DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Division of Taguig City and Pateros

Signal Village National High School
ACCOUNTANCY, BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

NARRATIVE REPORT
IN
ENGLISH FOR
ACADEMIC AND
PROFESSIONAL
PURPOSES
(GROUP 2)
11 ABM A

MEMBERS:
Delda,Marc Andre
Salomon,Sherman Jr.
Tibay,Aljames
Alas,Mary Diane S.
Bibat,Cherrymae
Casiao,Stephanie Kate
Manalili,Krystal
Muceros,Jemimah Faith
Mr.Joebert S. Moslares
Subject Teacher
 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Division of Taguig City and Pateros
Signal Village National High School
ACCOUNTANCY, BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

What is a Reaction Paper?

It requires the writer to analyze a text, then develop a commentary related to it. It is a popular
academic assignment because it requires thoughtful reading, research, and writing.
A reaction paper, a review, and a critique are specialized forms of writing in which a reviewer or
reader evaluates any of the following:

✓ A scholarly work (eg., academic books and articles)

✓ A work of art (eg performance art, play, dance, sports, film, exhibits)

✓ Designs (e.g., industrial designs, furniture, fashion design)

✓ Graphic designs (eg, posters, billboards, commercials, and digital media)

• Reaction papers, reviews, critiques usually range in length from 250 - 750 words.
• They are not simply summaries but are critical assessments,analyses, or evaluation of
different works.
• As advanced forms of writing, they involve your skills in critical thinking and recognizing
arguments.
A Reaction Paper must:
• Something you have read or seen
• Be organized
• Have citations and references
• Include your opinions
• Summarize what you are reacting in beginning
• Explain your reaction
• Judge, Analyze or Evaluate the issues of the topic
• Identify and discuss
A Reaction Paper should not:
• Include a lot of "I think that," "I feel" or "I believe" statements
• Be autobiographical paper
• Simply repeating
In writing a reaction paper, here are some of the questions that you need to ask:
• What is the main topic of the reading material or item that I will be reacting to?
• What are its strengths and weaknesses?
 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Division of Taguig City and Pateros
Signal Village National High School
ACCOUNTANCY, BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

• Do I agree with the points, arguments and the claims of the writer? What are my reactions
about the content?
Structure of Reaction Paper:
Introduction (5%)

‣ Title of the book/article or work

‣ Writer’s name

‣ Thesis statement

Summary (10%)

‣ Objective or Purpose

‣ Methods used (if applicable)

‣ Major findings, claims, ideas, or messages

Review/Critique (in no particular order 75%)

‣ Does the writer explicitly state his/her thesis statement.

‣ What are the assumptions

‣ What are the contributions of the work to the field where it belongs?

Review/Critique (in no particular order 75%)

‣ What problems and issues are discussed or presented in the work?

‣ What kind of information are presented in the work?

Conclusion (10%)

‣ Overall impression of the work

‣ Scholarly or literary value of the reviewed article, book or work.

‣ Benefits for the intended audience

‣ Suggestion for future direction of research

Reaction Paper with no prescribed structure:

Introduction

‣ Basic details about the material (title, director or artist name of exhibition/event)

‣ Main assessment of the material

Analysis or interpretation

‣ Discussion or analysis of the work (critical approach)

‣ What aspects of the work make you think it is a success or failure.

 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Division of Taguig City and Pateros
Signal Village National High School
ACCOUNTANCY, BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

‣ Were there unanswered questions or plot lines? If yes? How did they affect the story?

Analysis or interpretation

‣ How does the work relate in other ideas ore events in the world.

‣ What stood out while you were watching the film or the performance?

Conclusion or Evaluation

‣ Reinforcement of main assessment

‣ Comparison to a similar work.

‣ Recommendation of the material (if you liked it)

Guidelines in Writing a Reaction Paper:

For Articles and Journals

‣ Read to the work to be reviewed carefully.

‣ Relate the content of the work to what you already know about the topic.

