Ch. 7: Norm's Notes on the Reading Response Essay on an Assigned Reading (Abbreviation "NNRRE" [Norm's Notes on the Reading-Response Essay])

Important: Study and review this chapter, particularly before writing any in-class reading-response essay, and before and during writing any out-of-class reading-response essay.

1. Key difference between the impromptu essay and the multidraft essay Unlike the out-of-class or multidraft essay, there is only time for one draft, with editing while writing and immediately after finishing, in the impromptu or extemporary essay (fifty minutes or an hour). For the impromptu or extemporary essay, it is very important to take more time than in the multidraft essay for the "invention" or pre-writing phase. During this phase (which should last a good five to seven minutes), take time to carefully (a) examine the exact wording of the assigned topic; (b) jot detailed notes; (c) decide what order those notes should be discussed (use numbers or letters in the notes to remind yourself what order will be used in the writing).

2. Prewriting phase #1; slow and thoughtful scrutiny of the wording of the assigned topic Examine the language of the assigned topic carefully: many students have made errors in writing about the wrong thing, or in not writing about all that was required in the assigned topic. For example, on the RTP essay assigned topic "If you won a million dollars in a lottery, how would your life change?", many students got drastically lowered scores because they only gave lists of how they would spend the money. The assigned topic was not "If you won a million dollars, how would you spend the money?"; all references to spending should have been connected to the issue of life changes. On assigned-reading topics, if the topic asks for argument for or against key assertions in the assigned reading, or for comparison-contrast with material in the assigned reading, then mere summary of the assigned reading is off the assigned topic.

3. Prewriting phase #2; very detailed notes; some system indicating the order of discussing the notes Notes jotted are detailed enough if someone else could write your paper from them. Notes must be detailed because you must know where you're going for this kind of essay, so you can edit as you write, and not hope for a miraculous appearance of extra time at the conclusion of your one-hour or fifty-minute time period. Both in the note-taking phase and in the actual essay writing, use lots of concrete specifics and constant references to the 5 w's and h (who, what, where, when, why, how). Be sure to explain how all material, as it is being brought up or cited, relates to the assigned topic, your main ideas, and the paragraph in which it is used. Many student essays read as if they are not thoughtfully organized--as if the writer has written the paper as ideas or notes occurred in the note-taking phase. Such ideas and details may very well not occur in any order or the best possible order in the note-taking phase, and thus will have to be looked over and numbered or lettered to indicate to the writer what is called a "scratch outline" or "rough outline": the order to use the notes in the essay. Do not waste time on a formal outline (Roman numerals, subdivisions, etc.) for a short impromptu essay.

4. Clear thesis sentence in first paragraph Be sure you have a clear thesis sentence in your first paragraph, whether it is a general thesis sentence ("Several steps need to be taken in order to reduce crime") or a blueprint thesis sentence ("The steps that need to be taken to reduce crime are ----, ----, ----, and ----"). A thesis sentence is clear enough if a student not from this class could infer both the assigned topic as well as the writer's main idea or ideas about it. Be sure that topic sentences in your later paragraphs do not merely repeat your thesis sentence or first paragraph but add something new.

5. Editing If you find that you do not have at least five to seven minutes to edit at the end of your writing session, then you must start editing at the end of every paragraph.

6. Trade-offs: editing vs. length, quality vs. quantity Here, on the subject of editing, the issue of trade-offs occurs: if it comes down to a choice between finishing your last paragraph (or writing a third page) or editing, you must choose editing. Quality counts as much as quantity: a paper littered with unedited or uncorrected errors in grammar, usage, spelling, and so on, outweighs finishing that last paragraph or writing an extra page.

7. Multi-pass editing for your top five problems in grammar, usage, spelling Edit for your top five problems in grammar, usage, punctuation, and spelling, one line-by-line pass at a time. Make five passes in all, either when finished writing, or at the end of each page, or at the end of each paragraph. For example, if you have a problem with apostrophes, go through your paragraph line by line, checking only for where apostrophes should or shouldn't be.

8. Time management (a) Use all allowed time to write the essay, especially to do your five line-by-line edits. Students who hand in essays early that are underdeveloped (not enough explanation or illustrations) or unedited, or both, annoy English professors --indeed all professors. (b) Don't waste time merely recopying an essay, or using opaquing solution ("white out") on corrections; neat lining out and additions are acceptable (including on the Engl. 1101 essay final and the RTP essay), as per discussion of these and other proofreading marks in the composition handbook. (c) On both in-class and out-of-class wordprocessed essays, corrections in pen are acceptable. (d) Allot all time to the prewriting, editing, and writing phases.

