Reader Response Theory and Short Story: "The Sniper"

Last updated
Save as PDF

Page ID: 186531

\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

Applying Reader Response Theory to “The Sniper”

Watch the Do's of Applying Reader Response video above before writing. Yes, it's created by another English 12 teacher, but the content, instruction, and expectations are the same for my class.

The Do's of Applying Reader Response

Now it’s time to APPLY reader response theory to a new short story, “The Sniper.”

Today you should read the short story at this link: link: http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/sniper.html and then tomorrow you will write a one-page response using a Reader Response theory lens.

The response should be all about what you were thinking, feeling, and experiencing as you were reading the story. Here are a few sentence starters that could help:

This story really reminds me of…
When….happened, I thought about…
I was really surprised/happy/excited/worried when…
Although I could tell the author really wanted me to think about this…instead I came away thinking about…

Your reader response writing should meet these minimum qualifications:

at least one page long (about 500 words)
focus on a personal reaction to the text, not a summary
demonstrate an understanding of reader response theory
Be organized in several paragraphs

Submit your response on the next page. It is worth 40 points.