‣ Focus on discussing how the book treats the topic (this book /work presents/author argues)

For Articles and Journals

‣ Report the type of analysis or mode of presentation.

‣ Examine whether the finding is adequately supported

‣ Suggest points for improvement of the reasoning

‣ Point out other interpretations that the writer missed out.

General note:

‣ Did the work hold your interest?

‣ Did the work annoy or excite you?

‣ Did the work prompt you to raise questions to the author?

General note:

‣ Did the work lead you to some realizations?

‣ Did the work remind you of other materials

that you have read, viewed or listened to?

Writing a Reaction Paper:
Part 1: (Pre-writing and Actively Reading)
1. Understand the purpose of reaction paper.
2. Figure out what is asking?
 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Division of Taguig City and Pateros
Signal Village National High School
ACCOUNTANCY, BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

3. Read the text you are assigned right after it is assigned.

4. Write your initial reaction
5. Annotate the text as you read
6. Questions as you read
Part 2: (Drafting your Essay)
1. Free write
2. Decide on your angle
3. Determine your thesis statement
4. Organize your Paper
5. Gather Quotations
6. Structure your Paragraphs
Part 3: (Writing your Final Draft)
1. Write your introduction
2. Reread your reaction paragraphs to ensure you make a stance
3. Explain the greater implications
4. Edit for clarity and length
5. Proof and check your document
 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Division of Taguig City and Pateros
Signal Village National High School
ACCOUNTANCY, BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT
 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Division of Taguig City and Pateros
Signal Village National High School
ACCOUNTANCY, BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

CITING SOURCES TO SUPPORT YOUR CLAIMS

A citation is a formal reference to published or unpublished source that you consulted and
obtained information from while writing your research paper. The way in which you document
your sources depends on the writing style manual your teacher wants you to use for the class.
Why do we Cite?
To help make our argument and show that it is well-supported by objectives evidence. To give
credit to those who influenced our ideas and avoid plagiarism.
Why citing is important?
It's important to cite sources you used in your research for several reasons: To show your
reader you've done proper research by listing sources you used to get your information To be a
responsible scholar by giving credit to other researchers and acknowledging their ideas To avoid
plagiarism by quoting words and ideas used by other authors To allow your reader to track
down the sources you used by citing them accurately in your paper by way of footnotes, a
bibliography or reference list.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is a very serious offense. Plagiarism occurs when you borrow another's words (or
ideas) and do not acknowledge that you have done so. In this culture, we consider our words
and ideas intellectual property.
Importance of Citing your Sources
Citations document for your readers where you obtained your material, a means of critiquing
your study based on the sources you used, and an opportunity to obtain information about
prior studies of the research problem under investigation. The act of citing sources is also your
best defense against allegations of plagiarism.
Properly citing the works of others is important because:
1. Proper citation allows readers to locate the materials you used.
2. Citing other people's words and ideas indicates that you have conducted a thorough review
of the literature on your topic.
3. Other researcher's ideas can be used to reinforce your arguments.
4. The ideas of other researchers can be used to explain reasons for alternative approaches.
5. Just as the ideas of other researchers can bolster your arguments, they can also detract from
your credibility if their research is challenged.
6. Ideas are considered intellectual property and there can be serious repercussions if you fail
to cite where you got an idea from.
What to cite?
You must cite: Facts, figures, ideas, or other information that is not common knowledge Ideas,
words, theories, or exact language that another person used in other publications.
 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Division of Taguig City and Pateros
Signal Village National High School
ACCOUNTANCY, BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

Publications that must be cited include: books, book chapters, articles, web pages, theses, etc.
Another person's exact words should be quoted and cited to show proper credit.
There are three ways to intergrate your sources and all of them require that you cite the source
Quote- An exact phrase taken from passage and put inside quotation marks.
Paraphrase- A restatement of a passage in your own words, about the same length as original.
Summary- A much shorter rephrasing of the main idea of the passage.

