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How To Write A Text Response EssayThe principles of a text response essay are crucial to understand to be successful inEnglish. Essentially in this type of text response essay you are exploring and discussing the ideas the text deals withand how it goes about doing this.What does this mean for you? Well,first of all writing your essay is a pretty familiar process:Break down the prompt to find out what it is asking you to discuss and deal with.Identify and articulate your thesis statement(your central idea or the overarching response to the prompting material,for those of you not familiar with this term). Remember that you don’t have to agree with the prompt and that you can clarify your position to ‘find the grey areas’.Decide what three or four ideas you would like to deal with (or what three or four questions you think you need to answer) to fully deal with all parts of the prompt and address all elements of the criteria.Plan out these as your paragraphs, ordering them so that you build a complex analysis of the text and so that each paragraph builds on the ideas presented in the last.Think of at least two or three examples that can be used to justifyeach of these points and note down how they connect to the ideas in the textso you are sure you are not just discussing the storyline or plot.Since Year 8we have provided you with a method of thinking through your planning which was very basic. That was okay to learn the process but now youneed you to move on to writing well-crafted and eloquent essays. This first method is the next step along your journey of writing essays. This is still a simplistic structure but the focus is on exploration of ideas and discussion rather than dot point bits of information joined up. Use this structure as a starting point to get the bones of anessay right and begin moving more to discussionand detailed analysisbut if you are feeling confident take the next step over the page and tryworking on more complex and detailed main body paragraphs.
The IntroAs an alternate way of stating to just writing out your over-arching idea you could find a quote. The quote has to be one that sums up your whole idea. It has to communicate this without needing to be explainedtoomuch. The catch is that you can’t then use this quote again. It’s a scene setter not a useful piece of text to pull apart to make your point.After opening withthe quote you should indicate your central thesisas you normally would. You can explain it in reference to the quote to make sure the essay starts off cohesively but try not to be toolong winded.The BodyS –Subject. State your subject. This is essentially your topic sentence. Make it a big loud statement though. Imagine yourself yelling to get someone’s attention. Make it big, make it bold and try and say something that you think is really important. One sentence. No more!E –Evidence. Now follow up your big statement with a moment from the text where what you have just said is true. If you have an image that is significant, a piece of dialogue which shows the way a character is thinking or being used to communicate the core idea, or a couple of words that have a hidden meaning or symbolise an ideaetc this is the time to put it in. Naturally, you don’t just whack the quote in. You have to set it up and embed it in discussion of your statement. Remember your paragraphs have to run coherently.X –Explain and Explore. The E and the X need to run together and should be hard to split apart. As I just said as you include your evidence you need to work in the explanation of what it shows and how it supports your statement. Explore the idea a little, take the time to discuss it and deal with it properly. For example:‘This is shown when Barry says “I am a cantaloupe”. The cantaloupe symbolises a desire to be controlled because it is a fruit and people eat it. This could mean that Barry doesn’t want to be the leader of the circus midgets anymore.’In a basic sense this meets the criteria but you can take it further.You will do better ifyoushow us how you have made this connection and point out why this insight is important to the overall point of your essay.Take the time to talk about the ideas and how they connect and how they lead to each other.In this essay you can also point out alternate possibilities. For example: ‘On the other hand Barry may be subtly suggesting that he is the best suited to lead the troupe. Barry’s choice of a cantaloupe is a deliberate construction by the author as it is one of the largest tropical fruits. Unlike his fellow little people Barry characterises himself as an imposing figure thus establishing a hierarchy of power.’The other element in this essay is that you should indicate how the social context or cultural values of the reader may alter their interpretation. For example: ‘For a reader from our enlightened time there may be intense discomfort in the objectification of the little people. This may result in them questioning whether Barry’s desire to lead the group is in fact a desire to lead a rebellion against the rest of the circus folk. A reader from a less progressive culture who may not value all people as equal on the other hand may disregard Barry’s desires, viewing him the property of the ringmaster.’Y –Why is this important?You need to bring us back to the overall point of your essay. In the end of your paragraph you need to make these connections. Having explained and explored, this is a natural step as the natural conclusion of your exploration should be to make a connection to the big ideas which should be about more than just the plot or characters it should be about a global concept.The ConclusionThis is the same as normal. If you have written a good essay your final pointof your final paragraphshould be able to draw together your ideas in the Y section. If not a final short restating of the contention is fine and you might try referring back to the idea in the opening quote but avoid using the quote again or using another quote.Above all don’t just stop. Make sure your essay concludes.