Term Paper

The teacher would want to discover two things from the student:

1. what the student learned

2. what is the reaction to what was learned

The reaction paper is tied not only to the mind of the author of the article being read but also the student who writes it as well. The student must own the reaction paper and not merely describe in a detached way what was read. Yes there is the objective (i.e., based on facts and not merely opinion) side which is the literature being read but there is also the subjective (i.e., based on somebody's feelings or opinions) which is the student's reaction to what was read. One of the most important things to remember is to get a good grasp of the article. A haphazard reading would always result in a haphazard reaction paper.

Writing the Introduction of the Reaction Paper

It would surprise the student to find out that the parts of the reaction paper are the usual "introduction, body and conclusion." However, student would oftentimes ask, "What to write where?"

An "introduction" has three elements:

* Description: A description of the literature to which you are reacting.

* Summary of the Article.: These are two to three sentences summarizing the literature.

* Thesis: This is your reaction to the summary.

The "description" is merely referencing what you just read. For example, you might open your introduction with: "This is a reaction paper on the chapter "The Emerging Church Profile" found in D.A. Carson's book Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005), pages 11-44." The function of this element is that it introduces to the teacher about what you are reacting.

The "summary of the article" is a quick two-to-three-sentence summary of the article. This launches your reaction paper to serious business. A good summary announces to the teacher that this reaction paper is treated with serious scholarly goals. An example of a summary would be, "The chapter surveys the reforms that...