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How To Write A Reaction Paper

The document discusses how to write a reaction paper in response to a work one has read, heard, or seen. [1] It explains that a reaction paper includes a summary of the original work but focuses on providing a personal opinion and analysis supported by outside sources. [2] The paper should have an introduction, body, conclusion, and citations. [3] The document provides steps for writing a reaction paper, including thoroughly analyzing the original work, crafting a thesis statement, outlining arguments, writing drafts, and polishing the paper with multiple revisions.

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70 views4 pages

How To Write A Reaction Paper

The document discusses how to write a reaction paper in response to a work one has read, heard, or seen. [1] It explains that a reaction paper includes a summary of the original work but focuses on providing a personal opinion and analysis supported by outside sources. [2] The paper should have an introduction, body, conclusion, and citations. [3] The document provides steps for writing a reaction paper, including thoroughly analyzing the original work, crafting a thesis statement, outlining arguments, writing drafts, and polishing the paper with multiple revisions.

Uploaded by

Bryan Realuyo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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How To Write a Reaction (Steps Plus

Helpful Tips)
By Indeed Editorial Team
June 4, 2021

A reaction paper is a great way to explore your thoughts and opinions in response to a
piece of work you've read, heard or seen. In this article, we discuss what a reaction is,
its importance and how to write one.

Related: 5 Steps for Great Business Writing (With Tips)

What is a reaction paper?


A reaction paper is a written assignment that provides a personal opinion regarding a
given piece of work. The paper should include a short summary of the work, but the
main focus is your thoughts, feelings and rationalizations about what's discussed in the
original text. This requires analysis of the given work on your part, followed by a
focused, well-thought-out reaction backed by outside sources, where applicable.

Your reaction paper should consist of four main parts:

1. Introduction
2. Body
3. Conclusions
4. List of citations and sources

Related: Guide to Submitting a Writing Sample

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How to write a reaction paper


The introduction of your paper serves to lay out your ideas and to pique the interest of
your readers. A great place to start is to name the author and the work that you are
reacting to, elucidating the main focus of what you are going to discuss. This part
should be about three or four sentences, closing with your thesis statement. Keep your
thesis statement concise, because you'll reference it several times throughout your
paper. Here are the suggested steps for structuring and writing this paper:

1. Read and analyze the work thoroughly.


2. Craft your thesis statement.
3. Create the paper's outline.
4. Compose a first draft.
5. Polish and repeat.

1. Read and analyze the work thoroughly

It's crucial that you fully understand why you're writing and what you're reacting to. You
may find yourself going back to reread or rewatch, depending on the medium, to make
sure you understand completely what is being presented to you. As you do so, take
notes on parts that you find important so you can easily refer back to them later.

2. Craft your thesis statement

Go back through your notes to get an idea of your overarching angle. This will help you
form the main idea you will fully develop in your reaction. Craft a clear, concise
statement as your thesis, ideally in a single sentence.

3. Create the paper's outline

Again using your notes, start building the framework for your arguments. Fleshing out
these ideas while writing your reaction will be much easier and more organized when
you're following an outline.

4. Compose a first draft

Use your outline to form the first draft of your work. This will be rough but should give
you a clear idea of what the finished product is going to look like. Tip: write your
introduction last. It's very frustrating to write your whole paper only to realize that you
deviated from your thesis pages ago. Circling back to it after writing the rest allows you
to tweak the way you stated your thesis, if necessary.

5. Polish and repeat

There's a possibility that you'll be producing two, three or even four drafts before the
final polished piece is ready to go. For each pass through the paper during editing,
focus on one main thing that you're editing for. For example, the first pass might be
focused on spelling, grammar and punctuation. The next pass could be looking at the
organization of ideas, and so on. You'll make as many passes as you need to to create
exactly what you want to present.

Writing your paper


Here are some steps for writing your paper:
Part 1: The introduction and summary

The first part of your paper will include a quick, objective summary of the work you're
reacting to. It should include the author's name and the title of the piece as well as the
publication date. The summarization itself should be a highlight reel of the main points
and a condensed explanation of the key supporting elements.

You should feel free to use direct quotes for ideas that you deem are especially
important to your reaction. At this point, it's unnecessary to go into detail on any one
point or introduce any subjective opinions. That will come later.

Part 2: Your thoughts, feelings and opinions

The second part of the paper is where you express your opinions on the key points of
the work, supported by reliable sources. For each point in your reaction, circle back to
reference the corresponding part in the original piece. This is your analysis, the most
important section of this paper. Your reactions can answer a question relating the work
to real-life situations in society, they can respond to the emotions evoked in you when
you read/watched it or they can articulate how the original work shifted or solidified your
perspective on the subject.

Your evaluation should discuss the accuracy, organization, importance and


completeness of the work. This is where you'll take a stance on whether you
recommend this work to others and the reasons for your answer. Your conclusions
should be presented concisely and reiterate your thesis and the main points that took
shape as you wrote. Finally, your cited sources should be listed according to the writing
style you're using (MLA, APA).

Related: How to Write a Summary of Qualifications

Tips
Here are some tips to consider as you move through the writing process:

 Follow the basic template for writing a paper, with each major paragraph
addressing one main idea. For example, your first paragraph introduces
and summarizes the work, followed by three or four paragraphs that
state and support separate reactions to the work. The final paragraph
should be a short conclusion. Each paragraph should transition
smoothly into the next.
 Be sure to support your points and opinions with specific examples.
 Proofread. Proofread again. Have others proofread for you. Proofread
one last time.
 It's fine to use quotations from the original work to support your points,
but don't be overly reliant on them.
 Express your opinions clearly. The point of a reaction paper is to react
with your own thoughts and feelings. Feel free to express yourself in a
thoughtful, well-constructed manner.
 Remember that your critiques must be backed with evidence and
examples to hold the attention of your readers.
 Make sure you're applying the basic standards of effective writing (unity,
coherence, supporting facts and clear, concise sentences) when writing
and editing.

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