Step-by-Step Guide to Writing a Great Reading Response Paper
*Ahamed Monsur*
*Writer and Owner of this Blog*
Depending on your feelings towards the English language and the study of its literature, the thought of having to write a reading response paper probably fills you with either dread or slightly less dread. But fear not! Writing about what you read isn't as tough as it may sound. Follow our six steps to help get a better handle on producing compelling papers.
Depending on your feelings towards the English language and the study of its literature, the thought of having to write a reading response paper probably fills you with either dread or slightly less dread. But fear not! Writing about what you read isn't as tough as it may sound. Follow our six steps to help get a better handle on producing compelling papers.
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1. Pay close attention to what you're reading.
This
may seem too obvious to even say, but we're saying it anyway. You can't
put together a solid response to something you've read without actually
giving it your full attention. Pore over the text carefully, take your
time. Take notes in the book's margins or on a separate sheet of paper
if you think that will help. In fact, beyond just assisting retention,
taking notes can help you engage your mind with the reading material
early. That makes it easier to craft a response to that material when
you're finally called upon to do so.
2. Find an angle to take with your response.
Don't
just regurgitate plot points or key developments in whatever you read,
or all you're doing is writing a summary. Be critical. Look beneath the
surface to try to discover the mechanisms by which the text you're
reading operates. You can do this whether you're reading fiction or
nonfiction. Ask yourself meta-questions. Why do story elements unfold
the way they do, beyond what's stated? Why did the author structure
things a certain way? How does what you're reading compare and contrast
with other, similar stories? How do the in-text elements of what you've
just consumed relate to the real world outside the text?
3. Craft your angle into an argument.
You've got something unique and interesting to say about what you just read. Now you have to tell your audience why
it's unique and interesting. Your argument forms the heart of your
paper. Take all the observations you made in step two and forge the ones
that most compellingly work together into a pointed claim. Why are your
observations correct, and why do they matter? You've got something to
prove. This is how the real critics do it.
4. Draw up an outline.
This
is especially helpful if you have trouble actually committing your
thoughts to paper and find that your essays tend to meander. Create
broad plans for your work before you actually start writing. Figure out
what you want each paragraph to do. Ensure that every section in your
paper has a place and contributes to your overall argument as
established in step three. You want to avoid extraneous writing as much
as possible; not only does it waste your time, but it risks diverting
your readers' attention. A good basic form to adapt (though obviously
this has to be changed depending on the parameters of your assignment)
is the 5-paragraph response: one introductory paragraph laying out the
goal of your argument, three body paragraphs dedicated to evidence
supporting your argument (one main idea per paragraph) and one
concluding paragraph that sums up your major points and in the end
pushes your argument just a bit more forward, perhaps by bringing to
light one additional point not discussed in your response's body.
5. Provide relevant textual examples.
If
argument forms the backbone of your paper, textual details are the
meat. Make sure you can back up any and all of your assertions with
textual evidence, either from your primary source or from other writings
(if you care to or are made to do additional research). Use expressive
language to make your points, favoring action verbs and active voice. At
the same time, keep an eye on the economy of your language - much as we
discussed in step four, you don't want to inundate readers with too
much extra detail. That means curtailing flowery word usage that doesn't
really accomplish anything and knowing how much evidence you need to
provide to back up your claims.
6. Proofread!
Again, this one seems obvious, but it bears stating. Have you heard the phrase 'writing is rewriting?' That's what this means. Read over your paper, making sure everything flows like you intend it to and that you provide sufficient support for the argument you're making. Check for basic errors like spelling and grammar mistakes as well as more content-based issues like ill-explained terms or flimsy points. Adjust as necessary, turn in your response and repeat. These six steps should give you a simple framework by which to craft great response papers in the future.Make Your Writing Shine: Tips for Perfect Usage
*Ahamed Monsur*
*Writer and Owner of this Blog*
May 24, 2015
Who takes grammar errors
lying down? Not you! Education-Portal.com is here to help you make fewer
writing gaffes in part II of our series on common writing mistakes:
Word usage.
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Which Word is Which?
Earlier this week I talked about homophones,
which are words that sound the same and are therefore commonly misused.
But homophones aren't the only word pairs that tend to trap writers.
Here are a few other common grammatical misunderstandings:
Here's the rule: You use 'fewer' with count nouns and 'less' with mass nouns. Wait, wait - what's a count noun and a mass noun? That's surprisingly easy, too. A count noun refers to a specific, countable object, such as groceries. A mass noun refers to a thing that you can't count individually, such as food. So when you buy fewer groceries you'll probably find yourself with less food.
It is true that some mass nouns can be turned into count nouns. For example, rather than say 'there are many different types of food in India,' a chef might refer to 'the many foods of India.' But our less vs. fewer rule still holds because you've converted it to a count noun: There are fewer foods in Norway than in India, even though there's still less food in my refrigerator than in the grocery store.
