BRIDGING PROGRAM

PRESENTING TO THE CLASS OF 2021/2022

UNIVERSITAS ISLAM INDONESIA
 S T U DY SKILLS A N D A C A D E M I C W R I T I N G

CHAPTER 05

SUB CHAPTER WRITING A

Response Paper RESPONSE PAPER
Grammar Corner 1
Part of Speech
Response Paper
Structure
Introduction
Body Paragraph
Conclusion
Grammar Corner 2 Objectives
Sentence Structure In this chapter, you will learn about parts of speech and
Unity and Coherence types of sentence structure, in order to be able to write a
united and cohesive response paper from one of the
Activities
provided articles in the previous chapter as the final
Final Assessment assessment for this semester.
B R I D GING PRO G R A M
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RESPONSE PAPER
Definition
A response paper is one of the academic writings which in belong in the essay type. The purpose of
a response paper is to convey the writer’s response or reaction after he/she read a certain material,
either article, journal, or book chapter. Response paper is not merely a material review or
summary; it is more than that.

Writing a response paper is not only writing what the writer understands after reading the material,
but the writer should give themselves time to deeply understand and connect to the subject, then
relate it with background knowledge and personal experiences. Therefore, the writer should not
only review what the author of the reading material tries to convey but also the write needs to
convey their own ideas, values, opinion regarding the material, so it is the combination of both. The
2 content of a response paper is more likely a critical focused opinion from the writer towards the
reading material.

You should not write your response essay only in sentences like “I really liked” or “The author tells
of how he went to New York and then moved to Spain”. It should like, “The idea that the author
brought was amazing, because it is the first time I ever experience story like that.”

There are 3 things you should keep in mind when you are about
to write a response paper.

Is there any meaning which author tried to tell?

What is my personal point of view towards the text?

How has the text affected my life and daily interaction?

DOs
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Read the text more than once so you can understand

and react to it better.
Use your background knowledge that related with the
reading and its context, so you can start your reaction
from there.

DON'Ts

Skim and Scan. It will be hard for you to find the

important topics or ideas.
Simply say “I like/don’t like it.”or “It’s boring.”, etc. If you
want to highlight a statement, give evidence to justify
your feeling/reaction.
Summarize, because it is personal review or critics, not
overview of the plot/the discussion of the text.
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Response Paper Sample

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This sample is taken from Custom Essay Writing Services.com

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5 STEPS TO WRITE A RESPONSE PAPER

Do Pre-Writing Activities
Make note! While you are reading your material, highlight and jot down the important
parts from it. DON’T make a summary! You may write your opinion or ideas along
the way inside your notes. These important parts can help you later as a reminder of
the topic (or ideas, value etc) that you got from the reading.

Decide on a Topic / an Idea

4 The next step is brainstorming a topic on which you want to focus your paper, based
on your reading result. REMEMBER! This is not the topic of your reading! But the
topic arises after you read the text. The topic can be varied depends on your
reaction towards your reading material. It can be an idea or value or a reality which
mesmerized you. To help you in deciding a topic, you can use these questions:

What was the important idea/topic/highlight from the text?

What was the memorable idea/topic/highlight from the text?
How is my reaction toward the text?
Is there anything that incomprehensible from the text?

Start with an Introductory Paragraph

"Make your title precise and concise, because this is not a report or summary,
which usually has a long title."

An introduction paragraph is important because it contains the core information

which you will elaborate on as the whole essay. In the introductory paragraph, you
need to write the information about the text that you want to discuss, the author’s
name and the most important thing is, your core topic, which is called the thesis
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statement.

Continue to the Core (Body Paragraph)

The next paragraph is the body paragraph. Body paragraph in a response paper is
similar to other essays, it is usually one or more paragraphs. In this part of the paper,
you need to discuss and elaborate on the topics that you already mention (introduce)
in the introduction paragraph. If you have 2 different topics, write them in 2 different
paragraphs, so the readers can understand better about your focus. However, you
don’t need to use headings for this part, since your topic sentence is already
enough to introduce your topic (in each body paragraph).

