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How to Write a Reaction Paper?

PART 1: A SUMMARY OF THE WORK

To develop the first part of a report, do the following:

• Identify the author and title of the work and include in parentheses the publisher and publication date. For magazines, give the date of publication.
• Write an informative summary of the material.
• Condense the content of the work by highlighting its main points and key supporting points.
• Use direct quotations from the work to illustrate important ideas.
• Summarize the material so that the reader gets a general sense of all key aspects of the original work.
• Do not discuss in great detail any single aspect of the work, and do not neglect to mention other equally important points.
• Also, keep the summary objective and factual. Do not include in the first part of the paper your personal reaction to the work; your subjective impression will form the basis of the second part of your paper.

PART 2: YOUR REACTION TO THE WORK

To develop the second part of a report, do the following:

• Focus on any or all of the following questions. Check with your instructor to see if s/he wants you to emphasize specific points.
• How is the assigned work related to ideas and concerns discussed in the course for which you are preparing the paper? For example, what points made in the course textbook, class discussions, or lectures are treated more fully in the work?
• How is the work related to problems in our present-day world?
• How is the material related to your life, experiences, feelings and ideas? For instance, what emotions did the work arouse in you?
• Did the work increase your understanding of a particular issue? Did it change your perspective in any way?
• Evaluate the merit of the work: the importance of its points, its accuracy, completeness, organization, and so on.
• You should also indicate here whether or not you would recommend the work to others, and why.

POINTS OF CONSIDERATION WHEN WRITING THE REPORT

Here are some important elements to consider as you prepare a report:

• Apply the four basic standards of effective writing (unity, support, coherence, and clear, error-free sentences) when writing the report.
• Make sure each major paragraph presents and then develops a single main point. For example, in the sample report that follows, the first paragraph summarizes the book, and the three paragraphs that follow detail three separate reactions of the student writer to the book. The student then closes the report with a short concluding paragraph.
• Support any general points you make or attitudes you express with specific reasons and details. Statements such as “I agree with many ideas in this article” or “I found the book very interesting” are meaningless without specific evidence that shows why you feel as you do. Look at the sample report closely to see how the main point or topic sentence of each paragraph is developed by specific supporting evidence.
• Organize your material. Follow the basic plan of organization explained above: a summary of one or more paragraphs, a reaction of two or more paragraphs, and a conclusion. Also, use transitions to make the relationships among ideas in the paper clear.
• Edit the paper carefully for errors in grammar, mechanics, punctuation, word use, and spelling.
• Cite paraphrased or quoted material from the book or article you are writing about, or from any other works, by using the appropriate documentation style. If you are unsure what documentation style is required or recommended, ask you instructor.
• You may use quotations in the summary and reaction parts of the paper, but do not rely on them too much. Use them only to emphasize key ideas.
• Publishing information can be incorporated parenthetically or at the bottom of the page in a footnote. Consult with your instructor to determine what publishing information is necessary and where it should be placed.

Source:
http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/rwc/handouts/the-writing-process-1/invention/Writing-a-Response-or-Reaction-Paper

Blogger: Shientany Roque

What is a Reaction Paper?

The reaction paper is a fairly new type of critical writing. It can be defined as a piece of reactive writing which is written as a response to one or multiple texts. These texts may include lessons, projects, complete courses, films, to mention but a few. A reaction paper also applies to the production of learning journals. In other words, the reaction paper supplies answers to such questions as what its writer did, why he/she did it, what was experienced in the process, how the writer benefited from it or what was the effect or result of his/her performing a particular learning activity. The reaction paper thus encapsulates previous action (whether verbal or nonverbal) and can accordingly be classified as a type of summary.

The reaction paper bears some resemblance to a critical summary, the latter being, however, more pointedly based and prompted by the source texts which it reports, evaluates and discusses. These three major speech acts of reporting identified and described various kinds of speech acts as manifestations of interpretation displayed in critical summaries and book reviews.

According to the University of the Philippines

A Reaction/Review or a Critique Paper is a response, or reaction, to some sort of prompt.

• The prompt may be a question, a current, event, or a form of media, including movies or video clips.
• As a SHS (College) student, you are expected to think at a higher level, your instructor wants to know what you think based on what you have learned, so it is always a good idea to include references, even if this means only referencing your textbook.

