Tips On Writing A Good Response Paper

ADVERTISEMENT

Tips on Writing a Good Response Paper
Shane Hamilton
The attached example response paper shows just one way of doing a response paper. My
approach in this example was to take my own personal experience of having different ideas
about what technology means to tie the readings together and pose one big question. Other
approaches would be just as good, or even better. For instance, I could have agreed with one
author over another (e.g., "I think Winner is right that technologies can have politics whether
people use them or not, while Cowan is wrong to state that technologies have no politics until
they are put into use within systems, for the following reasons [x,y,z]"). I could have critiqued
the standpoint of the authors (e.g., "It seems that Winner is too pessimistic about the potential for
technological change to bring beneficial social change. MacKenzie's idea of 'negotiation' is more
hopeful, implying that ordinary people can direct technological change to fight entrenched
sources of power"). I could have pointed out inconsistencies in the material (e.g., "All the authors
take pains to define 'technology,' but when they use terms like 'large-scale' or 'nature,' they are
much more lax"). Any approach you wish to take is fine, as long as it demonstrates your
comprehension of the material and your ability to think critically about it, and takes up 1 to 2
pages of double-spaced, 12pt text. Good response papers will help you become a better reader
and writer, and they will also help make discussions lively and focused. Since you're asking the
questions, we'll be talking about what you think is most interesting in the course materials.
To write a really good response paper, keep in mind the following:
• When you're doing the reading, take notes. Highlighting is NOT a good way to take
notes. You should write, on a separate piece of paper, paraphrases of the author's key
arguments as well as your own thoughts about the reading. These notes will not only
help you write good responses, but will really help you with the final exam. (Trust me
on this one.)
• Don't waste space summarizing the authors' arguments. It is very important that you
demonstrate that you understand what the author is trying to communicate, but you
can do this very briefly. The most important part of a response paper is your
response—that is, what did you think of these readings? What did you find
interesting, wrong-headed, surprising, or thought-provoking about the readings?
• Be specific. Here's a bad sentence: "One of the authors thinks that the meaning of
technology is socially constructed." Here's a good sentence: "Donald MacKenzie
argues that people have different ideas about what is valuable about particular
technologies like supercomputers."
• Feel free to include personal experiences, but only if they are relevant to the readings.
You might have had a wonderful time on your trip to New Zealand over winter break,
but if you cannot connect that experience to the coursework in a meaningful way, it
doesn't belong in your response paper. If it does, though, go for it!
• Ask questions, even if you don't know the answers!!! Something in the readings that
does not make sense to you may not make sense to anyone else either. If you put the
question in your response, we can have a good discussion about it in class.
• Be creative! This may be the only class you have this semester where you get the
chance to think about things you've never thought about before. Let your mind stretch
itself out, and writing will be easy and fun for you.

ADVERTISEMENT

00 votes

Related Articles

Related forms

Related Categories

Parent category: Education
Go