9. Length generated for the impromptu essay (a) In one hour, the student should be able to generate in a handwritten essay, always in pen, two single-spaced sides of a sheet of paper with college rule, in ordinary handwriting size. A wordprocessed essay, which should be double spaced in a font size of 11 or 12 (in Times Roman or something like this font), should run at least 1.5 pages. Much less length indicates inadequate coverage of the assigned topic; a great deal more is often associated with students who do not edit and sacrifice quality--editing, careful prewriting thought, precise comprehension of and careful adherence to the exact assigned topic, detailed note-taking--at the expense of quantity. (b) The key questions are (b1) have you given enough details and specifics and illustrations to back up or support your main ideas and show mastery of the assigned reading? (b2) have you explicitly indicated how the details, specifics, and illustrations back up your main ideas and relate to the assigned topic? and (b3) have you given adequate length to explaining and illustrating each main point or idea?

10. Magic formulas vs. reason in essay form Don't worry about having three main points or five paragraphs: all topics don't lend themselves to this formula and don't have to be laid out with such a rigid formula. A good introduction is needed, but it might only be a good opening (first) thesis sentence in the first paragraph, with the remainder of the first paragraph given to discussion of the first main idea or point or illustration. Sometimes first paragraphs read like a student stalling, with no real real relevant introductory remarks to make but simply delaying because of the idea that a whole first paragraph needs to be given to the introduction. A good conclusion is needed, but it should round off the essay, and not simply repeat the opening paragraph and thesis sentence. The conclusion might only be the last sentence in the last paragraph assigned to the last main point; the concluding sentence or concluding paragraph should not simply repeat the thesis sentence (especially in a short essay: Regents' Exam raters are instructed to grade down such repetition).

11. Essay titles and their uses (11a) Title right away Give your essay a good title, and give your essay this title right away, before writing even the first paragraph of the essay. While not officially required on the Engl. 1101 final essay or the Regents' Exam essay, such titles are useful in writing because they can help keep a student focused on the exact assigned topic and help prevent a student from straying from that topic. (11b) Clarity and precision in the title A good title, which could include a subtitle (with appropriate punctuation), should be clear, precise, and detailed enough to reveal to a student not in our class what the assigned topic was. Again, when a student's eyes wander to the top of the page or see the title in peripheral vision, such precision should help prevent a student from straying off the assigned topic, a not infrequent writing problem, especially in the impromptu or extemporary essay. (11c) The Four Components Belonging in Every Reading-Response Essay Title -- Author, title, and genre of the required reading , as well as the assigned topic, in the title of your essay   Both in the essay title of the reading-response essay, as well as the thesis sentence of the reading-response essay, the author, title, and genre of the required reading should be included, as well as the assigned topic or the main point or points about that assigned topic. Only this information could truly tell a student in a different section of Engl. 1101 or in another course on campus what the whole assigned topic was for any particular essay. (11d) Use MLA format in your essay title, as well as on the first page and subsequent page of any reading-response essay Be careful to adhere to MLA format for your essay title: study the example of the non-title page format for an essay or research paper in SFHW6 (sec. 48d, especially pp. 760-763; note that the numbering of the paragraphs in the example is for teaching purposes in the textbook and is not part of MLA format). (11e) What not to put in your essay title Do not use "Essay," "In-Class," "Out-of-Class," "Assigned Reading," and similar self-references (to yourself or the class) in your essay title. Your essay title should identify the content of your essay, not external circumstances of the assigned topic and the essay. (11f) A sample essay title (along with MLA format) A sample essay title on the assigned topic of agreeing or disagreeing with Adam Smith's assessment of politicians in his chapter "Of the Origin and Use of Money" might simply be the following:

Professor Prinsky

English 1101

2 February 2001

12. Writing about an Assigned Reading: Overview The Engl. 1101 essay final and in-class essays are designed to measure reading comprehension as well as writing ability. You may not look back at the assigned reading, which must be read and studied before class begins, nor may you refer to notes you have already taken on the assigned reading. You may, of course, write down on scratch notes after the writing period officially begins all the material from the reading that you recall. Therefore, it is important for your in-class essay on an assigned reading to