Lay takes a direct object and lie does not. So you lay your books down on the desk, but if you decide to take a pre-party nap, then you lie down on your bed.
It gets a lot trickier in the past tense. The
past tense of 'to lay' is 'laid,' which is pretty simple: Now I lay my
books on the desk, but last night I laid my books down on the bed. But
the past tense of 'to lie' is 'lay' (don't ask us who decides these
things). So right now you probably want to lie your head down on your
desk, but this afternoon you lay on your sofa taking a nap.
Who and whom are both pronouns, but they're used in different situations. 'Who' is correct when you're referring to the subject of a clause: 'Who is talking to Frank?' 'Whom' is correct when you're referring to the object of a clause: 'To whom is Frank talking?'
As you may have noticed, the difference between a subject and an object is who (or what) is performing the action. In the first sentence above, the unknown person is doing the talking, so the pronoun 'who' is the subject and Frank is the object. In the second sentence above, Frank is talking to the unknown person, so Frank is the subject and the unknown person is the object.
Don't miss part I in our grammar tips series, commonly misused homophones, and stay tuned for part III: phrase endings.
Fewer vs. Less
The difference here is pretty simple, but misuse of 'less' and 'fewer' is incredibly common: Every grammarian has cringed while waiting in the grocery aisle labeled '15 items or less.'Here's the rule: You use 'fewer' with count nouns and 'less' with mass nouns. Wait, wait - what's a count noun and a mass noun? That's surprisingly easy, too. A count noun refers to a specific, countable object, such as groceries. A mass noun refers to a thing that you can't count individually, such as food. So when you buy fewer groceries you'll probably find yourself with less food.
It is true that some mass nouns can be turned into count nouns. For example, rather than say 'there are many different types of food in India,' a chef might refer to 'the many foods of India.' But our less vs. fewer rule still holds because you've converted it to a count noun: There are fewer foods in Norway than in India, even though there's still less food in my refrigerator than in the grocery store.
Lay vs. Lie
We all know that when you tell your mom you never go to any of those crazy college parties, you're telling a lie. But when you toss your textbooks on the desk before you head out, are you lying them down or laying them down? In the present tense, the difference between this meaning of 'lay' vs. 'lie' is pretty straightforward:Lay takes a direct object and lie does not. So you lay your books down on the desk, but if you decide to take a pre-party nap, then you lie down on your bed.
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Who vs. Whom
Whom sounds so formal that it is rarely used in spoken language, even when it's called for. As a result, people often just fall back on only using 'who' in writing as well.Who and whom are both pronouns, but they're used in different situations. 'Who' is correct when you're referring to the subject of a clause: 'Who is talking to Frank?' 'Whom' is correct when you're referring to the object of a clause: 'To whom is Frank talking?'
As you may have noticed, the difference between a subject and an object is who (or what) is performing the action. In the first sentence above, the unknown person is doing the talking, so the pronoun 'who' is the subject and Frank is the object. In the second sentence above, Frank is talking to the unknown person, so Frank is the subject and the unknown person is the object.
Don't miss part I in our grammar tips series, commonly misused homophones, and stay tuned for part III: phrase endings.
How To Avoid Common Writing Mistakes
*Ahamed Monsur*
*Writer and Owner of this Blog*
May 25, 2015
Even in this day and age,
good writing should never be put off. Learn how to place your
participles and tame those dangling prepositions in part III of
Education-Portal.com's series on common grammatical mistakes.
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The Danglers
So far, Study.com's grammar-saving series has focused on homophones and other word usage errors
because these mistakes are both very common and very easy to miss. But
we figured it was only fitting to wrap things up by talking about
endings. Specifically, the ends of clauses and the ends of sentences.
Although they often get confused, we're actually referring to two separate grammatical issues: Dangling prepositions and dangling participles.
For certain types of phrases, that's true. Specifically, if you can drop the preposition at the end of a sentence without changing the meaning of that sentence, then don't use the preposition: 'Where are you at?' should always be 'Where are you?' (This is also true if the preposition comes in the middle of a sentence - if you don't need it, don't use it.)
But leaving the preposition at the end of a sentence isn't always incorrect. English contains a number of commonly used phrasal verbs such as 'cheer up,' 'make up' or 'hold up.' When you're using a phrasal verb, the preposition (in these cases, 'up') is part of the verb and perfectly acceptable at the end of the sentence: 'Let's kiss and make up.'
It gets stickier when you're talking about phrases like 'I don't know where that car came from.' The most conservative writer would insist on rephrasing that to say 'I don't know from where that car came.' But such constructions are so uncommon in spoken language that they've started to seem awkward and formal in written language too.