CRITICAL APPROACHES IN WRITING A CRITIQUE

What is a Critique?
A critique is a genre of academic writing that briefly summarises and critically evaluates a work
or concept. Critiques can be used to carefully analyse a variety of works such as:
Creative works – novels, exhibits, film, images, poetry
Research – monographs, journal articles, systematic reviews, theories
Media – news reports, feature articles
Like an essay, a critique uses a formal, academic writing style and has a clear structure, that is,
an introduction, body and conclusion. However, the body of a critique includes a summary of
the work and a detailed evaluation. The purpose of an evaluation is to gauge the usefulness or
impact of a work in a particular field.
Why do we write critiques?
Writing a critique on a work helps us to develop:

 A knowledge of the work’s subject area or related works.

 An understanding of the work’s purpose, intended audience, development of argument,
structure of evidence or creative style.
 A recognition of the strengths and weaknesses of the work.
How to write a critique
Before you start writing, it is important to have a thorough understanding of the work that will
be critiqued.

 Study the work under discussion.

 Make notes on key parts of the work.
 Develop an understanding of the main argument or purpose being expressed in the
work.
 Consider how the work relates to a broader issue or context.
There are a variety of ways to structure a critique. You should always check your unit materials
or blackboard site for guidance from your lecturer. The following template, which showcases
the main features of a critique, is provided as one example.
Introduction
 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Division of Taguig City and Pateros
Signal Village National High School
ACCOUNTANCY, BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

Typically, the introduction is short (less than 10% of the word length) and you should:

 Name the work being reviewed as well as the date it was created and the name of the
author/creator.
 Describe the main argument or purpose of the work.
 Explain the context in which the work was created. This could include the social or
political context, the place of the work in a creative or academic tradition, or the
relationship between the work and the creator’s life experience.
 Have a concluding sentence that signposts what your evaluation of the work will be. For
instance, it may indicate whether it is a positive, negative, or mixed evaluation.
Summary
Briefly summarise the main points and objectively describe how the creator portrays these by
using techniques, styles, media, characters or symbols. This summary should not be the focus
of the critique and is usually shorter than the critical evaluation.
Critical evaluation
This section should give a systematic and detailed assessment of the different elements of the
work, evaluating how well the creator was able to achieve the purpose through these. For
example: you would assess the plot structure, characterisation and setting of a novel; an
assessment of a painting would look at composition, brush strokes, colour and light; a critique
of a research project would look at subject selection, design of the experiment, analysis of data
and conclusions.
A critical evaluation does not simply highlight negative impressions. It should deconstruct the
work and identify both strengths and weaknesses. It should examine the work and evaluate its
success, in light of its purpose.
Examples of key critical questions that could help your assessment include:

 Who is the creator? Is the work presented objectively or subjectively?

 What are the aims of the work? Were the aims achieved?
 What techniques, styles, media were used in the work? Are they effective in portraying
the purpose?
 What assumptions underlie the work? Do they affect its validity?
 What types of evidence or persuasion are used? Has evidence been interpreted fairly?
 How is the work structured? Does it favour a particular interpretation or point of view?
Is it effective?
 Does the work enhance understanding of key ideas or theories? Does the work engage
(or fail to engage) with key concepts or other works in its discipline?
This evaluation is written in formal academic style and logically presented. Group and order
your ideas into paragraphs. Start with the broad impressions first and then move into the
details of the technical elements. For shorter critiques, you may discuss the strengths of the
works, and then the weaknesses. In longer critiques, you may wish to discuss the positive and
negative of each key critical question in individual paragraphs.
 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Division of Taguig City and Pateros
Signal Village National High School
ACCOUNTANCY, BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

To support the evaluation, provide evidence from the work itself, such as a quote or example,
and you should also cite evidence from related sources. Explain how this evidence supports
your evaluation of the work.
Conclusion
This is usually a very brief paragraph, which includes:

