reader-response essay A Modest Proposal

THE DETAILS:
This essay is a bit unconventional for college writers, because it does not ask you to analyze, but rather to respond to a text. (With that said, read through your essay once it is complete and make sure you are not providing an analysis!) This 4-page, double-spaced, typed essay asks that you write your CRITICALreaction/reflection/opinion to an assigned reading AND to at least 1 secondary source on this same assigned reading. In other words, if someone asked you what you thought of the text, how would you critically respond? Did it challenge/undercut/meet your expectations? Did you like or dislike it? What did you think of the characters, setting, narrative style, plot, rhetoric, author’s style, writing techniques, etc.? Could you relate to it? Was it entertaining? Had past readings of the same text influenced your thoughts this time around?
In addition to writing your critical opinion to the text, you will also need to find 1 ACADEMIC secondary source on the assigned reading (Amazon reviews, Wikipedia, blogs, and summaries are not acceptable sources). I suggest visiting the Oviatt Library’s Databases here  to locate a legitimate secondary source on your reading. Some of the databases you may find most useful are: JSTOR, Literature Criticism Online, Literature Resource Center, and Humanities Full Text, but you are welcome to find the database that you feel is most appropriate. 
Once you locate a secondary source, you will need to summarize the author’s main points in your essay and respond to them. For instance, do you agree with the author’s assessment of the text? Why or why not? Did you approach the text differently? Did this secondary source challenge your initial ideas about the text? How so? *PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS ASSIGNMENT IS NOT A BOOK REPORT OR A SUMMARY OF THE TEXT, BUT A CRITICAL RESPONSE TO IT.* Be sure to include a Works Cited page in which you cite both the primary (the text you were assigned to write on) and secondary sources in MLA style at the end of your paper (the Works Cited page is not included in the 4-page minimum length).
WHAT TYPE OF FORMATTING DO I USE?:
Use MLA style 
The essay should be double spaced throughout (including between heading and title, title and the introduction, and between all paragraphs)
Use 12 pt font 
Use 1″ margins 
Use Times New Roman 
Include proper citations 
Include a Works Cited page with all sources properly cited
For more information on MLA style and citations, visit https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_and_style_guide.html
TIPS AND NOTES:
1. You will have to use the personal I in this essay. 
2. Again, this is your critical opinion of the text and the secondary source, not an analysis. 
3. 50% of the essay should be your response to the primary text (your assigned text) and 50% of the essay should be your response to the secondary source (the article or review you selected).
4. Your intro and thesis should mention BOTH the primary and secondary sources. 
5. Be sure to meet the 4-page minimum requirement (not including the Works Cited page)! (3 and 3/4 pages is NOT 4 pages.)
WHAT DOES A READER-RESPONSE ESSAY LOOK LIKE?
I have posted a former student’s Reader-Response essay under “Module 1” on Canvas. Please read through it so you can get a good idea as to what an excellent essay looks like.
HOW DO I KNOW WHICH TEXT I HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED?
I used to let students choose the text they wanted to write on, but believe it or not, it was as system that was very confusing for many students, so now I just assign them to you, and I do it based on last names. If you forget or neglect to write your essay, it, unfortunately, cannot be made up, so please be mindful of which text you have been assigned and when it is due! 

*If your LAST name begins with C-D, you will write your essay on “A Modest Proposal,” and it is due by 11:59pm on September 26. 

I will include one of her former students essays so you can see what it looks like. Do not use this as a citing source is just example of an essay