Writing Good Responses to Literature

English 9Mrs. Gatz

When writing responses to literature, always do the following:

• Include the author and title in your response• Incorporate the question into your response• Introduce quotes properly• Use textual evidence (i.e. quotes)• Use proper MLA citation• Finish your response by summarizing your

thoughts• Avoid using the word “I”

So let’s take these one at a time using the following question from “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant.

Huh?

Question: How does Madame Loisel change as a result of her

experiences?

Remember to…

• Include the author and title in your response

Ex. In the short story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant…

Title

Author

Remember to…

• Incorporate the question into your response

Ex. In the short story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, Madame Loisel changes greatly...

How does she change? Greatly, of course.

Remember to…

• Introduce quotes properly

Ex. In the short story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, Madame Loisel changes greatly. In the beginning of the story, the narrator explains that she,…

Remember to…

• Use textual evidence (i.e. quotes)

Ex. In the short story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, Madame Loisel changes greatly. In the beginning of the story, the narrator explains that she, “longed to please, be envied, be fascinating, and sought after”

*Pay attention to how the punctuation is placed.

Quotes and Punctuation

• When using a quote from a text, the quote is always preceded by a comma (,) and quotation marks (“). Add another set of quotations at the end of the quote. Like this:

, “longed to please, be envied, be fascinating, and sought after”Follow that up with parentheses () and THEN the end mark.

, “longed to please, be envied, be fascinating, and sought after” (28).

That’s called MLA In-text citation

• Use proper MLA citation

Ex. In the short story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, Madame Loisel changes greatly. In the beginning of the story, the narrator explains that she, “longed to please, be envied, be fascinating, and sought after” (28).

Let’s try that again.(Keep in mind you want your response to

actually answer the question, as well as support your ideas).

Ex. In the short story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, Madame Loisel changes greatly. In the beginning of the story, the narrator explains that she, “longed to please, be envied, be fascinating, and sought after” (28). Later in the story, however, she has undergone a great change. The narrator says that even after her life has changed so drastically, “She played her part…with sudden heroism” (33).

And finally…

• Finish your response by summarizing your thoughts

Ex. In the short story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, Madame Loisel changes greatly. In the beginning of the story, the narrator explains that she, “longed to please, be envied, be fascinating, and sought after” (28). Later in the story, however, she has undergone a great change. The narrator says that even after her life has changed so drastically, “She played her part…with sudden heroism” (33). This shows that Madame Loisel has become a braver, less shallow individual.

Okay, NOW finally…

• Avoid using the word “I” (Don’t be selfish. It’s not always about “you”).

Ex. In the short story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, Madame Loisel changes greatly. In the beginning of the story, the narrator explains that she, “longed to please, be envied, be fascinating, and sought after” (28). Later in the story, however, she has undergone a great change. The narrator says that even after her life has changed so drastically, “She played her part…with sudden heroism” (33). This shows that Madame Loisel has become a braver, less shallow individual.

Now you try.

• Answer the question following each of the Good Response Guidelines.

Question: What three character traits can be used to describe Madame Loisel at the beginning of “The Necklace”? Support your thoughts with textual evidence.

Good Response Guidelines• Include the author and title in your response• Incorporate the question into your response• Introduce quotes properly• Use textual evidence (i.e. quotes)• Use proper MLA citation• Finish your response by summarizing your thoughts• Avoid using the word “I”