How to Write
Response to Literature
╬ READ: First read the story for insight. As you read, highlight parts of the selection or write
notes in the margin to help you think about what you are reading. For example, you might want
to highlight important ideas/quotes, and any ideas related to setting, character, conflict,
foreshadowing or other literary elements.
╬ PICK AN APPROACH TO REVIEWING THE STORY: Read over the list below and pick
a category to explore in your response.
○ CHARACTER: One approach is to analyze one or more characters in terms of their
characteristics and development in the story. Reread the story, noting information about
the character(s) you have chosen: way of talking; thoughts; actions; values, beliefs,
motives, goals; relations with other characters; differences from and similarities to other
characters. Your goal is to understand the character(s) you are analyzing as fully as
possible.
○ SETTING: The physical setting of a story often can be a productive starting point for
interpreting a story. Think about the physical setting of a story: where and when the
events take place; whether the setting changes; how the writer presents the setting; what
mood the setting creates; whether the setting causes, reflects, or contradicts the
characters‟ actions, values, or moods. Your goal is to understand what impact the setting
has on the story as a whole.
○ THEME: Many literary themes are familiar and reoccur often. Some themes are:
journey for something of value; overcoming an obstacle; coming of age; relations
between generations, genders racial or ethnic groups, children and parents, employees
and owners; good vs. evil. Your goal in this approach is to find a theme in the story and
then write a response that shows how that theme reveals an understanding of the author’s
message.
○ STRUCTURE: Exploring the structure of a story can lead to insights about the story. In
this approach you will examine what clues, details, or repetitions the author gives to
advance the plot of the story. Look for elements such as foreshadowing, conflict, points
of suspense, climax and resolution to analyze how the author arranges the story. Your
goal in this approach is to analyze the sequence of events in a story and how the story
gets told.
╬ FIND A THESIS: Review your notes and list any ideas that you now have that say something
about the story‟s meaning and significance. Write a thesis about the story‟s meaning. See
sample essay for an example of a well-written thesis.
╬ FIND & ORGANIZE YOUR EVIDENCE: Find evidence that supports your thesis and then
organize how you will use that evidence in your writing. Dialogue, events, quotes, descriptive
details, key words and images are commonly used as textual evidence in a response to literature
essay.
╬ PREWRITE: Develop a plan for your draft. You might use an outline, a graphic organizer or
a list of key points
╬ WRITE: After you have completed the above steps, you are ready to write. Remember, your
essay MUST BE WRITTEN IN THIRD PERSON ONLY! The goal of interpreting a piece of
literature is to present your interpretation and support the interpretation with textual evidence.
BE DIRECT, USE QUOTES FROM THE STORY and EXPLAIN YOUR IDEAS FULLY.
Created by Mr. Victor
1
Last Revised 2/2/12
Response to Literature
Checklist
Quick Check for the Writer
_____
Essay does not assume the reader has read the story.
_____ Introduction has one central idea that leads from Hook to GDT to Thesis.
_____ Summarizes the work for readers who have not read it in the GDT—So,
the GDT: Must include Author, Title, and brief summary of the story.
_____
State your thesis or argument clearly.
_____ Organize the main parts of your argument in a logical way.
_____ Build your argument by quoting, paraphrasing, or summarizing specific
parts of the story.
_____ Make clear connections between your ideas and evidence by explaining how
you think the evidence illustrates or supports your ideas. Minimum of 2
quotes per body paragraph- put in your examples.
_____ Organize your essay so it is easy to follow such as forecasting your arguments
and providing transitions between paragraphs and sentences.
_____ End your essay by restating your thesis in new words.
_____ Use the Sandwich technique with quotes: make some statement, use a quote
from the story that shows this, then explain the connection of the quote to
the point you are making.
_____ Did you edit for correct punctuation, capitalization and spelling?
* Note: Quotes are the words or a phrase you take ―word for word‖
exactly from the story. These do not have to be spoken words from a
character. They can be either information/details from the story or what
a character says. It depends on what you need to support your point(s).