(12a) explicitly refer to the author, title, and genre of the assigned reading throughout your own essay, including in your essay title and your first paragraph;

(12b) continually and explicitly refer to as well as analytically assimilate general concepts from the assigned reading, making clear that this material is drawn from the assigned reading; and

(12c) continually and explicitly refer to as well as analytically assimilate illustrations, specifics, and details from the assigned reading, making clear that this material is drawn from the assigned reading. Explicit reference to and application of the required reading, as per the assigned topic, belongs in every paragraph of the reading-response essay. The first sentence of each paragraph after paragraph 1, page 1, should incorporate (without repetitious reference to author's full name or the title of the required reading) explicit reference to an idea or detail from the required reading, plus application of this material, according to the assigned topic.

The five components that belong in the first paragraph of the reading-response essay: (a) author of the required reading, (b) title of the required reading, (c) genre of the required reading, (d) one-sentence detailed overview of the required reading, and (e) indication of the particular assigned topic and your response to it.  

You must give evidence that you have (1) carefully read and re-read the assigned reading, (2) understood both its general concepts and how specific details were used, and (3) been able to assimilate the general concepts and specific details of the assigned reading to the assigned extemporary essay topic.  (4) Explicit reference to and application of the required reading, as per the assigned topic, belongs in every paragraph of the reading-response essay.   (12d1) Be explicit not vague about use of the assigned reading Don't merely vaguely allude to the assigned reading; keep explicit reference to the author and title (or genre), as well as concepts and details, of the assigned reading. If you are able to remember and use specific, vivid words or terms from the reading, put these in quotation marks and explicitly indicate that they are drawn from the assigned reading. For example, if the assigned reading, say Adam Smith's essay "Of the Origin and Use of Money," has the term (and concept) "adulterated" in it, your essay might have a sentence like: "Today's currency has also been 'adulterated,' to use Adam Smith's term referring to the immoral politics that debased currency and cheated creditors and the public in ancient times." (This would be a later sentence after already referring several times in your essay to both author and title of the assigned reading, and also using the word "essay" to refer to the genre of the assigned reading.) When you cite material from the assigned reading, be sure to explicitly attribute this material to the assigned author or title (or both) of the assigned reading: e.g. (without the quotation marks), "the function of societal coherence attributed by Johnson in Adventurer 67 to the city's world of goods and services" or "'reticulation,' to use Johnson's term in his essay." (12d2) The form and content of the thesis sentence for the reading response essay. In the first paragraph of the reading response essay, the writer should include not only author, title, genre, and main point or subject of the required reading but also the application of the reading in accordance with the assigned topic of the reading response essay. For example, if the required reading was William F. Buckley's essay "Why Don't We Complain?" and the assigned topic was whether the student agreed  that the required reading was still valid thirty years after the publication date of the reading, the thesis sentence ought to be something like the following:
 

William F. Buckley's assertion in his essay 'Why Don't We Complain?" that Americans' feelings of technological and political powerlessness manifest themselves not only in small everyday social affairs but also political action is still true thirty years after the essay's publication date [or "is no longer true thirty years after the essay's publication date"].
 

Note the identification of the author ("William F. Buckley's assertion"), genre ("his essay"), title ("Why Don't We Complain?"), content or subject of the required reading ("Americans' feelings of technological and political powerlessness manifest themselves not only in small everyday social affairs but also political action "), and application ("is still true thirty years after . . . " or "is no longer true thirty years after . . . ").

(12d3) What to do if the required reading enumerates main points or has a certain number of main points. (a) If the required reading gives a numbered list of main points or cites numbers in giving reasons or illustrations (e.g., "the first reason" or "the second illustration"), this information should be cited in the thesis sentence or first paragraph of the reading-response essay. For example, if Bob Cullen's essay "Why Golf?" gives five main reasons why many people have found golf alluring, then either in the thesis sentence or a later sentence in the first paragraph the number five (spelled out) as well as phrase summaries of each point should be included. (b) The first paragraph of the reading-response essay should summarize in one sentence the main points of the reading. In this summary, each point should probably be indicated by more than one word. NOT: Bob Cullen's five main reasons for the allure of golf are money, nature, religion, competition, and humanity.  RATHER: each one of the five points needs for clarity to be expanded to a phrase or short subordinate clause -- what about money, nature, religion, competition, and humanity?

