Text response skills and thematic essays
To write a good text response essay, you need to think about the characters and themes and
- identify the concepts relating to the topic (topic sentences);
- show a good grasp of factual / textual details as well as insightful interpretation of key evidence/quotes from the text; show how and why characters act and react as they do.
- Identify the key concepts/topic sentences that relate clearly to the prompt/topic.
- Identify the evidence/ key information from the text that bests reveals how the character thinks and feels/ acts (in relation to the concept)
- Find 3 quotes and explain/ evaluate in detail: how and why the character acts, reacts and responds in this way.. Dig Deep Dive. (Show the character’s conflict)
- Literary devices: If possible analyse the author’s intentions: contrasts, character comparisons; ambiguities; contradictions;
See: Prompt: Belonging to a group is essential to one’s sense of self
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