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ENG 380/AMS 322

Response Papers

I grade all response papers on completion (on a 10-point scale). If you complete all aspects of each prompt, you will receive full credit. This page will be updated throughout the semester with the prompts for each response paper.

Table of contents
  1. Response Paper 1
  2. Response Paper 2
  3. Response Paper 3
  4. Response Paper 4
  5. Response Paper 5

Response Paper 1

  • Due Friday, Feb 12
  • Your pattern + 1-2 paragraphs
  • Turn in to your team’s folder in our class Google drive folder – .docx or Google docs format

This response paper is all about how to observe a text, specifically Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Your task will be twofold:

  1. Observe 1 pattern from what we have read so far of the novel. What do I mean by “pattern?” A pattern is a series of repeated textual, visual, and/or structural elements that are related to each other. Your pattern should consist of 3-4 of these separate elements, or observations. You should list these observations in your response paper. Your list should include a brief summary of your pattern, each separate observation (quote directly from the novel where possible and/or describe each separate observation, including where it begins and ends), and the page number(s) of each observation. You should be as specific and as precise as possible when reporting your observations. Your pattern should be unique, meaning no one else on your team should write about the same pattern. To discover your pattern, I recommend you focus your attention on one of the following 3 areas:
    1. Language use. Does Foer repeat certain words or phrases or grammatical constructions? Can you discern a pattern in the kinds of words used in a particular chapter or section of the novel? Are certain words seemingly knowingly left out, or glossed over, or left unsaid?
    2. Format. How Foer organizes some pages in this novel is important. Do certain visual or structural elements repeat? What about the images? How do they relate to the text? What about the visual organization of words on particular pages? Do you see anything there?
    3. Structure and organization. How has Foer organized the novel? Do certain chapter titles or other elements repeat? Do some things about the structure or organization of the novel seem out of place or unexpected?
  2. Write ~1-2 paragraphs in which you begin to brainstorm some ideas about why your pattern matters. What might this pattern mean in the context of the novel as a whole? You should focus your reflections here not on observations about or summaries of the plot or the “lessons” of the novel, but rather on what you see as the import of Foer’s aesthetic choices, as they are revealed by the pattern you have observed. How does the pattern you have observed contribute to larger ideas or concepts in the novel? I’m not expecting definite conclusions or fully fleshed out arguments here. Rather, I want you to practice wondering about the text as an aesthetic object. You might think about it this way: What does your pattern mean? And how many different possible answers to that question can you come up with?

After completing your response paper, you will upload it to your team’s folder in our class Google drive folder. In class on Monday, Feb 15, you will spend time with your teammates talking through the patterns you observed. You will use this work as the basis for response paper 2 (see below). I will not leave individual comments on your response paper this time around; I will simply check that you have completed the assignment.

Response Paper 2

  • Due Friday, February 19
  • Your pattern + 500-750 words (1.5-2 double spaced pages)
  • Turn in via the “Response Paper 2” portal on Blackboard Assignments page

In this response paper, you will consider a pattern in Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close in more detail. You will select 1 pattern to discuss. This can be the pattern you wrote about in your first response paper, or it can be a pattern one of your teammates wrote about, it can be a revised version of either, or it can be a completely new pattern. Once you’ve selected your pattern, here’s what you do:

  1. As you did for your first response paper, list the individual observations that comprise your pattern. Regardless of the pattern you choose, you should seek to add at least 1-2 more individual observations to that pattern from the second half of the novel. Your list should include a brief summary of your pattern, each separate observation (quote directly from the novel where possible and/or describe each separate observation, including where it begins and ends), and the page number(s) of each observation. You should be as specific and as precise as possible when reporting your observations.

  2. Write 500-750 words in which you discuss what is important or significant about your pattern. Why does your pattern matter in the context of the novel as a whole? What does your pattern allow us to see or to know about the novel? You might think about it this way: Once you noticed your pattern, what did it cause you to understand differently about the novel? How did it surprise you?

Response Paper 3

  • Due Friday, March 26
  • Your 3 questions + your passage + 1-2 paragraphs about 1 question
  • Turn in to your team’s folder in our class Google drive folder – .docx or Google docs format

This response paper is meant to help you prepare to write paper 2. Paper 2 asks you to use one text we have read or watched in class to make an argument about one aspect of “post-9/11” literature and/or culture. In general, you will focus in this paper on how this text explores, complicates or questions a given cultural, political, philosophical, or psychological issue you see as important to understanding “post-9/11” literature and/or culture in the United States. We’ll talk more about all of that later. For this response paper, we’re just going to focus on generating ideas.