(12e) Giving further evidence of your mastery of the required reading In passing in your essay, refer also to the style, structure (or organization), or other vivid particular of the assigned reading. For example, if an author allots two paragraphs to a comparison and contrast of two extended examples, one example to a paragraph, refer in passing to this structure and technique when citing the two examples in your essay; if the tone of the assigned reading is humorous or ironic, refer in passing to this aspect of its style; if the assigned reading includes a quiz or a list, refer to this particular. (12f) Avoid citing particular paragraph numbers from the required reading in in-class essays Citing particular paragraph numbers may arouse the suspicions of a rater that the prohibition against consultation of the required reading was violated. Further, the Engl. 1101 final essay may very well be too lengthy to allow recollection of exactly in which paragraph, by number, important general points or specific illustrations are located. (12g) Try to use some sort of mnemonic system to memorize and recall major ideas or illustrations from the required reading For example, if an essay about teaching reading says that the best system is to survey, question, read, recite, and review, you might use the mnemonic phrase SQ3R to help you remember the main points. S = survey; Q = question; 3R = read, recite, and review.

(12h) As advised by many composition handbooks, avoid the circumabulatory announcement in the essay's first paragraph of what you are going to do; rather, frame your thesis sentence to convey your and the required reading's main points or subject, which, in fact will not only make your purpose clear but convey specific information without delay (see the "wdy-an" abbreviation in my "Essay Comment Abbreviations and Symbols" as well as the chapter in Prinsky's English 1101 Pamphlet on thesis sentences, first paragraphs, and last paragraphs)

(12i) The special topic sentence for each paragraph after the first paragraph of the reading-response essay The topic sentence of every paragraph after the first paragraph of the reading-response essay should incorporate two components: (1) a reference to some relevant idea or detail from the required  reading, explicitly indicating that the required  reading is being drawn on, and (2) your application of this material from the required  reading to the assigned topic.