End it with Conclusion Paragraph

Every essay needs a good ending, so the last paragraph of your response paper
should be a conclusion. It tells brief about your topics which you already wrote in the
body paragraphs. The function of a conclusion is to emphasize as well as to
remind the readers about the focus of your paper or essay.
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VERB
It is actually one part of the predicate in a Grammar
Corner
sentence. There are several types of verbs:

Basic verb (swim, play, eat, drink, walk)

Modal verb (must, can, should, may, could,
would)
Helping verbs (do, does, did)
parts of speech
Auxiliary verbs (is, am, are, was, were, be)

PRONOUN NOUN
It is a word to replace Nouns. These are several It is a word to show things, places, names,
types of common pronouns. people, ideas. Noun has two types: 5
Subject Pronoun: I, you, they, we, he, she, & Countable (can be counted without
it measurements): 2 apples, 3 people, etc.
Object Pronoun: me, you, them, us, him, Uncountable (cannot be counted without
her, & it. measurement): salt - a pinch of salt, sugar -
Possessive Pronoun: my, your, his her, their, a teaspoon of sugar, milk - a box of milk,
our, its, mine, yours, theirs, ours, his, hers, its etc.
Interrogative: Who, What, Where, How,
When, Why
Possessive Pronoun: my (mine), your (yours), their (theirs), our (ours), his (his), her (hers), its (its).

ADVERB ADJECTIVE
It has the function to help or modify verbs, It is used to describe the quality of things. For
adjectives or other adverbs. There are five types of example:
adverbs: big, small, rich, poor, fast, slow, clean, dirty,
Adv. of Manner (quickly, happily, quickly, well) quick, amazing, interesting, etc.
Adv. of Degree (almost, enough, hardly, just) The adjective has two types of degrees:
Adv. of Frequency (again, always, seldom, Comparative - more ... / ...-er (more
rarely) expensive, cleaner, faster, more handsome)
Adv. of Place (above, anywhere, inside, Superlative - the most ... / the ...-est (the
everywhere, here, there). DIFFERENT with most famous, the biggest, the slowest, the
Preposition! most amazing)

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Adv. of Time (yesterday, today, now, later,
recently)

PReposition determiner
It is a word to link one part of speech to another, It is a word to limit or "determine" nouns.
for example, to link a verb to a noun. Examples of determiners:
Examples of prepositions: a, an, the, some, many
to, on, in, at, below, above, under, above,
across from, inside, outside, beside, near, etc. Example: Lisa sings a song in the party.
For example: My house is across from the park.

conjunction interjection
It is a word to links words, clauses, phrases or It is a word, which in form of short
sentences. exclamation, sometimes inserted into a
Examples of conjunction sentence.
and, but, or, so, yet, though, when, while, Examples of interjection
for, nor. ouch!, hi!, oh! well.
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Response Paper Structure Activity
The structure of a response paper for your final assessment is as followed: 1
Introduction paragraph
Introducing the article which has been read and stating the focus of your response.

Body paragraph(s)
Explaining and elaborating one or several specific issues which are brought up for discussion.

Conclusion paragraph
Summarizing the response / the reaction towards the text and give some conclusion or
closing statement.
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Reference list
Collecting the list of sources that you use in your paper as evidence or supporting details to
support your opinion/reaction. It should be written by using APA Referencing System 7th
Edition.

For your final assessment, you will write a response paper by choosing one of the articles
provided below. The articles should have been shared from the previous chapter, Reading For
Writing.

Social involvements in technological advances. (Technology Advancement)

Can medical care exist without plastic? (Environment)
Preparing to live: Why good health means more than cheating death.
(Health and Disease)
Our education system is losing relevance. Here's how to unleash its
potential. (Education)
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A. Introduction Paragraph
The introduction of a response paper contains information regarding the text to which the writer
what to respond. However, it is not a full summary. Rather, it is the highlight of the topic or the
problem from the text which triggers the writer (you) to write. The main components in writing an
Introduction paragraph are:
Title of the reading text and the author’s name.
The highlight the reading text, which focuses on the core idea that triggers you to write this
reaction/response paper. You can also write short summary of the reading text, but only the
part related to your chosen topic, so you don’t summarize from beginning to end. Keep in mind
these two questions while writing your introduction paragraph.
“What does the writer tell or not tell you?”
“What triggers you after reading the text?”
Last but not least is the thesis statement. A thesis statement is basically the main idea of
your whole paragraph. The thesis statement in a response paper has the function to state your
reaction towards the text that you want to write about. It can contain your new ideas, your
belief, or even your point of view that you will elaborate on in the body paragraph later. The
thesis statement should be the last sentence in your introduction paragraph.
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Examples of Introduction paragraph
Here is the example of an introduction paragraph from a response paper including the
explanation of the right side.