A good rule of thumb for writers in this situation is to consider your audience. If you're writing a blog post, chances are you'll have happier readers if you use the less formal construction, even if it is a little grammatically controversial. But if you're working on something like a job application, you want to stick to the most conservative interpretation of the rules - you never know how your reader might feel about this issue and it's better to sound a little old fashioned than a lot incorrect.
The trouble arises when people put participial phrases at the beginning of sentences that are intended to modify something that comes later: 'After marinating for hours, I grilled the steak.' I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that it was your steak marinating, not you, but this sentence reads like the cook spent his afternoon in a pickling jar.
Most readers understand the meaning of a sentence like the one above after pausing and re-reading it to pay special attention to the order of the clauses. But unless you're writing a technical manual, a reader should never have to re-read a sentence to understand it. And not all dangling participles are so easily distinguished - if people aren't reading carefully, a dangling participle could easily lead them to misunderstand your entire point.
This concludes Study.com's series on common grammar mistakes. If you haven't been following along, be sure to check out homophones and other frequent usage errors.
Although they often get confused, we're actually referring to two separate grammatical issues: Dangling prepositions and dangling participles.
Prepositions
One of the most common grammar myths is the idea that you can't end a sentence with a preposition. A preposition is a word that establishes a link between other words, such as 'to,' 'on,' 'about' or 'before,' and the most conservative grammarians will insist that you should never end a sentence with one.For certain types of phrases, that's true. Specifically, if you can drop the preposition at the end of a sentence without changing the meaning of that sentence, then don't use the preposition: 'Where are you at?' should always be 'Where are you?' (This is also true if the preposition comes in the middle of a sentence - if you don't need it, don't use it.)
But leaving the preposition at the end of a sentence isn't always incorrect. English contains a number of commonly used phrasal verbs such as 'cheer up,' 'make up' or 'hold up.' When you're using a phrasal verb, the preposition (in these cases, 'up') is part of the verb and perfectly acceptable at the end of the sentence: 'Let's kiss and make up.'
It gets stickier when you're talking about phrases like 'I don't know where that car came from.' The most conservative writer would insist on rephrasing that to say 'I don't know from where that car came.' But such constructions are so uncommon in spoken language that they've started to seem awkward and formal in written language too.
A good rule of thumb for writers in this situation is to consider your audience. If you're writing a blog post, chances are you'll have happier readers if you use the less formal construction, even if it is a little grammatically controversial. But if you're working on something like a job application, you want to stick to the most conservative interpretation of the rules - you never know how your reader might feel about this issue and it's better to sound a little old fashioned than a lot incorrect.
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Participles
Whereas a dangling preposition can simply make you sound a little too informal, a dangling participle can completely confuse the meaning of your sentence. To understand how this works, consider how you read a sentence: 'After reading the newspaper, I cooked dinner.' You instinctively assume that the participial phrase ('after reading the newspaper') modifies what immediately comes after it ('I'), and you're probably correct - how many dinners read newspapers?The trouble arises when people put participial phrases at the beginning of sentences that are intended to modify something that comes later: 'After marinating for hours, I grilled the steak.' I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that it was your steak marinating, not you, but this sentence reads like the cook spent his afternoon in a pickling jar.
Most readers understand the meaning of a sentence like the one above after pausing and re-reading it to pay special attention to the order of the clauses. But unless you're writing a technical manual, a reader should never have to re-read a sentence to understand it. And not all dangling participles are so easily distinguished - if people aren't reading carefully, a dangling participle could easily lead them to misunderstand your entire point.
This concludes Study.com's series on common grammar mistakes. If you haven't been following along, be sure to check out homophones and other frequent usage errors.
Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Compare and Contrast Essays
*Ahamed Monsur*
*Writer and Owner of this Blog*
If you're a student enrolled
in English classes, compare and contrast essays may not be your favorite
thing in the world. But don't worry; Education-Portal.com's Education
Insider has some helpful hints for taking some of the fright out of
these assignments.
Five(5) Tips To Protect Your Examination Certificates Securely
Examination
certificates may be compared to the heart of educated people. You are
nothing without those pieces of papers. So, protecting those papers from
being lost or destroyed is a big task for every educated person. Many
people lost their examination certificates for a number of reasons. So,
being careful about this hazardous accident is necessary. Here are 5
tips for the readers of ahamedonlineacademy.blogspot.com about the protection of the
examination certificates:
1. Keep Your Certificates In A File: One of the main reasons for losing a certificate or other important papers is keeping those in many places. It will increase the probability of losing. So, keep your important papers including examination certificates in a file. Make sure it is made up of plastic, not paper. So, your certificates will be secured.
