English 2850 Smith
The Reader Response Letter
Purpose: The reader Response Letter is intended to guide us through the in-class workshop sessions and to articulate constructively what readers identify as 1) particularly interesting in a piece of writing and 2) the areas that merit attention, reworking, more thought, etc.
Your task: You will receive drafts from three classmates, read them over the weekend, and write an informal letter, addressed directly to the author of the draft you’ve read, of about 1-1 ½ pages long (typed and double spaced). Please make two copies of each letter; you’ll give one to the author and one to me.
Here’s what I’d like you to include in your letter:
It’s a good idea to start off your discussion of the author’s work by noting what you as reader like, what you find interesting, thought-provoking, promising. Mention specific passages or sentences that you especially like.
Then, comment on the following four points (be sure to cover all four):
1. What’s this essay about? What is its main idea or message (if it has one)? As odd as it might sound, don’t assume that the author knows yet what her or his own writing is really about. At the draft stage, writers are trying to express and even discover a main idea; that idea might come at the end, in the middle, or in the beginning—in one place, in two places. Help the author figure out what the main idea or point is, from your perspective.
2. Comment on how the author handles evidence. Where does the author need more evidence or concrete examples to make the writing more vivid or persuasive?
3. Comment on one of these suggestions from Zinsser (chose the one you think is most relevant to the draft at hand):
a. Do you feel that the writing is alive, human, and/or warm, (5)? Does the writing sound “relaxed and genuine” (19)?
b. Is the writer being careful or shoddy in constructing his/her sentences (last paragraph page 8)? Give concrete examples.
c. Is the writer avoiding unnecessary “clutter” (page 15)? Give concrete examples.
d. Is the writing being careful about word choice? Has he or she demonstrated a respect and curiosity for their “shades of meaning” (32) and/or the “rhythm” and sounds they contribute to (35)? Give concrete examples.
4. On the author’s draft, mark a sentence that you feel is an example of elegant, clear prose. Mark a sentence that you feel could be more clearly or elegantly written. In your letter, explain why you’ve chosen to make these two sentences.