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It can be seen from the green box that the writer mentioned the book's and the author's
information. Then, the blue box showed the focus which the writer wanted to respond or react to
based on the topic of the book. The writer is concerned about the incompleteness point of view of
the author in writing the book. Therefore, the writer proposed a specific focus which was about the
contribution of social factors as his thesis statement in the pink box.

In conclusion, the introduction paragraph of a response paper is not totally a summary, but the
highlights of the ideas which wanted to be elaborated in the later paragraph.

sentence structures
Grammar There are 4 types of sentence structures in English.They can

Corner
be used in any kind of tenses (Past, Present, Future, etc) and
either active or passive sentences. However, in this module,
you will learn these 3 types: Simple, Compound and
Complex.

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Simple Sentence
It contains one independent clause, which consists of a subject and verb agreement. The sense
of this sentence is whole thought.
For example: Of course, Mr. Rigman does not mention any of these factors in his book.

compound Sentence
It contains two independent clauses (or more) which combined with coordinating conjunction,
comma, or semicolon.
Coordinating Conjunction: FANBOYS (For, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
F - For reasons
A - And: addition/next action
N - Nor: not one or the other
B - But: contrasting and unexpected results
O - Or: choices and conditions
Y - Yet: contrasting and unexpected results
S - So: actions taken
For example, Learning a foreign language should be accompanied by learning the culture, so it
will not create misunderstanding.
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complex Sentence
It is a type of sentence, which consists of at least one dependent clause and at least one
independent clause. These clauses then combine with subordinating conjunction relative
pronouns. Example of subordinating conjunction:
after, although, as, because, before, how, if, once, since, then, that, though, till, until,
when, where, whether, while.
For example (dependent clause in italic+bold, while independent clause only in bold):

Despite his arguments that policy changes have contributed to most of the decline of the
south, I believe that his lack of recognition of the contribution of social factors makes
this book highly unbelievable.

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Activity
B. Body Paragraph
2
In a response paper, the body paragraph contains your core reaction/response from
the reading text. It can be about an idea, topic, opinion that you feel, know, and
experience. After that, you need to convey them to your writing. The content of response
paper is like personal review, so your feeling and background knowledge really matters
here. In the body paragraph, you may take any examples or memorable lines or opinions
from the text, to emphasize your argument/opinion. The structure of body paragraph is
similar to general paragraph, while for the number of the paragraph it usually from 2 until
3 paragraphs (depending on the instruction):

Topic sentence
Topic sentence(s) is where the main idea is located in a paragraph. Usually, a topic sentence takes
the first sentence of a paragraph. However, in some structures, it can be the last sentence as well. In the
body paragraph of a response paper, the topic sentence is derived from the idea mentioned in the
Thesis statement.

Supporting details
Supporting Details provide information to clarify, prove, or explain the main idea. These details
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demonstrate the validity of the main idea. They often list parts, aspects, steps, or examples of the main
idea. Or sometimes they may list the causes of it, effects from it, or ways in which it shows itself to be
true. In response paper, while writing the body paragraph, you can use other sources (different from the
original reading text, but with similar topics) to help you to build and support your opinion, such as
example, evident, or facts. This is also part of supporting details. Do not forget to write your additional
sources in the reference list at the end of your essay.

In writing the body paragraph, you might want to consider these questions in mind to help to gather
ideas to write.

What do you think about the ideas in the article? Agree or

disagree? Why?
How is the work related to problems in our present-day world?
How is the material related to your life, experiences, feelings
and ideas?
Did the work increase your understanding of a particular issue?
Did it change your perspective in any way?
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In answering the questions above, don’t be shy to express your ideas freely and subjectively.
Here are some useful phrases that you can use for writing your response paper body
paragraph.

I felt that
In my opinion
The reader can conclude that
The author seems to
I did not like
This aspect didn't work for me because
The images seemed to
I was especially moved by
I didn't understand the connection between
It was clear that the artist was trying to
The soundtrack seemed too
My favourite part was... because, 9
The author was [was not] successful in making me feel

Examples of Body paragraph

Here is the example of the body paragraph of The Whisper of Names Response Paper. Look at the
colorful boxes to identify each part carefully.

