Reader-Response Writing

Reader Response Essay—similar to what is expected of students in the Discussion Board writing prompts

Sample Student Essay: Cell Phones are Dangerous

This is a sample reading response essay to an article titled “Cell Phones are Dangerous" by Mary Johnson, agreeing with the article and extending one of the ideas.

Intro:

Paragraph 1: Dramatic re-telling of a personal story of picking up my cell phone and then realizing that I am going to crash into another car. Stop the story right before the crash.

Paragraph 2: Like most people, I thought I was a good enough driver to handle using a cell phone while driving. I found out I was wrong. It turns out I’m not unusual. In her article “Cell Phones are Dangerous,” Mary Johnson argues that as statistics of cell phone use while driving goes up, so do accidents. According to Johnson, we should not use our phones while driving and should educate others not to use them either. Johnson cites statistics showing that talking on a cell phone is as dangerous as driving drunk. Moreover, she points out the increasing number of accidents caused by cell phone use. Her conclusion is that we need to personally decide not to use a cell phone while driving and that we need to educate our friends and family to give up using cell phones while driving too. I agree with Jones that cell phones are dangerous and that we should personally choose to not use one while driving; however, I’d go further than Jones by adding that we need to have laws that prohibit anyone from using cell phones in cars.

Body:

Each of these statements would be the topic sentence of one of the body paragraphs. For the first one, I also give examples of the type of arguments and support I would use to write that paragraph and prove my point.

1. Laws make people realize that cell phone driving is dangerous. (Below is an example of some support I could use to back up this idea—you can use ideas from the article but do not repeat the article.)

·         support with an anecdote of friends or family thinking a call is more important than driving

·         use statistics from article

·         argue some people will be convinced by being educated, but not everyone

·         use example of seatbelt laws saving lives

·         argue that using a cell phone endangers others and not just yourself

2. New technology requires changes in public policy.

3. People in my generation feel obligated to take a call, but if it is illegal to call while driving, they won’t feel that pressure.

4. Using hands-free headsets won’t work because it is the call which is distracting, not holding the phone.

5. This law will save a lot of lives.

Conclusion:

I would return to my personal story and pick it up where I left off. I do crash and there is a lot of damage to my car, but no one is hurt. I can explain my great relief that my cell phone use did not end more tragically, and my personal decision to put my cell phone where I can’t reach it while driving. End with an appeal to the reader to do the same, but to also support legislation to prohibit cell phone use while driving.

Link to Original Essay

Should Cell Phone Use by Drivers Be Illegal?

Reader Response vs. Evaluation Essays

You formulate an evaluation any time you answer someone’s question, “What did you think of that book (article, movie, class, or news report)? Responding personally to an article is usually the start of any analysis of writing, so it is a good first paper type to write.

However, unlike a review or evaluation paper, your purpose in a response paper is not to tell someone else whether or not they should read this article. Instead, your purpose is to explain your reaction and to give reasons (this will be the body of your paper) why you reacted that way. 

Doing an evaluation paper would take the reading response a step further and is probably one of the assignments (such as in the Discussion Board forum) that you will do in your course.  When evaluating and analyzing a visual argument, written argument, or verbal argument, you must use lessons from your textbook readings to assert whether the argument was sound and why this led to your reaction.  Your 'reasons' for your reaction should come directly from what you have learned about modes of argument, persuasion techniques, logical reasoning, and fallacy integration based on your readings and what constitutes a flawless argument.

Reader-Response Writing

Kearney, Virginia. “How to Write a Reading Response Essay with Sample

Papers.” Owlcation, Owlcation, 19 Oct. 2018, owlcation.com/academia/How-to-

Write-a-Reading-Response-Essay.