Responding to a Writing Prompt - Home



Responding to a Writing Prompt

One Page Reference Guide[1]

Students should get in the habit of asking critical questions that will help them understand and prepare for a formal writing assignment. Even though prompts provide language that help direct students’ thinking, students must analyze the prompt in order to respond accurately and effectively. The following questions will help students work through and respond to complex writing prompts.

What am I supposed to do as a writer when I respond to this prompt?

• Does the prompt ask me to make an argument, inform my readers about a particular issue, or describe an event? Do I have to explain the significance of a particular topic? If you don’t understand what it is you’re being asked to do, seek clarification.

What am I expected to cover in this paper?

• What content should I include?

From which perspective or persona am I being asked to write this paper?

• Does the prompt ask me to speak from a particular perspective? Should I write this paper as an ordinary student or someone else? Some prompts will ask young writers to take on the persona of celebrities, leaders, government officials, etc.

Who is my audience?

• To whom am I writing this paper (an organization, the mayor, a city council member, or some other individual or group)? What language is most appropriate for my audience? What does my audience know and or believe?

What type of text am I being asked to write? What do I know about this genre?

• Am I being asked to write a business letter or a personal statement? How about a book review? You might want to ask your teacher about the writing type, specifically how to organize the content.

Does the prompt ask me to use sources? If so, what sources should I use?

• Does the prompt specify whether the sources should be primary or secondary? What types of sources are appropriate? How many should I use?

Does the prompt tell me to focus on a specific text?

• What does the prompt ask me to consider? How should I focus my analysis? How many elements and or strategies am I being asked to analyze?

Are there clues in the prompt that will help me organize my paper?

• Does the prompt use transition words? Is there a series of questions to consider? Does it make sense to discuss a specific portion of the prompt first, second, and third?

Focused Note-taking for a Single Source

Student Activity

|What is my reading purpose or prompt? |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

|Background Information for the Source |

| | |

|What is the title of my source? Who is the | |

|author? | |

| | |

|Is my source a primary or secondary source? How | |

|do I know? | |

| | |

|Complete bibliographic information | |

|(Ask your teacher for proper citation format or | |

|refer to your writer’s handbook) | |

| | |

| | |

|Historical Context | |

|(Refer to student reference on page ) | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

|Rhetorical Context | |

|(Refer to student reference on page ) | |

| | |

| | |

Focused Note-taking for a Single Source

Student Activity (2 of 2)

| |

|Note-taking Guide: One Source/ Multiple Topics |

|Topic, Focus, or Purpose |Source Material: Quotations, Paraphrase, Summary| |

| | |Analysis relating to the prompt |

|Topic/ Purpose 1: | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

|Topic/ Purpose 2: | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

|Topic/ Purpose 3: | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

-----------------------

[1] This reference guide has been adopted from AVID College Readiness (ACR) curriculum.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download