language Association) style is
used by the Humanities.
In Text Citations

 When you quote or paraphrase from a source, you need

give credit to that source by inserting a citation. This citation
typically consists of the author’s name , year of publication,
and page number in parentheses.

Example:
The article goes on to say that “People don't do derby just for
exercise but usually because it becomes a part of who they
are” (Fagundes, 2012, p. 1098).
 Short quotations
 If you are directly quoting from a work, you will need to include the
author, year of publication, and the page number for the reference
(preceded by "p."). Introduce the quotation with a signal phrase
that includes the author's last name followed by the date of
publication in parenthesis.
Example
According to Jones (1998), "Students often had difficulty
using APA style, especially when it was their first time" (p.
199).

Jones (1998) found "students often had difficulty using APA

style" (p. 199); what implications does this have for
teachers?
Long quotations
40 words or longer
Free – standing block of typewritten lines
Omit quotation marks
Example:
Jones's (1998) study found the following:
Students often had difficulty using APA style,
especially when it was their first time citing sources. This
difficulty could be attributed to the fact that
many students failed to purchase a style manual or to
ask their teacher for help. (p. 199)
 In-Text Citations: Author/Authors
 A Work by Two Authors
Name both authors in the signal phrase or in the
parentheses each time you cite the work. Use the word
"and" between the authors' names within the text and use
the ampersand(&) in the parentheses.
Example:
 Research by Wegener and Petty (1994) supports...

 (Wegener & Petty, 1994)…

A Work by Three to Five Authors
 List all the authors in the signal phrase or in parentheses
the first time you cite the source. Use the word "and"
between the authors' names within the text and use the
ampersand in the parentheses.
Example:
 (Kernis, Cornell, Sun, Berry, & Harlow, 1993)…
In subsequent citations, only use the first author's last name
followed by "et al." in the signal phrase or in parentheses.
 (Kernis et al., 1993)
In et al., et should not be followed by a period.
Six or More Authors
Use the first author's name followed by et al. in the
signal phrase or in parentheses.

Example:
Harris et al. (2001) argued...
(Harris et al., 2001)
Two or More Works in the Same Parentheses
When your parenthetical citation includes two or more works,
order them the same way they appear in the reference list (viz.,
alphabetically), separated by a semi-colon.
Example:
 (Berndt, 2002; Harlow, 1983)
Authors With the Same Last Name
To prevent confusion, use first initials with the last names.

Example:
(E. Johnson, 2001; L. Johnson, 1998)
References Page

This is a separate page at the end of your

paper.
Each citation in the text must be listed on the
References page; each listing on the
References page must appear in the text.
The title of the page should be centered and
labeled References.
 Reference List: Books
Basic Format for Books
Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital
letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher.

Example:
Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991). APA guide to
preparing manuscripts for journal publication. Washington,
DC: American Psychological Association.
Article From an Online Periodical
 Online articles follow the same guidelines for printed articles.
Include all information the online host makes available, including
an issue number in parentheses.
 Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of
article. Title of Online Periodical, volume number(issue number if
available). Retrieved from
http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

Example:
 Bernstein, M. (2002). 10 tips on writing the living Web. A List Apart:
For People Who Make Websites, 149. Retrieved from
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writeliving
Article From an Online Periodical with DOI(Direct Object Identifier)
Assigned
 Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of
article. Title of Journal, volume number, page range.
doi:0000000/000000000000 or http://dx.doi.org/10.0000/0000
 Brownlie, D. (2007). Toward effective poster presentations: An
annotated bibliography. European Journal of Marketing, 41, 1245-
1283. doi:10.1108/03090560710821161
 Wooldridge, M.B., & Shapka, J. (2012). Playing with technology:
Mother-toddler interaction scores lower during play with electronic
toys. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 33(5), 211-218.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2012.05.005
Article From an Online Periodical with no DOI Assigned
Online scholarly journal articles without a DOI require the
URL of the journal home page. Remember that one goal
of citations is to provide your readers with enough
information to find the article; providing the journal
home page aids readers in this process.
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title
of article. Title of Journal, volume number. Retrieved
from http://www.journalhomepage.com/full/url/
Example:
Kenneth, I. A. (2000). A Buddhist response to the nature of
human rights. Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 8. Retrieved from
http://www.cac.psu.edu/jbe/twocont.html
Approaches in
Writing a
Critique Paper
 was a formalist movement in
literary theory that dominated
American literary criticism in
the middle decades of the
20th century