A Reaction Paper should NOT:

• a stream of consciousness paper
• include a lot of “I think”, “I feel”, or “I believe” statements
• use the pronoun “you”
• be autobiographical papers about why you like or do not like something
• simple repeating what the authors has already said

A Reaction Paper is MUST:

• a reaction to something you have read or seen
• be organized
• have citations and references
• include your opinions but be careful to support your opinions with evidences
• summarize what you are reaction to in the beginning of the paper
• explain your reaction(s) to the topic and explain why you think this way about the topic
• judge, analyze, or evaluate the issues of the topic
• identify and discuss the polarizing issues of the topic

References:

https://journal.fi/afinlavk/article/view/59845/20857
Swales, Feak (2014): Academic Writing for College Students, University of The Philippines, Diliman Campus and IELTS Press (2015)

Blogger: Lady Lyh Villena

Referencing secondary source

The Publication Manual advises that secondary sources should be used sparingly, such as when an original work is out of print. In these instances you may want to quote or paraphrase a source (A) that is referred to within another source (B). You should not cite source A as though you read the original work. You must cite source A through the secondary source (B) which you actually read.

For example, the book you are using is written by Smith who quotes another author called Jones. In your essay you wish to use Jones’ idea. In-text you should acknowledge both the primary source (Jones) and secondary source (Smith) as follows:

Jones (as cited in Smith, 2009) agreed that the experiment failed to confirm this hypothesis.
or
The experiment failed to confirm this hypothesis (Jones, as cited in Smith, 2009).

Two authors

Reference list  
Copstead, L., & Banasik, J. (2005). Pathophysiology (3rd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Saunders.  

In-text citation  
Copstead and Banasik (2005) stated that… or
It is suggested that… (Copstead & Banasik, 2005).  

Three to five authors

In-text citation  
Note: In the first citation give all authors and in subsequent citations give first author et al.:

First citation:
Schneider, Whitehead, and Elliot (2007) showed that… or
…is demonstrated (Schneider, Whitehead & Elliott, 2007).
Subsequent citations:
Schneider et al. (2007) showed that …. or
…is demonstrated (Schneider et al., 2007). 

Six or more authors

In-text citation
Note: When citing six or more authors in text give the name of the first author and abbreviate the others to et al. (“and others”) in the first and subsequent citations.

Gilbert et al. (2003) found… or  
This has indicated… (Gilbert et al., 2003).

No author

In-text citation  
The Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (1993, p. 11) defines… or
…can be defined as… (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 1993, p.11).

Note: When giving a title in the text capitalize all major words.

Chapter, article or section in a book

In-text citation
Knowles (1986) demonstrated that… or
This independent study showed… (Knowles, 1986). 

E-book

In-text citation  
Storey (2004) stated that… or
Functional metabolism is… (Storey, 2004).

Reference:
https://library.westernsydney.edu.au/main/sites/default/files/pdf/cite_APA.pdf

Blogger: Lord Glenn De Asis

About the APA style

The American Psychological Association (APA) style is a widely used author-date system of referencing or bibliographic citation. This guide covers basic explanations and examples for the most common types of citations used by students. This guide is based on the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition).

In-text citation: Referencing sources within the text

Throughout the text of your paper you need to acknowledge the sources used in your writing. Whenever you present a statement of evidence such as a quote, or when you use someone else’s ideas, opinions or theories in your own words (paraphrasing), you must acknowledge your sources.

Some Examples of How to Cite Sources

• If you use the name of the author(s) in your writing, place the year of publication of the work in parentheses after the author’s name.

Mullane (2006) conducted research into the effect of…

• If you refer to a work in the text of your paper, place the author’s last name and the year of publication of the work in parentheses at the end of the sentence.

The research conclusively proved a correlation between the results (Mullane, 2006).  

• If you directly quote fewer then 40 words, enclose the quotation by double quotation marks within the text. The year of publication of the work along with the page number(s)* of the quote should be provided in parentheses.

Mullane (2006) referred to this correlation as a “statistical anomaly” (p. 118), contributing…. or It was found that the correlation was a “statistical anomaly” (Mullane, 2006, p. 118).

• When there are no page numbers, but the sources contains headings or numbered paragraphs, use a section name or paragraph number, e.g. Jones (2008, Introduction section) or Roberts (2008, para. 5).

