The primary purpose of these reaction essays is to think through aspects of the reading that interest you or stuck out to you. Please avoid summarizing the readings; while I do want you to demonstrate that you have read the material, I am much more interested in hearing what you thought about it and what you would like to talk about. There is one other important rule for these reaction essays:
You must stick to a one-page limit; essays that spill beyond the limit will not be accepted! This means that you will have to express yourself with efficiency if you are going to say something substantial and interesting—which is the goal. Essays are to be double-spaced and in a reasonable type size (12 point) and font (Times New Roman is good) with 1 inch margins.
A good reaction essay will begin with a brief and succinct summary of the most important arguments of the piece. Don’t waste time summarizing the events; summarize the argument or goal of the source; why it matters. Then, pick one or two key sentences, arguments, revelations, themes, etc. to react to:
-What is the point of the argument, or what is the importance of the primary source?
-What is the author saying or what are they trying to hide in their piece?
-What does this reveal about this moment of history?
As you can see, I’ve kept these vague, and these are only suggestions. This is an opportunity to sit with the text, to absorb them, to learn from them, to understand them, and to accept and examine the things you do not know or do not understand in the text.