[
] – use brackets for anything you add to a quote that wasn‘t there or change in a
quote to make correct
. . .
– use ellipsis for anything you take out from the original quote (notice spacing)
―‘ ‗‖ – use triple quotes for anything you take from a story that already has quotes
in the story (This is called a quote within a quote)
Created by Mr. Victor
2
Last Revised 2/2/12
Cailyn Prewitt
January 25, 2007
Period A
Truth Lies Unexpectedly
(Hook) Everyone has different thoughts and ideas, but would anyone ever think about joining the circus?
(GDT) In Lucille Clifton‟s story “The Luckiest Time of All” the main character, Elzie Pickens, tells her greatgranddaughter, Tee, about the day she went to join the circus with her best friend, Ovella Wilson during the spring.
Along the way, she accidentally hits a dancing dog in the nose with her lucky stone, and surprisingly meets her
future husband, Amos Pickens, after he saved her. (Thesis) As Elzie tells her story, the reader comes to understand
that she is a truly an adventurous, lucky, and loving person.
(TS) To begin with, Elzie is an explorer because she wants to join the Silas Greene Show and stops to see the
dancing dog. (1st Pt.) First, the main character shows her daring nature by deciding one day to just go and join the
Silas Green Show. (Ex.) In the beginning of the story, Mrs. Pickens wants to travel all around the world and says,
„“ Nothin wrong at home at home or nothin, we just wanted to travel and see new things and have high times.”‟
The Silas Greene Show is “„a kinda show that went all through the South… Somethin like the circus.”‟ In other
words, Mrs. Pickens whimsical desries to run off and be part of this circus without telling anyone other than Ovella
exhibits her genuine love for exploration. (2nd Pt.) Second, while Elzie and Ovella were walking to sign up for the
circus, Elzie gets distracted by a dog because of her wish to investigate many sights. (Ex.) Elzie chose to take a
walk around before signing up for the show saying, „“Me and Ovella thought we‟d walk around for a while and
see the show before goin to the office to sign up and join. While we was viewin it all we come up on this dancin
dog.”‟ From this distraction, people comprehend that that Elzie is a person delights in discovering new things. (CS)
All in all, Mrs. Pickens enjoyment for roaming around makes her a rather nomadic person.
(TS) In addition, Mrs. Pickens is quite fortunate in a few ways. (1 st Pt.) To start with, Elzie is lucky because she
met her future husband, Amos Pickens, when he saved her at the circus. (Ex.) When Elzie was preoccupied with
the dancing dog, she “reached in [her] bag and threw out [her] lucky stone.” She did this because everyone else
was throwing pennies, but she accidentally threw her rock. Realizing what she had done she stated, “„But the stone
was gone from my hand and lord, it hit that dancing dog right in the nose!”‟ Right after the misfortune of hitting
the dog and the dog starting to chase her, someone was behind the animal to save her. Elzie says he was „“The
finest fast running hero in the bottoms of Virginia,”‟ and that was Mr. Pickens when he was still a boy who rescued
her from the dog. She was shockingly blessed because from then on because although she went to see and join the
show, she became acquainted with Mr. Amos Pickens who eventually became not only her savior but also her
husband. (2nd Pt.) Furthermore, Elzie Pickens is fully favored because she regained the lucky stone she thought she
lost. (Ex.) After Amos protected her, they went searching for her stone. „“I told him how shiny black it was and
how it had the letter A scratched on one side. We searched and searched and at last he spied it!”‟ Elzie was
mightily thankful because this rock became the symbol of her loving marriage. (CS) In short, Elzie was intensely
fortunate because in her haphazard acts of spontaneity she avoided bodily harm, gained an adoring husband and
recovered the symbolic embodiment of her loving marriage.
