English for Academic and

Professional Purposes
Quarter 3– Module 6:
Writing the Reaction Paper/Review/Critique

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 What I Need to Know

Writing is a very important skill you need to develop before going

to college. Once you begin college, you should already know how to write. This module
is designed to help you write a reaction paper/review/critique.

By the end of this module you should be able to:

1. understand the principles and uses of a reaction paper/ review/ critique;
2. form opinions based on facts/topics; (CS_EN11/12A-EAPP-Id-f-11)
3. apply the principles of writing effective reviews and critiques; (CS_EN11/12AEAPP-
Id-f-17); and
4. write an objective/balanced review or critique of a work of art, an event, or a program.
(CS_EN11/12A-EAPP-Id-f-18)

Lesson
Writing the Reaction
6 Paper/Review/Critique
A Reaction/Review or a Critique Paper may be a response, or reaction, or a kind
of prompt. The prompt could also be a matter, a current event, or a kind of media,
including movies or video clips.

As a SHS student, you're expected to think at a better level, your instructor wants
to grasp what you think that supported what you have learned, so it's always an honest
idea to incorporate references, whether or not this suggests only referencing your
textbook.

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How to Write a Reaction Paper?
A reaction or response paper requires the writer to analyze a text, then develop
commentary related to it. It is a popular academic assignment because it requires
thoughtful reading, research, and writing. You can learn how to write a reaction paper by
following these writing tips.

1.Understand the purpose of a reaction paper.

Reaction or response papers are assigned so that after reading a text, you will think
carefully about what you feel or think about the text. When you write a response paper,
you need to evaluate the text's strengths and weaknesses, along with if and how well the
text accomplishes its objective. A reaction paper is not just a paper where you express
your opinion. These papers require a close reading of the text that goes beyond the surface
meaning. You must respond to implied ideas, and elaborate, evaluate, and analyze the
author's purpose and main points. In many cases, you can use the first-person "I" while
writing reaction papers.

2.Figure out what the assignment is asking.

Before beginning your paper, you must figure out exactly what your teacher or
professor is looking for. Some teachers want you to react by analyzing or evaluating the
reading. Other teachers want a personal response. Make sure you understand which kind
of reaction the assignment calls for.
• If you are unsure, ask the teacher to clarify what they expect from the assignment.
• You may be asked to react to the text in light of another text. If this is the case,
you will want to use quotations from both texts in your writing.
• You may be asked to react to the text in the light of the class themes. For example,
if you read a book in a Sociology of Gender Roles class, you will want to read,
annotate, and react based on how gender roles are described in the book.
• You may be asked to react personally to the text. This is less common, but
occasionally the teacher simply wants to know if you have read the text and
thought about it. In this case, you should focus on your opinions of the book.

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

To complete a reaction paper, you do not just read, give your opinion, and turn in
the paper. A reaction paper synthesizes the texts, which means you take the information
you read and bring it together so you can analyze and evaluate. You have to give yourself
time to do the readings, but more importantly, to digest what you've read so you can put
the ideas together.
• One of the biggest mistakes that students make is waiting until the last minute to
read and react. A reaction is a thoughtful consideration after reading and rereading
several times.

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 • You may need to reread the text multiple times. First, to read and familiarize
yourself with the text, then again to start thinking about the assignment and your
reactions.

4. Write down your initial reactions.

After you read through the first time, jot down your initial reactions to the text. Do
the same thing on any subsequent readings.
• Try completing some of the following sentences after you read: I think that..., I
see that..., I feel that..., It seems that..., or In my opinion...

5.Annotate the text as you read.

As you read through the text again, annotate it. Annotating in the margins of the
text allows you to easily locate quotations, plot lines, character development, or reactions
to the text. If you fail to annotate thoroughly, it will be more difficult to create a cohesive
reaction paper.

5.Question as you read.

As you read the text, you must start questioning the text. This is where your evaluation
of the material and your reaction begins. Some questions to consider include:
• What issues or problems does the author address?
• What is the author's main point?
• What points or assumptions does the author make, and how does she back that
up?
• What are strengths and weaknesses? Where are problems with the argument?
• How do the texts relate? (if multiple texts)
• How do these ideas connect to the overall ideas of the class/unit/etc?

Drafting Your Essay

1.Freewrite.
Start by freewriting your reactions and evaluations of the author's ideas. Try to put
into words what you think the author is trying to do and whether you agree or disagree.
Then ask yourself why and explain these things. Freewriting is a great way to start getting
your ideas on paper and getting past that initial writer's block.
• When you finish, read back over what you have just written. Determine what your
strongest and most convincing reactions are. Prioritize your points.

