What is a Short Response Essay?
Oftentimes you will not be assigned not a long-form, multiple-paragraph essay, but rather a shorter response that’s either due before the end of class or the next day. Here’s how to master it.
Style Guide
Hooking Things Together With Bridges
Bridges are like the glue that connect the different parts of a paragraph together.
Closer – Let’s Land This Thing!
A single sentence or two at the end of the paragraph is usually all that is needed to wrap the response up and make it feel finished.
Mastering the Short Response Hook
The purpose of the hook is to guide the reader into the topic smoothly, while at the same time creating engagement and context.
Interpretation – Please, Allow Me To Explain.
Interpretation might also be thought of as commentary, insight analysis, opinion, personal reaction, explanation or evaluation. It is what makes the essay yours.
Research Details – The Art of Presenting Evidence
Research details are the proof, the evidence and the text in a text-based argument. They give the essayist something to talk about.
Bring on the Bridges?
In a multiple-paragraph essay, a bridge can connect a paragraph to another paragraph or it can connect two, transitioning ideas within the same paragraph together.
Interpretation: The Art of Explaining
Interpretation might also be thought of as commentary, insight, analysis, opinion, personal reaction, explanation, or evaluation. What’s most important is that interpretation comes from you.
The Research Detail
The RD can be a statistic, a quote from a piece of literature or an important scientific fact. It can be the results found in a survey, an anecdote, a line from a poem or any other form of evidence.
The Body Closer
Once you have completed all the parts that make up your body paragraph, it is important to inform your reader that you’re finished and ready to move on to the next section.