 It emphasized close reading,

particularly of poetry, to
discover how a work of
literature functioned as a self-
contained, self-referential
aesthetic object.
Formalist Criticism
This approach regards literature as “a unique form
of human knowledge that needs to be examined
on its own terms.”

Of particular interest to the formalist critic are the

elements of form—style, structure, tone, imagery,
etc.—that are found within the text.

A primary goal for formalist critics is to determine

how such elements work together with the text’s
content to shape its effects upon readers.
 is a school of literary theory that focuses
on the reader(or "audience") and their
experience of a literary work, in contrast
to other schools and theories that focus
attention primarily on the author or the
content and form of the work.
Reader-Response Criticism

It attempts “to describe what happens in the

reader’s mind while interpreting a text” and reflects
that reading, like writing, is a creative process.

According to reader-response critics, literary texts

do not “contain” a meaning; meanings derive only
from the act of individual readings.
Reader-Response Criticism

Two different readers may derive completely

different interpretations of the same literary text.

Reader-response criticism, emphasizes how

“religious, cultural, and social values affect
readings; it also overlaps with gender criticism in
exploring how men and women read the same text
with different assumptions.”
Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into
theoretical, fictional, or philosophical discourse. It aims
to understand the nature of gender inequality.
...Feminist theory focuses on analyzing gender
inequality.
Feminist Criticism

Feminist criticism is concerned with "...the

ways in which literature (and other cultural
productions) reinforce or undermine the
economic, political, social, and
psychological oppression of women" (Tyson).
Common Space in Feminist Theories

Though a number of different approaches exist in

feminist criticism, there exist some areas of
commonality. This list is excerpted from Tyson:

Women are oppressed by patriarchy

economically, politically, socially, and
psychologically; patriarchal ideology is the
primary means by which they are kept so.

In every domain where patriarchy reigns, woman

is other: she is marginalized, defined only by her
difference from male norms and values
 All of western (Anglo-European) civilization is deeply rooted
in patriarchal ideology, for example, in the biblical portrayal
of Eve as the origin of sin and death in the world

 While biology determines our sex (male or female), culture

determines our gender (masculine or feminine)

 All feminist activity, including feminist theory and literary

criticism, has as its ultimate goal to change the world by
promoting gender equality

 Gender issues play a part in every aspect of human

production and experience, including the production and
experience of literature, whether we are consciously aware
of these issues or not (p. 91).
 Historicism
 is a mode of thinking that assigns major
significance to a specific context, such as
historical period, geographical place, and local
culture. As such it varies in emphasis from
individualist theories of knowledge such as
empiricism and rationalism, which neglect the role
of traditions.
Historical Criticism
This approach “seeks to understand a literary
work by investigating the social, cultural, and
intellectual context that produced it is a
context that necessarily includes the artist’s
biography and milieu.”

A key goal for historical critics is to

understand the effect of a literary work upon
its original readers.
 is the act of closely examining and judging
the media. When we examine
the media and various media stories, we
often find instances of media bias.
 Media bias is the perception that
the media is reporting the news in a partial or
prejudiced manner
Marxist Criticism
Based on the theories of Karl Marx (and so
influenced by philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich
Hegel), this school concerns itself with class
differences, economic and otherwise, as well as
the implications and complications of the capitalist
system

There will always be conflict between the upper,

middle, and lower (working) classes and this
conflict will be reflected in literature and other
forms of expression - art, music, movies, etc.