13. Special problems in writing about writing. (13a) Genre of the writing. In Engl. 1101, do not call essays "stories"; avoid the redundancy of "nonfiction essay" (use "nonfiction" or "essay," but not both). Other potentially-applicable words for nonfiction, which you should look up in a collegiate dictionary, include "article," "piece," or "selection." If an author, particularly from earlier times, should use a particular term to identify his writing -- e.g., "disquisition" -- by all means use that term, explicitly indicating that the author uses the term in the required reading. However, do not use such archaic terms routinely to refer to all nonfiction writing. (13b) An editor's excerpt versus the author excerpting his or her own work Be careful in your wording to avoid implying that an assigned author has done the selecting or excerpting if the assigned writing is a selection or excerpt. For example, if an excerpt from Emerson's long essay "Nature" was the required reading, referring to "Emerson's excerpt from 'Nature'" or "Emerson's selection from his essay 'Nature'" would give the misleading impression that Emerson did the excerpting or selecting when in fact someone else did the excerpting or selecting. (13c1) Avoiding the mistaken impression that you personally and explicitly have been discussed in the required reading Avoid phrasing that appears to make the required reading discuss you and your personal examples by name. NOT: Just as Johnson points out, Allison and I have had different experiences and we've changed in our own separate ways. RATHER: Johnson's discussion of how persons drift apart applies to Allison's and my drifting apart because of our changing in our own separate ways. (13c2) Explicitly differentiate between illustrations from the reading and your own illustrations. For example, if a required reading discussed why people in the nineteenth century liked certain sports, and the assigned topic was the popularity of sports today compared to the discussion in the required reading, then you must take care to avoid giving the impression that the required reading discusses pro football or pro wrestling, and that these are your examples. Likewise, explicitly indicate which illustrations are drawn from the required reading (e.g., if the author of the required reading was Horace Hutchinson, "Hutchinson notes the popularity of cricket because . . . ") (13d) Treatment of titles (quotation marks, underlining, italics, or nothing) of assigned reading. Look up the treatment of titles in the table of contents and the index in the composition handbook, and repeatedly refer to this information to become comfortable and familiar about when to use quotation marks, underlining (in handwriting) or italics (wordprocessing-printing) or nothing (e.g., for certain works like the Bible). (13e) Use of the apostrophe for the name of the author of the assigned reading. Using "xxx's" rather than "by xxx" is more economical in your essay title and first paragraph and later, when crediting the author of the required reading, but be careful to use the appropriate apostrophe, in the correct place, to show possession. (13f) References to the name of the author of the assigned reading. Both in your essay title and in your first paragraph, you should cite the author's full name (first and last name). Thereafter, cite only the author's last name. Do not use honorifics like "Mr.," "Ms.," or "Dr."; do not use only the author's first name; just use the surname, in all references after the title and first paragraph. (13g) Inclusion of author, title, and genre of the assigned reading. Both in your title and your first paragraph, you should indicate the author (full name), title, and genre of the assigned reading. (13h) Special pronoun reference problem in the first paragraph's thesis sentence referring to author, title, genre, and assigned topic or main idea(s) about the assigned topic. This pronoun reference problem is also a problem later in the essay, when referring to the author of an assigned reading. Avoid "In Adam Smith's 'Of the Origin and Use of Money,' he" or "In Adam Smith's essay, he"; both of these have a pronoun-reference problem, since the author's name has been used as an adjective, and technically, precisely, the pronoun "he" cannot refer back to an adjective. (This problem is discussed in the composition handbook as well.) Solve the problem as follows in your first paragraph: "In his 'Of the Origin and Use of Money,' Adam Smith . . ." or "Adam Smith's essay 'Of the Origin and Use of Money' states . . ."; later on in your essay, after your first reference, use just the author's surname and genre of the required reading in these sorts of sentences -- do not repeat the author's first name or title of the required reading after your first paragraph: "In his essay, Smith . . ." (13i) Special punctuation problems in the first paragraph's thesis sentence referring to author, title, genre, and assigned topic or main idea(s) about the assigned topic. (13i-1) Differentiate between the restrictive and non-restrictive when using a comma to refer to a published work by a writer. NOT: In Samuel Johnson's essay, Adventurer 67, . . . (The very number shows that Johnson wrote more than one essay, so the first comma should be swept out of the way--deleted--to point to this particular essay, one item out of a group); RATHER: In Samuel Johnson's essay Adventurer 67, . . . (13i-2) Place the comma correctly with regard to quotation marks, if these are appropriate for the title of the required reading. NOT: In his essay "A Farewell to Essay Writing", William Hazlitt . . . RATHER: In his essay "A Farewell to Essay Writing," William Hazlitt . . . (13i-3) Use the comma for an introductory prepositional phrase. NOT: In his essay "A Farewell to Essay Writing" William Hazlitt . . . RATHER: In his essay "A Farewell to Essay Writing," William Hazlitt . . . (13j-1) Special grammatical problem--the shifted construction, inconsistent predication, or erroneous grammatical shift in the thesis sentence referring to author, title, genre, and assigned topic. If you begin your sentence with a prepositional phrase, do not shift to a different sentence construction. NOT: In William Hazlitt's essay "A Farewell to Essay Writing" begins with a humorous anecdote. RATHER: William Hazlitt's essay "A Farewell to Essay Writing" begins with a humorous anecdote. OR, RATHER: In his essay "A Farewell to Essay Writing," William Hazlitt begins with a humorous anecdote. (13-j2) Avoid needless repetition in the sentence in the essay's first paragraph that identifies author, title, and genre  NOT: In Bacon's essay "Of Truth," Bacon states . . . . RATHER: In his essay  "Of Truth," Bacon states . . . OR : Bacon states in his essay "Of Truth" . . . . (13k) Verb tense Stick to present tense when referring to written works (Henry David Thoreau says . . . Benjamin Franklin notes . . . ) (one form of writers' immortality is that their works become immortal and timeless, they always are), but use appropriate past tense when referring to real life (Lincoln says in his Gettysburg address that . . . And the casualty rate at the battle of Gettysburg was, indeed, terrible). (13l) Generally, organize your essay by the application of the assigned topic to the required reading, rather than just following the organization of the required reading.  A comparable problem occurs in Engl. 1102 in writing analyses of literary works -- such essays should be organized by the analyst's main ideas rather than point by point or paragraph by paragraph (or for poetry, line by line) of the required reading.  (13m) Topic sentences (usually the first sentence) of the reading-response essay of every paragraph after the first paragraph on the first page should have a certain format and content: sentence 1 of each paragraph after par. 1, page 1, should combine explicitly-indicated reference to a main idea or component of the required reading plus application of the reading according to the assigned topic. (13n) Avoid the wdy-reading and tsb-rep problems of continually referring to the author's full name or full title of the required reading after paragraph 1, page 1  After par. 1, page 1, there is no need to continually repeat the author's full name or the full name of the required reading.  Instead, simply refer to the author by last name (e.g., "as Bacon says") or use shorthand to refer to the required reading (e.g., "as asserted in the reading" or as "asserted in Bacon's essay").