• If the paragraphs are not numbered, cite the heading and the number of the paragraph following the heading, e.g. Anderson (2005, Discussion section, para. 2)

• If the quotation is greater than 40 words it should be displayed in a double-spaced, indented block (1.3 cm) without quotation marks. }

Mullane (2006) stated that: If any similar qualitative research is to be undertaken in the future, then stringent controls should be put in place to ensure such statistical anomalies do not occur through lack of methodological rigor, particularly through corruption of data inadequately stored and processed (p. 66).  

• If you use more than one source to write a statement in your paper, the citation can be presented using semi-colons between works as follows:

Separate sources, different authors:
…and a number of studies have shown identical results (Sanders, 2008; Smith, 2009).

Two or more publications by the same author:
It was found that…(Smith, 2000, 2004)

Please note that when a source has been cited (with author and year) earlier in the paragraph, subsequent narrative mentions of the source in the same paragraph do not need to include the year. The rule only applies where the citation could not be confused with another in the paragraph and should only be used in instances when the name is given in the narrative. e.g.

• First citation in the paragraph: Smith (2009) explained that……
• Subsequent citations within the paragraph: Smith also suggested…

In-text citation  
Note: When citing six or more authors in text give the name of the first author and abbreviate the others to et al. (“and others”) in the first and subsequent citations.

Gilbert et al. (2003) found… or
This has indicated… (Gilbert et al., 2003).

Reference:
https://library.westernsydney.edu.au/main/sites/default/files/pdf/cite_APA.pdf

Blogger: Gwendelou Galang

What is Paraphrasing?

To state something written or spoken in different words,  especially in a shorter and simpler form to make the meaning clearer.

According to Long Beach City College

Paraphrasing is restating a passage in simpler language. In order to paraphrase well, you must read the passage carefully, understand the meaning of the passage, and rewrite the passage in your own words. This process will help you improve both your reading and writing skills, for it forces you to read the passage closely and allows you to practice your writing skills.

It is important to remember two things when you are writing a paraphrase. The well-written paraphrase has the same meaning as the original passage and is approximately the same length.

How to Paraphrase a Written Passage

• Preview and read. Preview and read the passage closely. You will need to read the passage three or four times for thorough understanding.
• Underline the key words. Underlining key words will help you decide what is important in each sentence and, consequently, in the entire passage. Remember to look up any words you do not know.
• Rewrite the passage in your own words. Go through the selection and rewrite each sentence, using different words with the same meaning.
• Read the paraphrase aloud, correcting any mistakes. To check for a well-written paraphrase, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Is the paraphrase approximately the same length as the original passage?
2. Has any part of the passage been copied word for word? (If so, then you must rewrite this part.)
3. Does the paraphrase have the same meaning as the passage?

This process will help you improve both your reading and writing skills, for it forces you to read the passage closely and allows you to practice your writing skills.

Examples of Paraphrasing

Example 1

Original: Exercise can help a lot in alleviating stress – that is a known fact. Exercise is a good way of reducing stress, and cardiovascular exercise is recommended for about 15 to 30 minutes, thrice or four times a week. Several studies have indicated the effects of exercise in handling stress. The activity can release endorphins to the bloodstream.

Paraphrased: Exercise is a good way to get rid of stress. It is also a perfect way of lowering stress levels, while cardiovascular exercises that can be done three or four times a week for about 15 to 30 minutes is highly suggested. Research shows that there are positive effects of exercise in dealing with stress. It can help in releasing endorphins in the body.

Example 2

Original: Dogs can provide great assistance to both children and elderly people in their daily activities. Since dogs are active pets, they can also prove to be the perfect buddies during exercise. There are different types of dogs that you can choose from to make as pets.

Paraphrase: Dogs offer help to the elderly and children in their daily life. Dogs are active pets, providing to be great exercise buddies. There are various breeds of dogs that you can select from for your pets.

References:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/ https://www.lbcc.edu/sites/main/files/file-attachments/paraphrasing.pdf

Blogger: Lorenzo Melendres

Copyright

Intended to provide protection for original works of authorship. This includes literary works, musical works, graphic works, architectural works and other forms of artistic expression. A common-law copyright is created as soon as the work is “fixed” in tangible form.

Underlying Ideas Not Protected

Copyrighting protects only the expression of an idea, not the idea itself. For example, if the author of a book describing how to practice a certain process obtains a copyright on the book, no protection of the process described in the book will result from the copyright registration. The copyright protects the way in which the process is described, not the process itself.