(TS) Finally, the main character is extremely thoughtful because she cares about the dog, and is generous to
Amos Pickens. (1st Pt.) One, Elzie is considerate because even though the dancing dog was chasing her, she still
cared about its well-being. (Ex.) After she mistakenly hit the dancing dog in the nose, it began to run after her.
Though the dog was intending to gain some blood repayment for being hit, she looked at the event positively and
said, „“Well, he lit out after me, poor thing. He lit out after me and I flew.”‟ Mrs. Pickens is also considerate
because she called the animal „“cute little dog”‟ even though it was chasing and trying to harm her. Most people
would think that the dog was crazy, but she only felt bad for it. (2 nd Pt.) Two, when Amos rescued her from the
dancing dog, she thanked him cheerfully. (Ex.) Taking her first full glance at Amos, her description was one of
pure gratitude. She said, „“While I was watchin how the sun shined on him and made him look like an angel come
to a poor sinner girl.”‟ He had captured the dog by lassoing it with a piece of twine and lowering him. Then when
he picked up the dog, handled him tenderly, and went to return the dog with Elzie, she again describes Amos rather
charitably. „“That showed [Elzie] how kind and gentle he was. . . , and [he] helped me to find my stone.”‟ It was
these actions that caused Elzie to evaluate Amos benevolently. (CS) Therefore, Elzie is an exceedingly
compassionate person because she cares greatly about others.
(RT) In conclusion, Elzie‟s personality traits of acting incredibly daring, being favored, and friendly shine
through as she tells her tale of love to her great-granddaughter Tee. (Summary) It would be nice if as Tee put it, “‟I
hope I have that kind of good stone luck one day‟” that everyone received some positive fortune. However, it
might just take being in the right place at the right time to do so. (Clincher) Things don‟t always turn out the way
people expect them to, so what would the world be like if everyone expected the unexpected?
Created by Mr. Victor
3
Last Revised 2/2/12
Half Full or Half Empty?
(Hook) Life requires people to make instantaneous evaluations of their every day situations. In that light, how often is
it that people judge others on their original impression and not the person‟s deeds that they commit later on? (GDT) In
Lucille Clifton‟s “The Luckiest Time of All,” Elzie Pickens, the protagonist, shows her real qualities when she recounts
the story of how she once tried to join the circus to her great-granddaughter, Tee. While at the show, she comes upon a
dancing dog and gets into a mishap when she throws her lucky stone and accidentally hits it on the nose. As she is
running from the dog, she meets the heroic boy who she initially admired and would become her future husband when he
saves her from almost getting bit. (Thesis) While Elzie reveals her adventure to Tee, the reader infers that Elzie‟s true
character is one that is impulsive, loving, and rather optimistic.
(TS) To begin with, Elzie is someone who does not always think things through before she acts because of a variety
of endeavors she experiences. (1st Pt.) First, Elzie renders that she is impetuous when she decided to attempt to become
part of the circus with her friend, Ovella Wilson. (Ex.) They went to enroll in the Silas Greene show, which was similar
to a circus, so that they could “‟travel and see new things and have high times,‟” yet Elzie did not think of what might
happen afterward. Because they did not want to be scolded for what they were doing, they “‟Didn‟t say nothing to
nobody but one another. Just up and decided to do it,‟” without inquiring for permission from anyone. Since Elzie did
not consult anyone for their opinion or approval to become a component of the attraction, she did not consider the
possible results that may occur from making such a substantial decision on her own. As it turns out, signing up for the
circus did not occur the way she had expected or hoped for because she changed her mind when she found the man who
would become her husband and felt she “had lost heart for shows.” (2nd Pt.) Second, it becomes clear that Elzie is
unpredictable when she tosses her lucky stone at the performing dog and immediately regrets it. (Ex.) When she was
telling Tee about how people started throwing pennies to the dog and she “‟reached into [her] bag and threw out [her]
lucky stone,‟” it reveals that she did not imagine what might happen before she acted. She told Tee that as “‟Soon as it
left my hand, it seemed like [she] reached back out for it to take it back,‟” and that after she expelled it, she wished she
had not. Because Elzie does not always go through circumstances completely in her mind before she settles on doing
something, she did not contemplate what might ensue prior to executing the act, tossed her rock, which knocked the dog
“‟right on the nose.‟” (CS) Therefore, Elzie is someone who is hasty to do things without fully considering the
repercussions because she recklessly set out to the circus and unintentionally threw her lucky stone at the dog that chased
her through the Silas Greene Show.
