LESSON 3:

III. WRITING THE REACTION PAPER/REVIEW/CRITIQUE

Writing is hard, simply because one hopes to write using the best possible words to articulate the best
possible thoughts in the most creative way imaginable. Despite this fact, writing a reaction paper seems not
that different from a status message in Facebook. In practice, the reaction paper is an informed and
insightful perspective on art, popular culture, and the world. Think about the millions of voices clamoring
to be heard and read on the Internet, and you come to know how to deal with the challenge of sounding
original and insightful. In the end, the reaction paper is a reasoned and reasonable response to the world;
the best response can either be intelligent, humorous, wise, or all of the above.
A. THE REACTION PAPER

The Reaction Paper: A Measured Response to the World

Marikit Tara Alto Uychoco
(1) The world can be a chaotic place. Often, there seems to be no rhyme or reason in the events that happen
to us. Oftentimes, people despair, and the modern alienation articulated by Henry David Thoreau may be
true for many-"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."
(2) In order to make sense of the world, people write. In order to create a semblance of order and
understanding of one's experiences, people write. Often enough, they write a measured response to what
has happened to them. This takes on various forms, but for the purpose of this textbook, the forms we
will explore are the review and the reaction paper.
(3) Of course, some may consider a diary entry to be a reaction paper to the world. However, diary entries
are personal in their significance, while the reaction paper's significance is societal. The reaction paper is
written for the enlightenment of one's fellow human beings; a diary entry is written for the
enlightenment of the self. Both have their significance, however, only the reaction paper is considered
significantly valuable for the academe.
(4) There is also a difference in form: the reaction paper is more formal, more descriptive, and often uses
the rhetorical devices of description and narration in order to prove a point; while the diary entry is less
formal, less descriptive, and does not endeavor to persuade or to make another person understand;
hence, there is no real effort in using rhetorical devices. Oftentimes, the diary entry is a way to rage
against petty insults and grievances.
(5) When one reads a reaction paper, one expects to be informed and amused. Reaction papers help us in
our everyday decisions: from what movie we should watch, to the clothing that we should wear, and the
causes that we should believe in. It tells us that we are not alone in experiencing the world, and that
there are others before us who care to tell us what to watch out for, and how to best experience what we
are about to go through.
(6) Modern iterations of the reaction paper are the movie review, gadget review, trip advisor post, and other
travel reviews, restaurant reviews, and essays that discuss a social phenomenon or a common
experience. Many editorials can be considered reaction papers, if not, position papers. Many of them are
written in newspapers, magazines, and weblogs.
(7) Although the modern world can be a lonely and alienating place, the reaction paper can reach out and
tell us that we are not alone. It helps to know that the other person is going through the same experience
as well, and that this person has something to tell you about how to survive, what to avoid, and where to
seek pleasure. A reaction paper, when done right, can help us process our own experience, and help us
see things that we weren't able to see on our own.
(8) In today's multimedia world, this stretches across countries and over territorial borders, where a
housewife from Manila can tell a tourist from Tokyo how to best survive Manila's hot summer. We
reach out to one another, in order to make the world a better place, by mapping the world for others, and
letting them know where beauty and darkness reside.
 Ave Maria College
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
School ID No. 402686 Gov’t Permit No. 0059 s. 2015
NAME: _____________________________________ DATE: ____________________
PROGRAM & YEAR _________________________ SCORE: ___________________

ACTIVITY NO. 6 – Writing a Reaction Paper

Instructions:
a. Make a reaction paper about the movie that the teacher is going to play.
b. Make sure to apply the things you have learned from the lesson in making your reaction paper.
c. It should be one page only.