Response to Literature Essay

Graphic Organizer

*Note: This graphic organizer addresses a literary response for theme; you would need to tweak it a bit to fit one of the other areas you would want to address like propelling the action, revealing aspects of a character’s traits, or provoking a decision.

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Introduction Paragraph

  1. Hook/Attention Grabber:
  • Use one of the many strategies provided for you from the Hook Sheet.
  1. Development:
  • Transition from the hook by stating the title and author and then giving the exposition - setting, background information and a brief introduction to the characters.

In (title) ______by (author)______,

3. Thesis Statement:

  • Which ever prompt you choose, make sure to state your thesis clearly by providing brief examples of the evidence you will use in each body paragraph – make sure to transition from the background, so it’s not choppy.
  • This is a generic fill-in-the blank; you may need to tweak it to fit your theme.

During the course of the novel, (author’s name) includes several events that reveal the themes of (State the first theme in a clause, not just one word) and (state the second theme, not just one word.).

Body Paragraph# 1

  1. Topic sentence:
  • State at least one event that portrays the fist theme listed in the introduction; if you use more than one event for each theme, you will have two chunks per paragraph.
  • Transition from the thesis and ease into your first topic sentence.
  • State one or two events that reveal this theme, but don’t go into too much detail; you will prove it with your evidence.

2. Evidence

  • Use a quote such as dialogue from characters or the narrator to show your firsttheme and then explain it by expanding on the evidence.
  • Make sure to use MLA format to cite this source: Integrate your quote smoothly into your own sentence structure. Put the author and page number at the end: “Quote…” (Keyes 182).
  • After you have provided the quote, explain it.

3. Analysis

  • Now comment on the events or theme without using first person. Give your perspective; for example, you could comment on the events and whether or not the author was able to portray the theme well through the events. You could do this in a variety of ways, but basically, you are analyzing the effectiveness of the events in relation to the theme.

4. (Transition)

Transition into the next body paragraph by wrapping up the first paragraph and introducing the next.

Body Paragraph # 2

  1. Topic sentence:
  • State at least one event that portrays the secondtheme listed in the introduction; if you use more than one event for each theme, you will have two chunks per paragraph.
  • State one or two events that reveal this theme, but don’t go into too much detail; you will prove it with your evidence.

2. Evidence

  • Use a quote such as dialogue from characters or the narrator to show your first theme and then explain it by expanding on the evidence.
  • Make sure to use MLA format to cite this source: Integrate your quote smoothly into your own sentence structure. Put the author and page number at the end: “Quote…” (Keyes 182).
  • After you have provided the quote, explain it.

3. Analysis

  • Now comment on the events or theme without using first person. Give your perspective; for example, you could comment on the events and whether or not the author was able to portray the theme well through the events. You could do this in a variety of ways, but basically, you are analyzing the effectiveness of the events in relation to the theme.

4. Concluding Sentence

  • Wrap up this paragraph.

1. Conclusion Paragraph

  • Restate your thesis statement with different words.
  1. Summary of the Body Paragraphs
  • State the main points of the body paragraphs - generalize—no specifics.
  1. Clincher
  • One option, and there are many: Leave the reader with something to think about on the overall idea of the universal themes and how these apply to all people – this is only if you have been writing about the theme – obviously!