The Reader Response

Lots of bits and pieces go into developing good critical reading skills. One of these is the reader response journal, in which you—the reader—create an informal piece of writing that discusses your interactions with your “partner”—the text.

When you write a reader response journal, you literally respond to what you’ve read. In doing this, you give voice to your ideas and impressions as you identify details, grapple with symbolic meanings, and began to uncover the tools used by the author. In doing so, you “talk back” to the text and increase your own understanding of its elements. You become a better critical reader, and you'll be better able to understand and recall what you read.

Note: a reader response doesn’t include summary (a “nutshelling” of the piece’s content), nor does it include analysis (where you ponder the author’s meaning or intentions in writing the piece.) A reader response is 100% subjective: it focuses on your response to the reading. Since this is a casual piece of writing, you’ll use first person.

Here are some ideas to consider in the response:

• What is the writer saying?
• What is the main idea?
• How are the ideas presented?
• Is this a familiar theme, or something new?
• How does it make you feel?
• Did you like the piece? Why or why not?
• Is there a cultural or historical link or context? Does this remind you of anything?
• What is the writer’s purpose?
• What is the writer saying about people, laws, beliefs, ethics, values, etc.?
• How does the writer use such concrete techniques as voice, sentence structure, vocabulary, etc., to make her point?
• How does the writer use stylistic methods—setting, tone, point of view, dialect, etc.—to support the overall effect of the piece?
• What symbolism do you find, and what does it mean?
• How does imagery support the main ideas?
• What is confusing?
• What don’t you understand?