Copyright Infringement

• Is a violation of an individual or organization’s copyright. It describes the unauthorized use of copyrighted material, such as text, photos, videos, music, software, and other original content.

OTHER USES OF COPYRIGHT

A copyright also can be permissibly used for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching scholarship or research. The courts have yet to come up with a clear test for determining exactly what fits into this exception, but they consider whether the use is commercial, the nature of the copyrighted work, how much of the work was copied and the effect of the use on the market.

MORE ABOUT COPYRIGHTS

Copyright grants the creator a set of rights to protect their work:

• The right to PRODUCE the work.
• The right to REPRODUCE the work in copies.
• The right to PERFORM the work publicly.
• The right to DISPLAY the work.
• The right to BROADCAST the work digitally

Copyright Law also protects the creator from others who might be doing the same without permission, attribution, or payment.

Examples of Infringement

• Downloading and sharing MP3 files of music, videos and games without permission of the copyright owner.
• Using corporate logos without permission.
• Scanning a photograph that has been published and using it without permission or attribution.

References:

https://www.getlegal.com/legal-info-center/copyrighting/ https://it.brown.edu/sites/it/files/Copyright_FAQ_Undergraduates.pdf https://techterms.com/definition/copyright_infringement

Blogger: Nigel Ann Belen

Different Types of Plagiarism

Direct Plagiarism 

• Direct plagiarism is the word-for-word transcription of a section of someone else’s work, without attribution and without quotation marks. The deliberate plagiarism of someone else’s work is unethical, academically dishonest, and grounds for disciplinary actions, including expulsion.

Self Plagiarism

• Self-plagiarism occurs when a student submits his or her own previous work, or mixes parts of previous works, without permission from all professors involved. For example, it would be unacceptable to incorporate part of a term paper you wrote in high school into a paper assigned in a college course. Self-plagiarism also applies to submitting the same piece of work for assignments in different classes without previous permission from both professors.

Mosaic Plagiarism

• Mosaic Plagiarism occurs when a student borrows phrases from a source without using quotation marks, or finds synonyms for the author’s language while keeping to the same general structure and meaning of the original. Sometimes called “patch writing,” this kind of paraphrasing, whether intentional or not, is academically dishonest and punishable – even if you footnote your source .

Accidental Plagiarism

• Accidental plagiarism occurs when a person neglects to cite their sources, or misquotes their sources, or unintentionally paraphrases a source by using similar words, groups of words, and/or sentence structure without attribution. Students must learn how to cite their sources and to take careful and accurate notes when doing research. Lack of intent does not absolve the student of responsibility for plagiarism. Cases of accidental plagiarism are taken as seriously as any other plagiarism and are subject to the same range of consequences as other types of plagiarism.

References:

•Bowdoin College , retrieved September 30, 2019 from:

https://www.bowdoin.edu/dean-of-students/judicial-board/academic-honesty-and-plagiarism/common-types-of-plagiarism.html

Blogger: Erwin Villareal

What is Plagiarism?

According to University of Policy on Academic Integrity

Plagiarism is defined as the use of work or concepts contributed by other individuals without proper attribution or citation. Unique ideas or materials taken from another source for either written or oral use must be fully acknowledged in academic work to be graded. Examples of sources expected to be referenced include but are not limited to:

• Text, either written or spoken, quoted directly or paraphrased.
• Graphic elements.
• Passages of music, existing either as sound or as notation.
• Mathematical proofs.
• Scientific data.

According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, to “plagiarize” means:

• to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own
• to use (another’s production) without crediting the source
• to commit literary theft
• to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source

According to University of Cambridge

Plagiarism is defined as submitting as one’s own work, irrespective of intent to deceive, that which derives in part or in its entirety from the work of others without due acknowledgement. It is both poor scholarship and a breach of academic integrity.

Plagiarism can occur in respect to all types of sources and media:

• text, illustrations, musical quotations, mathematical derivations, computer code, etc;
• material downloaded from websites or drawn from manuscripts or other media;
• published and unpublished material, including lecture handouts and other students’ work.