Here is the example of the body paragraph of The Whisper of Names Response Paper. Look at the
colourful boxes to identify each part carefully. The red box has the function to remind the reader
what the main point which the writer wanted to react upon. Then, in the yellow box, the writer

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stated the topic sentence of the paragraph, which is the reaction or response towards the previous
highlight. The grey box contained the supporting details which support the topic sentence, by having
evidence.

C. Conclusion Paragraph
The conclusion paragraph in a response paper has the function to cite back the topic sentence(s) in
the body paragraph(s). There should be no new ideas because the function of a conclusion is to
emphasize as well as to remind the readers about the focus of your paper or essay.

Examples of Conclusion paragraph

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In the example of the conclusion paragraph above, it can be seen from the pink box, the writer
summarized the main points of his response towards the book and the author. While in the
purple box, the writer tried to emphasize his point why he had such a reaction towards the
author and the book, which is disagreement because the book did not completely cover the
factors of the declining economy in the South.

Now, it is time for you to start making the outline of your response paper along with the thesis
statement. You can start doing Activity 3.

Activity
Unity and Coherence 3
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Unity
Unity in a paragraph means that the entire paragraph should focus on one single idea. The
supporting details should explain the main idea. The concluding sentence should end the
paragraph with the same idea. Thus, a unified paragraph presents a thought, supports it with
adequate details and completes it with a conclusion. These samples are taken from
American.edu

Example 1 (without unity)

Robert Bee wrote, “The Zeeland massacre illustrates the need for greater control and vigilance.”
This is related to the thesis. Some 20,000 people disappeared from the villages. Financial
mishandling can lead to great misfortune. Corruption in the government was exposed repeatedly
to no avail. A police force, under orders to eliminate suspected terrorists, grabbed political
dissidents and their families.

Example 2 (unified)
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The pogrom of May 3, 1987 exemplifies how foreign aid funds were appropriated for repressive
rather than social development purposes. On that day, some 20,000 people were abducted from
villages in the countryside, charged as traitors and summarily executed. Then governor-for-life
Zeely Zeelafsun had recently used $5 billion in aid to create a standing paramilitary police force.
Without some restrictive control over the aid, human rights organizations were unable to prevent
the buildup and unleashing of this disaster. Robert Bee, the director of the Development as
Freedom Foundation wrote, “The Zeeland massacre illustrates the need for greater control and
vigilance.

Can you spot the difference

between the two examples?
Discuss with your classmates!
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Table of Transitional Signal
Coordina- Subordina-
Meaning/ Transition Conjunctive
ting ting Others
Function Phrase Adverbs
Conjunction Conjunction

Furthermore
For Moreover Another
Additional In addition and An additon
Besides
idea Also
Too
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For However Although In spite of

In contrast Instead but
Opposite Though (+noun)
On the other Still yet
or contrast Even though Despite
hand Nonetheless
idea Whereas (+noun)
Nevertheless While

First The first

Secind The
For List in Third second
order Nest, Last Lastly
Finally

An example
For an (+noun)
For an
example Such as
example
For instance (+noun)

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Accordingly Therefore
For Result
or As a result Consequently
As a Hence
Conclusion
consequences Thus
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Coherence
If unity concerns about the whole idea in a paragraph which must focus on one single idea,
coherence is showing the connection among ideas in the paragraph. It brings about a rationale
in the arrangement of the ideas which are introduced either in the chronological order or in the
order of importance. Besides, transitions that compare, contrast, illustrate, add or show cause
and effect build logical bridges. The ideas, thus expressed in the paragraph, flow smoothly from
one to the other in a logical sequence. This helps the reader to understand the paragraph.
Coherence can be shown with conjunctions or transitional signal (See Table of Transitional
Signal)

Example
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Example 1 - Chronological sequence (transition in bold)
Topic sentence: Our journey was filled with misfortune and luck.

After the car broke, we had to walk several miles. Having eaten little for lunch, we
were soon wearied. While we wanted to continue toward town, we had to rest. It
was at that moment that a trucker offered us a ride.