14. Manuscript form (a) MLA format Use MLA format, as shown in pp. 760-763 of SFHW. (b) Handwritten essays(b1) Pen Use pen in handwritten essays; essays written in pencil are not acceptable either on the Engl. 1101 final essay or the RTP essay. Crossouts and arrows are acceptable; see the back endpapers of SFHW for editing symbols. (b2) Both sides of each sheet of paper Use both sides of each sheet of paper, unless your pen or paper cause serious bleed-through. The RTP essay requires use of both sides of each sheet of paper. The back of the first sheet becomes page 2; the front of the second sheet becomes page three, and so on. (b3) Down to the last line Write down to the last line of each sheet of lined paper; some graders, under time pressure, may not realize the essay continues on the back of the sheet if the writing doesn't continue to the bottom of tghe page. (b4) Single space Single space; that is, do not skip lines (and do not skip lines between paragraphs). Single-spacing is required on the RTP essay. (c) Wordprocessed essays Impromptu essays that are wordprocessed, if you can get access to a computer and printer, should adhere to MLA format, including the wordprocessed requirements of double spacing and use of just one side of each sheet of paper. Handwritten pen corrections are acceptable on wordprocessed essays. (d) Special difference on the Engl. 1101 final essay To help eliminate possible bias by the other two graders of each Engl. 1101 final essay, on this essay, the essay-writer's name is to be eliminated, with just the student number used. Likewise, all references to the particular Engl. 1101 teacher are to be eliminated.

15. Other Requirements for the In-Class or Impromptu or Extemporary Essay on an Assigned Topic on a Required Reading. (a) Read, re-read, and study the required reading (b) The required reading or any notes taken on it prior to the start of the writing period may not be looked at during the writing of the essay, so the required reading must be carefully read, re-read, and studied beforehand.  See section 12, above.  (c) Handwritten or wordprocessed In-Class, impromptu, or extemporary essays may be handwritten (see sec. 15 above for further requirements on handwritten essays) or wordprocessed, if a computer can be accessed during the allotted writing period (see sec. 15 above for further requirements on wordprocessed essays). (d) Bring diskette and save to diskette for in-class, impromptu, or extemporary essays On days an in-class essay is to be done, be sure to bring a diskette so that the impromptu essay, due by the end of the period, can be saved to disk and printed out -- and also, later, can be reprinted and handwritten proofreading corrections made on the reprint. (e) Dictionary use A dictionary may be used on all in-class, impromptu, or extemporary essays -- just as it may be on the Engl. 1101 essay final or the RTP essay. (f) The composition handbook may not be used during an in-class essay.  (g) On the first couple of in-class essays, Norm's Notes on the Reading-Response Essay may be used; thereafter, this pamphlet may not be used during the in-class writing period.

16. Two Fatal Errors for the Reading Response Essay(16a) Showing in the reading-response essay that the whole point or main point or a main point of the required reading was not understood  (16a1) For example, if a required reading was an analysis of the effects of popular music on youth, and the author indicated in the essay that research showed that the lyrics in popular music did not affect the behavior of young people because most of them did not really pay attention to the lyrics, a reading-response essay writer would cause raters to question the reading-response essay writer's reading comprehension if that writer wrote "I agree with warning labels on music CD's, since Lorraine Prinsky's article shows the bad effects that the lyrics of popular music have on young people." (16a2) Another related fatal error is mistaking a required-reading author's analysis or reportage or argument against an idea  with advocacy of the idea.  For example, if the author of a required reading reported that some modern psychologists had gathered experimental evidence that romantic love was based on a combination of biochemistry and socialization, a reading-response essayist would make a serious mistake to say that the author of the required reading advocated that this was true or should be true about romantic love.  (16b) Not showing familiarity with the overall structure and main illustrations or examples of the required reading William F. Buckley's essay "Why Don't We Complain?" introduces five examples of situations (a sweltering car on a commuter train; a movie theater with the picture just out of focus; a coffee shop, where the waitress repeatedly ignores Buckley's request to bring his milk for the first part of his breakfast; an airplane with a stewardess who won't take up Buckley's lunch tray so that he can get more paper for the essay he is typing; a sky shop with a nonattentive clerk) when ordinary Americans should but do not complain, and then connects these to problems of political unassertiveness and technological helplessness in modern American society. A reading-response essay that did not explicitly indicate that the required reading, if it was the Buckley essay, used five main illustrations of timidity, plus brief identification (even in just one sentece) of what these illustrations were, as well as how Buckley connected them to larger problems of modern American society, would cause raters to question the reading-response essay writer's reading comprehension and retention of the required reading.