(TS) In addition to being somewhat irrational, Elzie is an incredibly fond woman because of the way she describes
Amos Pickens and her great-granddaughter, Tee. (1st Pt.) To start with, Elzie is especially affectionate because she spoke
highly of a boy who saved her. (Ex.) When Elzie looked back over her shoulder to see if the dog was still chasing her
after she struck it, she noticed a young man behind the canine with “‟a length of twine in his hand,‟” and depicted him
quite passionately. When he “‟looped [the twine] around one hind leg of [the] dancing dog,‟” and rescued her from being
bitten, Elzie expressed that he was the “‟finest fast runnin hero in the bottoms of Virginia.‟” While other people may
have made a harsher judgment about a stranger, Elzie stated kind words about the teenager who would be her husband in
the years to come in her first acquaintance with him. (2nd Pt.) Furthermore, when Elzie was speaking with her greatgranddaughter, Tee, she demonstrated that she is an adoring human being. (Ex.) When Elzie addresses Tee, she exposes
that she is devoted by calling her “‟Sweet Tee.‟” She uses these terms during several incidents throughout the story,
which makes the reader understand that her and Tee have a special bond between them. Elzie could refer to her greatgranddaughter as just “Tee,” but since she has such a tender nature, she chooses to identify her as “sweet.” (CS) In short,
Elzie illustrates that she is caring by the countless means she describes others.
(TS) Finally, Elzie Pickens appears to be an exceedingly positive being because of an array of phrases she utters and
activities she accomplishes. (1st Pt.) One, when Elzie explicated and treated the dog as it was trailing her, she had a
pleasant view of the animal even though it was attempting to gnaw on her. (Ex.) Instead of defending herself, hurting the
dog, or cursing at it as negative people might do in case it was pursuing them, Elzie had a good-hearted outlook on her
situation and conveyed sympathy for the dog‟s life although it had the intent of injuring her. She called it a “‟poor . . .
cute little dog,‟” since she had upset it, which expressed her compassion for all living creatures no matter what they may
inflict upon her. Because of her lively perception of life, Elzie would not allow even the dreariest of events get her down
or blame any organism for what it did to her. (2nd Pt.) Two, Elzie represented her optimistic attitude when she informed
Tee that in her belief, this succession of occurrences was the “‟luckiest time of all.‟” (Ex.) After Elzie concluded her
narrative of how she came into the company of her spouse, Tee questioned, “‟ . . . that stone . . . wasn‟t so lucky that
time, was it?‟” because Tee did not understand how the pebble was fortunate when it almost caused her greatgrandmother to be harmed by a vicious dog. Elzie responded by declaring, “‟That was the luckiest time of all. It got me
acquainted with Mr. Amos Pickens.‟” Although she was nearly wounded by the dog, Elzie was able to take into
consideration only the favorable element of the confrontation, which was that she came across the boy whom she would
marry afterward. (CS) all in all, because of the method by which she gives details about the dog and analyzes the state of
affairs, Elzie can be thought of as a cheerful human being.
(RT) In conclusion, Elzie Picken‟s honest character can be articulated as rash, warm, and having a bright perception
of the world. (Summary) Everyone on the face of the earth has a few complimentary characteristics and some that they
could do without. However, people should only be evaluated on their actions, and if they should follow this, then the
soul has superior intentions. (Clincher) The doing by individuals is the essence of everyone‟s story and person.
Created by Mr. Victor
4
Last Revised 2/2/12