About two double-spaced pages, using 1” margins and a readable 12-point font such as Times New
Roman. That is about 500 words.
- Identify a problem about language and/or translation that the text seeks to address. (For example:
“Why do people speak different languages?” or “How do we deal with a single word that has multiple
meanings”? This problem should provide the title to your response paper. - Quote from the text to show how the author addresses that problem, making sure to explain what
the quote means in your own words (paraphrase). Find a second example if you can, and do the same. - Apply the author’s position to a present-day example. This should be your own idea.
- Offer a counter-example, a challenge, or a counter-argument against the author’s position. Does
a later quote in the text undermine the position you identified in step 3? If so, your counter-argument can be found within the text, so give another quote and explain it in your own words, as above. The best papers will engage with at least two substantial quotes from the text (see assessment rubric). - End with a question that your discussion of this problem has left you with. “If so, then what?” Keep your questions open-ended: that is, not answerable with fact, or by direct and immediate reference to the text. You are not expected to answer this question. Just show that the process of thinking through an idea and its counter-arguments has brought you somewhere.