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2.Decide on your angle.
Reaction papers must be critical and have some evaluation of the text. Otherwise,
you are just summarizing what you read. After freewriting, decide what your angle is.
Keep asking yourself the same questions as you craft a coherent reaction.
• Think about why the author has written the article or story as they have. Why did
he structure things in this way? How does this relate to the outside world?

3. Determine your thesis.

Now that you have completed your freewriting and found your angle, you can
now shape this into an argument. What interesting thing do you have to say about what
you just read? Start to state why what you said is interesting and important. This is the
core of your reaction paper. Take all your points, opinions, and observations, and
combine them into one claim that you will prove. This is your thesis.
4. Organize your paper.

Your paper should follow basic essay format. It needs an introduction, body
paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each body paragraph should directly support your thesis.
In each body paragraph, you should be reacting to a different portion of the text. Organize
your reactions together into a few common topics so you can write them into paragraphs.
• For example, if you are reacting to a theme in a book, you can split the
paragraphs into how the setting, antagonist, and figurative imagery
communicate the themes successfully or unsuccessfully.

5. Gather quotations.

After you organize your ideas into paragraphs, you need to find quotations that will
support your points. You must back up your claims with evidence from the text. Look at
your annotations for quotations that support your thesis.
• Draft paragraphs that introduce quotations, analyze them, and comment on
them.
6. Structure your paragraphs.
Your paragraphs should always start with a topic sentence. Then you have to decide
how to structure your paragraph. You can start with what the author says and follow that
with your reaction. Or you can start with the author and then follow with how your
reaction contrasts. You generally want to start with what the author says first and follow
it with your reaction.
• A good way to think about structuring your paragraph is: detail,
example/quotation, commentary/evaluation, repeat. Writing Your Final Draft

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 What I Have Learned

A Reaction/Review or a Critique Paper may be a response, or reaction,

to some style of prompt. The prompt is also a matter, a current, event, or a sort of media,
including movies or video clips. As a SHS (College) student, you're expected to think at
the next level, your instructor wants to grasp what you're thinking that supported what
you've got learned, so it's always an honest idea to incorporate references, whether or not
this implies only referencing your textbook.

A good reaction paper gives a fair and balance social commentary; provides
relevant and accurate factual information on the situation; exhibits by means of thorough
and in-depth analysis an appreciation of context (including time, place, people,
involvement, their motivation, and actuations); makes a clear distinction, through
language, between what is actual and what is probable or possible; exhibits a deep sense
of humanity and an understanding of the human situation even while expressing
disapproval or disagreement most intensely.

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 What I Can Do

Read the following example of a movie review (courtesy of

https://www.bigscreen.com/ReaderReview.php?movie=Titanic).

Parts of a Reaction Your

Paper reaction/comments

Introduction
"Titanic" is one of the best movies I have ever
An introduction, which seen, a three hour epic of a torn love
gives all the background relationship set against the sinking of the
information, such as the type "Titanic" in 1912. Director James Cameron
of the film, cast and the director, has made his best film, a $200 million love
main characters, and the setting. story with the most realistic visual effects I
have ever seen, along with the most
understandable story from a mainstream
director. Call it "Gone with The Wind on The
High Seas." This is by far the best major studio
film of the decade.

The film opens with an expedition crew, led

by Brock (Bill Paxton), diving down to the
wreck of Titanic off the coast of
Newfoundland. Finding a safe on the
wreck, believed to contain a priceless
diamond, the crew finds not the diamond but
a picture of a woman. The picture is
broadcast on TV, only to have the survivor,
the woman in that picture, Rose (Gloria
Stuart), phones the expedition crew and
claims that she is the woman in that picture.
She visits the crew and begins to tell them
the fate of the Titanic.

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Body

A main body, which deals with Then the film swoops right back to 1912,
the key plot elements as well where we meet Rose, as a 17 year old girl
as the comments on the acting, (played by Kate Winslet), arriving with her
directing and character rich as nuts fiancée Cal (Billy Zane) and
development. company to be, among others, on the first class
deck of the first ever sailing of the new Titanic
ship. On they go, and then we visit Jack
(Leonardo DiCaprio) on a hand of poker, with
his buddy (Danny Nucci). The prize: two
tickets on the "Titanic" for its sail to New
York. Jack hits a full house, and the two are
off, running to the almost leaving ship. They
are heading for third class.