 A statement indicating the overall evaluation of the work

 A summary of the key reasons, identified during the critical evaluation, why this
evaluation was formed.
 In some circumstances, recommendations for improvement on the work may be
appropriate.
 Reference list
 Include all resources cited in your critique. Check with your lecturer/tutor for which
referencing style to use.
Checklist for a critique
Have I:

 Mentioned the name of the work, the date of its creation and the name of the creator?
 Accurately summarised the work being critiqued?
 Mainly focused on the critical evaluation of the work?
 Systematically outlined an evaluation of each element of the work to achieve the overall
purpose?
 used evidence, from the work itself as well as other sources, to back and illustrate my
assessment of elements of of the work?
 formed an overall evaluation of the work, based on critical reading?
 used a well structured introduction, body and conclusion?
 used correct grammar, spelling and punctuation; clear presentation; and appropriate
referencing style?

There are various ways or standpoints by which you can analyze and critique a certain material.
You can critique a material based on its technical aspects, its approach to gender, your reaction
as the audience, or through its portrayal of class struggle and social structure.

1.FORMALISM- claims that literary works contain intrinsic properties and treats each work as a
distinct work of art. In short, it posits that the key to understanding a text is through the text
itself; the historical context, the author, or any other external contexts are not necessary in
interpreting the meaning.

Following are the common aspects looked into formalism:

 Author’s techniques in resolving contradictions within the work

 Central passage that sums up the entirety of the work
 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Division of Taguig City and Pateros
 Contribution of parts andSignal Village
the work as aNational
whole toHigh School quality
its aesthetic
 Relationship ofACCOUNTANCY, BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT
the form and the content
 Use of imagery to develop the symbols in the work
 Interconnectedness of various parts of the work
 Paradox, ambiguity, and irony in the work
 Unity in the work
Prewriting
1. Revisit your reading log or marginal notation
2. See how the keywords are woven together.
3. Revisit the text and look for:
a) patterns, d) repeated words and phrases for meaning
b) recurrences, e) unity meaningful coherence of the elements
c) visual motifs f). tension identify the effects produced by paradox and irony
4. Start free writing about what you have read and begin with:
a) a symbol
b) a strong image
c) a particular element
d) a reaction or
e) an observation

Drafting and Revising

1. Introduction. Present a summary about how various statement elements work together to
make a whole. Continue with the draft of your introduction. Alternately, begin by directly
referencing the text itself by:
a) 1. Recount a meaningful incident from a story or
b) 2. Quote a few lines from the poem.
c) 3. Then explain why such incident lines are important to or understanding the text as a
whole.
2. Body. The body of your work hows how your paper will be devoted to showing how the
various elements of the text work together to create meaning. You must:
a) Cite examples on how the form,and unity operate diction, together to develop a theme
b) Observe unity, emphasis and coherence in detailing your examples
c) Focus on the literary elements the plot rather than or sequence of the story or the
stanza of the poem.
3. Conclusion. State or reiterate the between and form connection content. Generalize about
the over-all relationship of form and content. End a lasting your composition with impression
by:
 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Division of Taguig City and Pateros
Signal Village National High School
a) Giving generalization or conclusion
ACCOUNTANCY, BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT
b) Rhetorical question
c) Strong conviction

2.FEMINIST CRITICISM-also called feminism, it focuses on how literature presents women as

subjects of socio-political, psychological, and economic oppression. It also reveals how aspects
of our culture are patriarchal, i.e., how our culture views men as superior and women as
inferior.
The common aspects looked into when using feminism are as follows:

