Tips for Literature Response

1. Choose an informative title.

2. State your paper’s thesis/goal/question early and explicitly. You can even underline it so I know where it is.

3. Don’t string many small comments together. Focus on one or a few points and develop them in detail.

4. Don’t provide more than 1-2 paragraphs of summary or background. Get to your contribution as early as possible.

5. Select a thesis or goal or question with a narrow enough focus for a short paper.

6. Do not settle for a wishy-washy thesis. Be brave enough to take a stance and argue for it. Avoid the obvious (i.e., this article does a good job…). I am looking for interesting thoughts.

7. Always support your thesis and any of your claims with persuasive arguments, examples, or evidence. If you speculate, say how one might test your speculative claim.

8. When you criticize a specific article, give the author(s) a voice to reply. How would they respond to your criticism, how would they defend their position?

9. Don’t ask questions without at least attempting to answer them.

10. Use each paragraph to make a point that will provide strength to your overall goal or thesis. The point should be clear from the start (in the paragraph’s “topic sentence”) and the paragraph should be organized around it.

11. Avoid quotes (especially long ones), unless you can’t really express in your own words what the authors said.

12. Remember that spelling, grammar, sentence structure and overall organization are elements of grading.

13. Do not end your paper with a platitude.