The beautiful, massive boat sets sail, as we

learn more about Kate and her relationship to
her Cal (her mother has forced her to marry
him just for the money), which she desperately
wants out of and will even jump off the boat
to do it. Here is where she meets Jack, who
saves her life and is treated by the upmost
respect by Cal and company. So here is Jack,
a drifter from the third class, being invited to
a boring first-class dinner and conversation.
Jack kindly accepts, only to blow the
engagement halfway and take Rose down to a
fun Irish party. I love how these two scenes
were set up, and how the action of a blast of
an Irish party cut with a quiet first-class party.
(Not to mention getting a look at the steam
room, the heart of the ship, which is so
massive I cannon even get into detail)

Jack and Rose eventually fall for each other,

and their love is wonderful; finally Cameron
(who wrote the script) has gotten a real love
relationship down on film. The results are
beautiful, from the eroticism of Jack painting

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 that historical picture of Rose naked, to the
two having sex in the car she rode in on.

You know the whole "Titanic" legend, the

ship sails and sinks. But the latter half of the
movie is getting to see how this ship went
down. The ship hits an iceberg, the beginning
of the end. At first, even the viewer would
doubt that this little encounter with ice would
harm the ship. But it starts taking on water,
faster and faster, until the crew discover that
the boat will eventually sink like a stone.
Although you have a pretty good idea what
happens next, I will go no further, only to tell
you that the disaster of the Titanic on film is
the most horrifying I have ever seen, and the
most amazing.
Conclusion

A conclusion, which is mainly the I feel this is a good romantic movie. There are
opinion of the author about many good things about this movie such as the
whether the film is worth acting. The Acts in this movie were very good
watching in playing the parts of people form 1914. I also
liked the special effects of this movie and how
they based the story on fact or fiction. There
are a few things that I really did not like about
this movie One is the Gun which Roses
bodyguard is caring around the gun is a semi-
auto 9mmI do not think they were invented
until about 60 years later. Another thing is
how Jack never tries very hard to get on the
door with her. Overall, this was a very good
movie and I feel you should go see it in the
theater.

ACTIVITY: 1
Directions: Using the given example, write a review/reaction of your own
favorite movie. Be guided by the following rubric from Homework Market
.com at https://www.homeworkmarket.com/questions/diary-of-a-heroin-
addict .

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 Reaction Paper Grading Rubric

Name: Total Points: /50

Content: Topic Background (10 points): __________

Topic background and connection to course content (lecture notes, text) are covered
thoroughly, clearly, and accurately

Content: Opinions & points of view (10 points): __________

At least three key points made by speaker or film were addressed thoroughly, clearly, and
accurately

Content: New info learned (10 points): __________

At least three new pieces of information were described • Opinion of speaker or film was
discussed, along with reasons for your opinion

Writing (15 points): __________

Grammar, punctuation, and spelling are correct
Logical progression of sentence structure and paragraph Structure

ACTIVITY 2:

Your reaction matters. Look at the

Facebook posts (it may be a work of art,
an event, or a program) in the first
column. Decide whether they are Fake
News or Real News. Choose an emoji that
describes your reaction, then write a
comment in the opposite column.

https://www.republicworld.com/technology-news/apps/how-to-get-react-care-on-facebook-new-hug-reaction-on-facebook.html

Example:
Reaction: Haha- FAKE NEWS ALERT! Kahit
Pasko ay hindi palalampasin ng mga fake newsmakers na
ito. May hinahabol na quota? Bullying is a SERIOUS and
SENSITIVE issue that should never be condoned. I hope
this shouldn’t distract us from doing what is right: ending
the vicious cycle of violence.

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 61608466580657

https://jphmpdirect.com/2020/03/25/social-distancing-isnt-working- https://www.facebook.com/ONENewsPH/photos/a.392361604 for-some-

young-people-why-not/ 503065/545528899186334/?type=1&theater

1. 2.

https://memebuster.net/world-bank-approving-p500-dutertes-ph https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/school-coronavirus- vaccine-

duterte-200526084102106.

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 Answer Key

References
DepEd (2016). K to 12 Curriculum Guide. English for Academic and
Professional Purposes

DepEd (2016) English for Academic and Professional Purposes Teacher’s Guide First Edition

Ezez. 2020. Aresearchguide.com.

https://www.aresearchguide.com/write-reaction-paper.html

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