response paper should be about 5 pages and include:
2-3 big ideas/themes related to this topic that you found intriguing
What ideas/assumptions you began with about this topic that evolved through the
readings/discussions
Any questions that were raised for you (What would you like to learn more about?)
Response papers should not read like diary entries. In other words, the paper should not focus on how you feel about a particular issue, but how you are sense-making as we plough through the readings and engage in class discussions. I will evaluate your understanding of the readings, your ability to analyze and think critically about the readings, and your ability to apply the main ideas of the readings. You might make explicit and nuanced connections between theoretical and practical ideas gleaned from the readings and class discussions. Thus, if you draw from your community research experiences, analyze said experiences with theoretical insight from the readings and class discussions.
In short, use your 5 pages wisely, in a scholarly manner.