 How culture determines gender

 How gender equality (or lack of it) is presented in the text
 How gender issues are presented in literary works and other aspects of human
production and daily life
 How women are socially, politically, psychologically, and economically oppressed by
patriarchy
 How patriarchal ideology is an overpowering presence
Three Waves Of Feminism:
1. First Wave Feminism - late 1700s-early 1900's: writers like Mary Wollstonecraft (A
Vindication of the Rights of Women, 1792) highlight the inequalities between the sexes.
Activists like Susan B. Anthony and Victoria Woodhull contribute to the women's suffrage
movement, which leads to National Universal Suffrage in 1920 with the passing of the
Nineteenth Amendment.
2. 2. Second Wave Feminism - early 1960s-late 1970s: building on more equal working
conditions necessary in America during World War II, movements such as the National
Organization for Women (NOW), formed in 1966, cohere feminist political activism.
Writers like Simone de Beauvoir(Le Deuxième Sexe, 1949) and Elaine Showalter
established the groundwork for the dissemination of feminist theories dove-tailed with the
American Civil Rights movement.
3. . Third Wave Feminism - early 1990s- present: resisting the perceived essentialist (over
generalized, over simplified) ideologies and a white, heterosexual, middle class focus of
second wave feminism, third wave feminism borrows from post-structural and
contemporary gender and race theories.
Tools of the Feminist Literary Critic
Feminist literary criticism may bring in tools from other critical disciplines, such as historical
analysis, psychology, linguistics,sociological analysis, economic analysis, for instance. Feminist
criticism may also look at intersectionality, looking at how factors including race, sexuality,
physical ability, and class are also involved. Feminist literary criticism may use any of the
following methods:

 Deconstructing the way that women characters are described in novels, stories, plays,
biographies, and histories,especially if the author is male.
 Deconstructing how one's own genderinfluences how one reads and interprets a text,
and which characters and how the reader identifies depending on the reader's gender
 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Division of Taguig City and Pateros
Signal Village National High School
ACCOUNTANCY, BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

 Deconstructing how women autobiographers and biographers of women treat their

subjects, and how biographers treat women who are secondary to the main subject
 Describing relationships between the literary text and ideas about power and sexuality
and gender
 Critique of patriarchal or woman-marginalizing language, such as a "universal" use of
the masculine pronouns "he" and "him".
 Noticing and unpacking differences in how men and women write: a style, for instance,
where women use more reflexive language and men use more direct language
(example: "she let herself in" vs. "he opened the door")
 Reclaiming women writers who are little known or have been marginalized or
undervalued, sometimes referred to as expanding or criticizing the canon-the usual list
of "important" authors and works (Examples include raising up the contributions of
early playwright Aphra Behn, showing how she was treated differently than male writers
from her own time forward, and the retrieval of Zora Neale Hurston's writing by Alice
Walker.)
 Reclaiming the "female voice" as a valuable contribution to literature, even if formerly
marginalized or ignored.
 Analyzing multiple works in a genre as an overview of a feminist approach to that genre:
for example, science fiction or detective fiction.
 Analyzing multiple works by a single author (often female).
 Examining how relationships between men and women and those assuming male and
female roles are depicted in the text, including power relations.
 Examining the text to find ways in which patriarchy is resisted or could have been
resisted.
3.READER-RESPONSE CRITICISM- is concerned with the reviewer’s reaction as an audience of a
work. This approach claims that the reader’s role cannot be separated from the understanding
of the work; a text does not have meaning until the reader reads it and interprets it. Readers
are therefore not passive and distant, but are active consumers of the material presented to
them.
The common aspects looked into when using reader response criticism are as follows:

 Interaction between the reader and the text in creating meaning

 The impact of the reader’s delivery of sounds and visuals on enhancing and changing
meaning
The Purpose of Reader-Response
Reader-response suggests that the role of the reader is essential to the meaning of a text, for
only in the reading experience does the literary work come alive. For example, in Mary Woll-
stonecraft Shelley's Frankenstein (1818), the monster doesn't exist, so to speak, until the reader
reads Frankenstein and reanimates it to life, becoming a co-creator of the text.
Thus, the purpose of a reading response is examining, explaining, and defending your personal
reaction to a text.Your critical reading of a text asks you to explore:

 why you like or dislike the text;

