Here’s how to write a short paper. First, do the reading from Dear America. Then you have to choose what your response to their reading will look like.
Your response could include:
- Questions for class discussion
- Your opinion on a topic the writer brought up
- A summary of what you read
- Observations about what you read
- A list of topics you think the piece covered
- Questions you might have for the author
- An interesting tangent inspired by the piece
- Something you researched about the author
- Something you researched about the topic
You could:
- Share a relevant experience from your life
- Share relevant information from other courses you’re taking
- Share insights you had while reading
- Connect what you read to a topic we discussed in class
- Explore a worthwhile tangent
- Ask questions about things you didn’t understand in the reading
- Critique the text
- Analyze some part of the text that seemed interesting
- Relate the reading to current events
- Relate the reading to environmental issues
Most of the time your response will be a full page of writing, done on a computer. Single-space the lines, but double-space between paragraphs.
There are exceptions to this, of course. Sometimes your response might be a work of art. Or you might want to write your own Letter to America.
Special thanks to Janine DeBaise, Terrain.org education editor, for assembling these resources.