2. Keep Your File In A Locker: Don’t keep your certificates in an open place. Always keep the certificate file in a locker. You may use bank lockers also. If not, you can use your home almirahs and other steel or wooden boxes, where the file will be secured enough.
5. Check Those On A Regular Basis: Always check the certificates on a regular basis. It will be better if you check those once every month. It will make you feel good and also prevent any damage of your certificates.
Thanks for reading this post.
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1. Carefully consider the two (or more) texts you're being asked to write about.
You
can't write a good compare and contrast essay without first reading
what you've been assigned! Moreover, to generate a good essay you've got
to read them carefully. It would probably help you to make notes
(mental or, better yet, physical ones) as you read, marking things you
consider important. This kind of pre-writing work can give you a serious
head-start on your actual essay when you sit down to do it.
2. Make a list of the key similarities and differences in your texts.
Once
you've read everything you have to, draw up lists of how those works
are similar and different to each other. This is when those notes you
might've taken back in step one could come in handy. Depending on how
organized your thoughts are, you might just jot out a few main ideas on a
blank sheet of paper/computer screen or you might actually want to make
up an actual list with columns for things the texts share and things
they don't. During this phase, just write down whatever comes to mind,
no matter how miniscule you think it may be.
3. Isolate the most important points and turn them into your central argument.
Once
you're satisfied with your lists, you can go back through and
cherry-pick the points you feel are most importantly similar and
different. Here you should be looking for the things that you think will
lead to the most compelling essay you can write. Pick out elements, for
instance, that are central to the identity of both works. Consider
their major themes, main characters and the messages of each - it's
likely one of these things will provide the basis for your essay. If,
for instance, both texts have the same basic theme, you could write a
paper about the similar and difference ways they explore that theme.
4. Write an outline that will form the skeleton of your essay.
Your
outline will break down the flow of your essay, noting only the main
points you want to cover. For compare and contrast papers, probably the
most basic form the essay could take would be six paragraphs in length.
You'll start with an introduction that lays out the general idea behind
your argument; it will take a form similar to 'I think the way these
texts compare and contrast these elements is important because….'
Then you'll take on the body of your essay, which will be four
paragraphs long. You could split them up into two paragraphs on each
text (one for comparing and one for contrasting) or two paragraphs that
compare both works and two that hold all the contrast. Or you might find
a hybrid of those two ideas works best - you'll want to go with
whatever you think does the best service to your paper. Finally, you'll
add a concluding paragraph that sums up your argument and restates,
perhaps in a new way, why you feel that what you talked about is
important both to your texts and to the world at large.
5. Fill in textual details to write your essay.
Once
you've got your outline set, writing the essay mostly becomes a matter
of supporting your points with evidence from the works you read. This is
key to getting your audience (your teacher at least) to accept your
arguments. For compare and contrast papers, which have a little more
ground to cover than regular essays, you can probably get away with
having one killer example per text for each point you want to make.
Depending on the depth of your assignment, you might also consider
bringing in outside criticism to back up your points. If that's required
or recommended, though, your teacher will probably let you know.
6. Edit!
When
you think your essay's done, make sure you give it one more pass,
checking for errors in both content (faulty arguments) and form (bad
grammar, spelling, etc.). No doubt your teacher will be grading you on
completeness, and an essay doesn't exactly seem done if it's riddled
with errors. It might be especially helpful to get a second set of eyes;
you could ask your parents, peers or even a TA (in a college course) to
take a look at your arguments and make sure they stand up to scrutiny.
After that, congratulations! You've got a compare and contrast essay on
your hands. Was that so bad?
Why are writing skills more important than ever?
Why are writing skills more important than ever?
Five(5) Tips To Protect Your Examination Certificates Securely
*Ahamed Monsur*
*Writer and Owner of this Blog*
1. Keep Your Certificates In A File: One of the main reasons for losing a certificate or other important papers is keeping those in many places. It will increase the probability of losing. So, keep your important papers including examination certificates in a file. Make sure it is made up of plastic, not paper. So, your certificates will be secured.
2. Keep Your File In A Locker: Don’t keep your certificates in an open place. Always keep the certificate file in a locker. You may use bank lockers also. If not, you can use your home almirahs and other steel or wooden boxes, where the file will be secured enough.
3. Organize Your Certificates Serially:
Organize your certificates serially so that you can get them quickly
when needed. You can sort those according to time i.e. organizing your
class 1 certificate to your master degree certificate. It will also help
you to check those certificates regularly.
4. Keep Photocopy Or Duplicate Copy:
Always keep multiple photocopies and duplicate copies of your every
certificate. It will help you if you lose your certificate despite the
security.5. Check Those On A Regular Basis: Always check the certificates on a regular basis. It will be better if you check those once every month. It will make you feel good and also prevent any damage of your certificates.