Example 2 - Body paragraph Example

In the Whisper of Names, Rigman suggests the policy changes favoring imported
goods have devastated the economy of the south. However, he fails to mention that
much of the wealth of the south had been held in land-owning prosperous families
who had benefited from the slave trade and subsequent cotton and tobacco industries.
Throughout the early 20th century, these families continues to prosper under
sharecropping laws.

Activity
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A.P.A REFERENCING SYSTEM 4a&4b

In-text Citation
When writing your work, you need to cite your source, in order to provide information about the author's
work which you used in your writing. While reference is the full information of the sources that you use to
support your writing. The aim of writing in-text citation and reference in your academic writing is to
acknowledge other people's work (journals, book, website article, etc) which you use to support your
academic writing.

In-text citation has the function to help

readers to locate the sources'
information on the reference list of your
writing.
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In A.P.A style of referencing, in-text citation usually consists of surname of the author(s) and year of the
source being published. This is the basic format for all sources, but sometimes it can be added with
page number or paragraph number. The source which needs page number to be written in the in-text
citation is usually journal. The symbol for page number is p. for single page number or pp. for multiple
page numbers (APA 7th Ed, 2019).

There are two types of

in-text citation.
Narrative citation and Parenthetical citation.
(APA 7th Ed, 2019, pp. 97-98)

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Example: In-text citation

The narrative (direct) citation is a citation
where the author's name is written within the text
and not inside parentheses {}.

For example: While for the parenthetical (indirect) citation,

According to Chadwick (2019), " A wolverine doesn't the source's information is written within the
seem like a reasonable beast, for its acts too tough parentheses {} and usually it is at the end of the
and brazen for its size." sentence before full stop.

For example
For centuries wolverines were defined not only as
greedy, god-awful smelling, and eerily wily and elusive
but also as foul-tempered (Chadwick, 2019, p. 116).

Reference

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While in the reference list, the full information should be provided, such as author's name, year
publication, the title of the work, date of retrieval and the URL ( if your source is in the form of a
website or online source). In addition, a reference list should be written based on the alphabetical
order of the author's last name (surname), not first name (APA 7th Ed, 2019). In this semester, you
will write APA Reference List based on A.P.A Referencing System 7th Edition.

Note:
For writing the reference list,
different sources have
different format, so as writer
you should pay attention to
the sources that you have
taken to be part of your
academic writing.
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Format and Example of Referencing style
In writing a reference for your sources, you need to remember 4 main elements.

Author's Full Name (Who)

Copyright Year / Published Year (When)
Title (What)
Source (Where)

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Activity
5
This is the example of writing the reference for Journal Article
(https://guides.douglascollege.ca/APA-7/FourElements)
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As mentioned previously, in this semester you are using APA Referencing System 7th Edition. There will
be PDF of it which your lecturer will share or you can open this link to see how in-text citation and
reference are written in different sources.

REMEMBER! Different sources have different format to write, so it is

strongly suggested if you check the guide book or the website
carefully as attached below.

https://guides.douglascollege.ca/APA-7/Welcome
Final
Assessment
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Reference List
American University, Academic SUpport Center, Writing Lab. (2009). Retrieved July, 15 2021
from https://www.american.edu/provost/academic-access/upload/paragraph-unity-and
-coherence.pdf)

A.P.A. (2019). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 7th Edition. American
Psychological Association.

APA Citation Style Guide (7th ed): Welcome. Retrieved September 1, 2021 from
https://guides.douglascollege.ca/APA-7/Welcome

APA Citation Style Guide (7th ed): Four Elements of References. Retrieved September 1, 2021
from https://guides.douglascollege.ca/APA-7/FourElements) 15
Chadwick, D.H. (2019, August). The Survivors. National Geographics. 8.116.

Custom Essay Writing Services (2020). Example of Response paper. Retrieved July 25, 2021 from
https://customessaywritingservices.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/writing-
a-reaction-paper-sample.png

Duke Writing Studio. (n.d.). Response Paper. Retrieved August 16, 2021from
https://twp.duke.edu/sites/twp.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/response paper.
original.pdf

Momenterix Academic. (August 25, 2015). Writing A Response paper.[Video]. Youtube.

https://youtu.be/8ffBS2_KbhE

Nerdify. (2019, January 24). Response Paper Guide to Write a Powerful Response. Retrieved
August 15, 2021 from https://nerdify.medium.com/response-paper-guide-for-students-
to-write-a-powerful-response-1e12a996fcfc#09f7)

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