 explain whether you agree or disagree with the author;
 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Division of Taguig City and Pateros
Signal Village National High School
ACCOUNTANCY, BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

 identify the text's purpose; and

 critique the text.
There is no right or wrong answer to a reading response. Nonetheless, it is important that you
demonstrate an understanding of the reading and clearly explain and support your reactions.
Do not use the standard approach of just writing: "I liked this text because it is so cool and the
ending made me feel happy," or "I hated it because it was stupid, and had nothing at all to do
with my life, and was too negative and boring." In writing a response you may assume the
reader has already read the text. Thus, do not summarize the contents of the text at length.
Instead, take a systematic analytical approach to the text.
Write as a Scholar
When writing a reader-response write as an educated adult addressing other adults or fellow
scholars. As a beginning scholar, if you write that something has nothing to do with you or does
not pass your "Who cares?" test, but many other people think that it is important and great,
readers will probably not agree with you that the text is dull or boring. Instead, they may
conclude that you are dull and boring, that you are too immature or uneducated to understand
what important things the author wrote.
Criticize with Examples
If you did not like a text, that is fine, but criticize it either from:

 principle, for example:

 Is the text racist?
 Does the text unreasonably puts down things, such as religion, or groups of people, such
as women or adolescents, conservatives or democrats, etc?
 Does the text include factual errors or outright lies? It is too dark anddespairing? Is it
falsely positive?
 form, for example:
 Is the text poorly written?
 Does it contain too much verbal "fat"?
 Is it too emotional or too childish?
 Does it have too many facts and figures?
 Are there typos or other errors in the text?
 Do the ideas wander around without making a point?
In each of these cases, do not simply criticize,but give examples. As a beginning scholar, be
cautious of criticizing any text as "confusing" or "crazy," since readers might simply conclude
that you are too ignorant or slow to understand and appreciate it.
The Structure of a Reader-Response Essay
Choosing a text to study is the first step in writing a reader-response essay. Once you have
chosen the text, your challenge is to connect with it and have a "conversation" with the text.
In the beginning paragraph of your reader-response essay, be sure to mention the following:

 title of the work to which you are responding;

 the author; and
 the main thesis of the text.
 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Division of Taguig City and Pateros
Signal Village National High School
ACCOUNTANCY, BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

Then, do your best to answer the questions below.Remember however, that vou are writing an
essav,not filling out a short-answer worksheet.You do not need to work through these
questions in order,one by one,in your essay.Rather,your paper as a whole should be sure to
address these questions in some way.

 What does the text have to do with you,personally, and with your life (past, present or
future)?
 How much does the text agree or clash with your view of the world, and what you
consider right and wrong?
 What did you learn, and how much were your views and opinions challenged or
changed by this text, if at all? Did the text communicate with you? Why or why not?
 How well does the text address things that you, personally, care about and consider
important to the world? How does it address things that are important to your family,
your community,your ethnic group, to people of your economic or social class or
background, or your faith tradition? If not,who does or did the text serve? Did it pass
the "Who cares?" test?
 What can you praise about the text? What problems did you have with it
 How well did you enjoy the text (or not) as entertainment or as a work of art?

4.MARXIST CRITICISM- is concerned with differences between economic classes and

implications of a capitalist system, such as the continuing conflicts between the working class
and the elite. Hence, it attempts to reveal that the ultimate source of people’s experience is the
socioeconomic system.
The common aspects looked into when using Marxist criticism are as follows:

 Social class as represented in the work

 Social class of the writer/creator
 Social class of the characters
 Conflicts and interactions between economic classes

5.SOCIOLOGICAL CRITICISM is literary criticism directed to understanding (or placing) literature

in its larger social context; it codifies the literary strategies that are employed to represent
social constucts through a sociological methodology.
6. HISTORICAL CRITICISM- also known as the historical-critical method or higher critism, is a
branch of criticism that investigates the origins of ancient texts in order to understand “the
world behind the text”.