Examples of Plagiarism

Include copying (using another person’s language and/or ideas as if they are a candidate’s own), by:

• quoting verbatim another person’s work without due acknowledgement of the source;
• paraphrasing another person’s work by changing some of the words, or the order of the words, without due acknowledgement of the source;
• using ideas taken from someone else without reference to the originator;
• cutting and pasting from the Internet to make a pastiche of online sources;
• submitting someone else’s work as part of a candidate’s own without identifying clearly who did the work. For example, buying or commissioning work via professional agencies such as ‘essay banks’ or ‘paper mills’, or not attributing research contributed by others to a joint project

Preventing Plagiarism When Writing

• Consult with your instructor
• Plan your paper
• Take effective notes
• When in doubt, cite sources
• Make it clear who said what
• Know how to paraphrase

References:
http://www.cmu.edu/policies/student-and-student-life/academic-integrity.html https://www.plagiarism.org/article/what-is-plagiarism http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/plagiarism/students/statement.html http://www.plagiarism.org/plagiarism-101/prevention/ https://www.cmu.edu/academic-integrity/defining/plagiarism.html https://www.indiana.edu/~istd/examples.html

Blogger: Shientany Roque

A thesis statement is a single sentence, preferably a simple declarative sentence, that express the basic idea around which the paper will develop.

Why include a Thesis Statement?

The thesis statement declares the main purpose of the entire paper. It should answer the questions: “What is my opinion on the subject? What am I going to illustrate or define or argue in this paper?” it is the single most useful organizational tool for both the writer and the reader.

Characteristics of a Thesis Statement

CLEAR

• The thesis statement should be phrased in words that permit only one interpretation. Verbs made up of is or are plus a vague complement, such as good or interesting, are too imprecise to be useful. Also, avoid sentences with subordinate clauses.

RESTRICTED

• A thesis statement is restricted if it sticks with the topic and do not go over far beyond. It also give a more relative and clear scope of the topic.

PRECISE

• A well-thought-out thesis statement controls and directs the paper; it indicates both the writer’s purpose and attitude. Here, clarity and precision are preferred to effect

A Thesis Statement is NOT:

• A thesis statement is not an argument.
• A thesis statement is not introduced by an opinion phrase such as I think, I feel, I believe.
• A thesis statement is not a statement of fact.
• A thesis statement is not a question.
• A thesis statement is not a quote.

References:
https://www.roanestate.edu/owl/Thesis-Statements.html

Blogger: Lady Lyh Villena

A summary is a synthesis of the key ideas of a piece of writing, restated in your own words – i.e., paraphrased.  You may write a summary as a stand-alone assignment or as part of a longer paper.  Whenever you summarize, you must be careful not to copy the exact wording of the original source.

How to Create a Good Summary

A good summary:

• Identifies the writer of the original text.
• Synthesizes the writer’s key ideas.
• Presents the information neutrally.

Summaries can vary in length.  Follow the directions given by your instructor for how long the summary should be.

Guideline in Summarizing

• Write in the present tense.
• Make sure to include the author, the year, and title of the work.

For Example:

1. In Pixar’s 2003 movie, Finding Nemo…
2. In Stephen Kings horror book The Shining (1977),…
3. In Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death (1890),”

• Be consice: a summary should not be equal in length to the original text; it should be about 1/10 as long.
• Include 2-3 main points of the text or work.
• Include the conclusion of the final finding of the work.
• Avoid using quotations. A summary is not a paraphrase or a direct quote. If you must use the author’s key words or phrases, always enclose them in quotation marks and cite.
• Don’t put your own opinions, ideas, or interpretations into the summary. The purpose of writing a summary is to accurately represent what the author wanted to say, not to provide a critique.

Example of Summarizing

Original Text:

“…there are two ways to become wealthy: to create wealth or to take wealth away from others. The former adds to society. The latter typically subtracts from it, for in the process of taking it away, wealth gets destroyed. A monopolist who overcharges for his product takes away money from those whom he is overcharging and at the same time destroys value. To get his monopoly price, he has to restrict production.”

– Stiglitz, J.E. (2013). The price of inequality. London: Penguin.

Summary:

Stiglitz (2013) suggests that creating wealth adds value to society, but that taking away the wealth of others detracts from it. He uses the example of a monopolist who overcharges for his product resulting in loss of wealth for the customer, but also loss of value as the monopolist has to restrict production in order to charge the higher price.

References:

Massachussetts Institute of Technology Summarizing. July 3,2018 Retrieved from:

• https://integrity.mit.edu/handbook/academic-writing/summarizing
• https://awc.ashford.edu/cd-guidelines-for-summarizing.html

Blogger: Lord Glenn De Asis