17. Special Requirements for the Out-of-Class Wordprocessed Essays  (17a1) Parenthetical documentation For both out-of-class, wordprocessed essays, parenthetical documentation should be used--that is, reference to particulars of the assigned reading, or quotations, should be parenthetically documented by simply noting the paragraph number in parenthesis, preceded by the abbreviation for paragraph; your own sentence should refer to the particular author of the reading, which obviates the need to refer to the author in the documenting parenthesis. An example would be the following:

Adam Smith reads a moral lesson in the debasement of currency by monarchs (par. 16).

(17a2) Careful placement of the parenthetical documentation to differentiate your thought or example from the thought or example of the required reading or written source An example would be the following:

Unlike Hutchinson, who states that rugged sports like football will never be popular, I believe that football has become the world's most popular sport (par. 5).

This example seems to suggest that the required reading -- Hutchinson -- has discussed the reading-response essayist personally.  The documentation should be placed between popular and the comma -- otherwise, the documentation seems to include the writer of the essay in the required reading or written source by Hutchinson. (17b) Works Cited page for the second out-of-class essay For the second out-of-class essay, which requires use of not only the required reading but also some research sources, documentation of the secondary sources within the essay, as well as a Works Cited page is required. Study Chs. 46 (acknowledging sources) and 48 (using MLA documentation) of SFHW6 on how this is done, and how your paper should look. Many students should but do not pay attention to these chapters, including the sample research paper in Ch. 48.

18. Further special problems in writing about writing, especially for out-of-class essays when consultation of the text or book is allowed (18a) Don't organize your paper by following the required reading sentence by sentence and paragraph by paragraph Organize your paper by larger, logical units and do not slavishly follow the organization of the required reading in too-small units (sentences and each paragraph). (18b) Don't overquote written sources Overquoting indicates failure to assimilate material; rather, summarize and condense and apply the written sources where possible. Reserve quotation for short passages (perhaps a phrase, sentence, or couple of sentences) that are especially vivid or cannot be summarized and condensed. (18c) Always provide an explanatory lead-in for a quotation, and embed the quotation in your own sentence that has this lead in. Punctuate appropriately: study the comments in the composition handbook on how to handle the mechanics of quotation NOT: "I came, I saw, I conquered." This was what Julius Caesar wrote when . . . RATHER: Julius Caesar says of his conquest that "I came, I saw, I conquered" (par. 32). OR, RATHER: Julius Caesar says of his conquest: "I came, I saw, I conquered" (par. 32). (18d) When quoting, make sure the grammar of the quoted material matches the grammar of your sentences that contains this quoted material (18e) Provide some sense of context for your quotation; indicate roughly where in the work (beginning, first third, middle, etc.) it comes and more importantly what is being discussed in the work at that point (18f) Subordinate noting exactly where in the work something is said to parenthetical documentation; emphasize the content or meaning of the quoted matter or illustration, not its exact location NOT: In par. 32, Julius Caesar indicates his masterful generalship. RATHER: Julius Caesar indicates his masterful generalship in his statement "I came, I saw, I conquered" (par. 32) by making the three actions (coming, seeing, conquering) equal each other and flow into each other. He does this through the figure of speech (or grammar) asyndeton. (18g) Use ellipsis marks -- that is ellipses (. . . ) -- only for material omitted somewhere in the middle of a quotation; do not use ellipses for material omitted at the beginning or at the end of the quotation (study the composition handbook on this matter) When cutting into written material, do not use ellipses. NOT: Kowinski notes that ". . . Malls teach both good and bad things . . . " (37). RATHER: Kowinski notes that "Malls teach both good and bad things" (37). [This is for written material that does not have paragraph numbers and must be cited by page number instead.] (18h) Fatal flaw for the documented paper The fatal flaw for the assigned documented paper is failure to use parenthetical documentation within the paper, as well as including a proper Works Cited page.

19. Further notes on the out-of-class reading response essay. Remember that sections 11-13 and 16 apply to the out-of-class reading response essay, as well as to the in-class reading-response essay, not just sections 17-18.