Instructions for Reaction Papers

 

A reaction paper will generally take up to two pages.  Your introductory paragraph will give a title of the article, its author, source and date.  The format of this section of your paper will include a summary of the article, focusing on the author’s main point, explaining what issues the author chose to address and the author’s main conclusions.

The next part of your paper will focus upon reaction.  It should be from your perspective and it should try and focus on a precise/small portion of the article.  Remember, you have already done a summary and you will not be repeating it here.

          This section is sometimes called a thesis, which is your main idea.  Assume you read an article on the state of the death penalty; it is not enough to say “I really oppose the death penalty, just like the author of this article.”  Consider this language:  “The author raises a number of objections to the death penalty, but I found the concern over executing a wrongfully convicted person most important.”  From this point, explain how or if the author convinced you on this issue.  Be sure to explain what portions of the author’s argument you thought were clear or convincing.  By the same token, discuss whether you think the author’s points were weak or unexplained.

           

     In concluding your paper, explain what additional areas you would like to see addressed or how you would solve the problems addressed in the article.

 

For more insights into reaction papers, look at the websites below.  They will give you more direction on some of the basics of reaction papers. 

 

Websites on Reaction Papers

 

 

Professor Lovett has a chart on his webpage referring to reaction papers for books, which you can easily adapt for articles.

http://www.esuhistoryprof.com/writing_reaction_papers.htm

 

 

Literary Education Online provides some step-by-step suggestions for crafting a reaction paper or essay.

http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/reaction.html

 

 

This site provides some straight-forward observations on reaction papers.

http://faculty.washington.edu/gennari/teaching/KR/reactionPapers.html

 

 

Instructions for writing reaction papers for films can easily be adapted to articles.

http://faculty.southwest.tn.edu/jfriedlander/reactionpaper.htm

 

 

These instructions, starting in Paragraph 2, are focused on reaction papers relating to articles.  http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/k/d/kds180/reaction.htm