Response to a Short Story

START by reading the assigned TASK: response assignment, rubric & checklist

Step 1. Review all four (4) short stories we read as a class and choose the story on which you think you can write the best response.

Step 2. Review your notes on this story, maybe even re-read the story as a refresher. Add onto your response plan. You can also look at these websites to round out your understanding of that text. Consider this research - do not plagiarize.

• Sandra Cisneros' "Linoleum Roses"
• James Thurber's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"  confirm what we said as a class here, review analyses here
• Isak Dinesen's  "The Blue Jar" confirm what we said as a class here
• ​Ernest Hemingway's  "Hills Like White Elephants" confirm what we said as a class here, review analyses here 

Step 3. Start drafting the response.

• Here is a template for rough drafting that you can type into (PDF version here for handwriting or consulting)
• Here is the rough draft model with template that I refer to in the instructional videos: compare the okay version and the stronger version ​​​​​​​
• Here are the Literary Lenses as a reminder, you do need to use one.
• This is a resource for different ways to begin a paper - the Leads handout
• Watch these instructional videos to write your response:

Step 4. Peer- and self-review

• On the typed, MLA formatted full draft, get at least two (2) peers to give you feedback. Focus on the criteria for the task.
• Go over all the feedback and make your own notes on your draft for revision.
• See my peer-reviewed and self-annotated version

Step 5. Revise and polish the good copy. Making sure all your MLA formatting and citation rules are being followed: 

• Sauve MLA formatting ​video tutorial AND/OR ​OWL Purdue Online Writing Lab: MLA formatting guide
• Sauve MLA citation handout for formatting your quotations, video tutorial, AND/OR see OWL Purdue Online Writing Lab: MLA citation guide
• See my final GC response model, revised, properly formatted and titled

​Step 6. Submit as follows:

• In the Teams assignment for the response, upload the good copy only as a Word document ​

AND

• Submit the printed good copy stapled on top of the rough draft that was peer-reviewed, and the notesheet to that story only (or the intro for "Linoleum Roses"), and staple the checklist/rubric last.