The first step to writing a paper like paper 2 is to develop what I call your “central question.” For response paper 3, you will develop a 3 central questions about Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West. You may eventually end up revising one of these questions and using it for paper 2. You may not. The point for this response paper, however, is just to practice developing questions. Here’s what you should do:

  1. Develop 3 central questions about Exit West. Each of these questions should arise from a spark of curiosity you have felt while reading; I’ve also heard this spark called “a pebble in your shoe.” This is something that stuck out to you while reading, or that you noticed or thought about after finishing the novel, and that you can’t quite figure out at first glance, or that you don’t have a ready answer for (thus, like a pebble in your shoe, its unresolved nature bothers you a bit). Each question you develop for this response paper should be a question about this kind of spark of curiosity or pebble in your shoe. Each question should be open-ended – for example, a question about how or why something happens, or what something means – not a “yes” or “no” question. And finally, each question should theoretically be open and interesting enough that you could envision yourself writing at least a 4-5 page paper in which you provide an answer to it. I recommend you think back to the work we did with response papers 1 and 2 and observing patterns in a text. You might center each question on a pattern you’ve discovered in the text but can’t quite figure out.
  2. After you’ve got 3 candidate questions, select 1 to focus on. Tie this question to a specific passage in the text. You might think of this passage as the passage that gave you the idea for the question, or as a passage in which your question is implied or asked or demonstrated in some way. The idea here is just that the passage is related to the question in some way. Copy and paste your passage into your response paper. Try to keep the passage as brief as possible.
  3. Finally, write ~1-2 paragraphs about your question and your selected passage. How does this passage relate to your question? You do not need to have any answers here, but you should strive to tie your preliminary ideas about your question to the text. Eventually, when you write paper 2, every claim you make about the text will need to be backed up with specific textual evidence. Start practicing that now.

After completing your response paper, you will upload it to your team’s folder in our class Google drive folder, as you did with response paper 1. In class on Monday, March 29, you will spend time with your teammates talking through your questions. I will not leave individual comments on your response paper this time around; I will simply check that you have completed the assignment.

Response Paper 4

  • Due Friday, April 2
  • 3 draft central questions for paper 2 + your passage + 1-2 paragraph brainstorm for paper 2
  • Turn in via the “Response Paper 4” portal on Blackboard Assignments page

In this response paper, you will repeat what you did for response paper 3, in a sense, but you will gear your central questions toward paper 2. So all of your questions should be about the text you think you want to write about for paper 2. Once you’ve selected this text, here’s what you do:

  1. Develop 3 central questions about this text, just as you did for response paper 3. As before, each of these questions should arise from a spark of curiosity you have felt while reading, or from a pebble in your shoe. Each question should be open-ended – for example, a question about how or why something happens, or what something means – not a “yes” or “no” question. And finally, each question should theoretically be open and interesting enough that you could envision yourself writing at least a 4-5 page paper in which you provide an answer to it. If you plan to write your paper about Exit West, you should try to develop 3 questions in addition to those you already developed for response paper 3, even if you plan to write your paper about a (revised version of a) question you developed for response paper 3.
  2. After you’ve got 3 candidate questions, select 1 that you think you want to write your paper about (if you’re writing about Exit West, this may be similar to the question you wrote about for response paper 3, but it should be revised in some way). As before, tie this question to a specific passage in the text, and copy and paste your passage into your response paper. Try to keep the passage as brief as possible (even if you are writing about a question you discussed in response paper 3, you should find another/a new passage for this response paper).
  3. Then, write ~1-2 paragraphs about your question and your selected passage. How does this passage relate to your question? You do not need to have any answers or arguments here (though you will for paper 2), and this response paper doesn’t commit you to anything (you can always change your mind). But you should use this as an opportunity to begin to explore the ideas you want to discuss in paper 2. As always, you should strive to locate evidence for your ideas specifically in the text. When you write paper 2, every claim you make about the text will need to be backed up with specific textual evidence. Start practicing that now.

Response Paper 5

I’ve decided to cancel response paper 5: everyone will get a 10/10 grade on this assignment.