What's a literary response?

A literary response (or response to literature) can take many forms. It is not just a summary of what happened in the book. It has to involve the writer RESPONDING to the book in some way. It shows that you have thought about the book.

Some examples:
analyzing how a character changes
comparing a character to yourself
comparing a character to a character in a different book
writing about the theme (deeper meaning) of the book

A book report is just a summary of the book. It usually explains who the characters were, what their traits were, what happened in the plot, and whether you liked it or recommend it or not.

A literary response, on the other hand, has to show that you analyzed the book in some way. You understood something deeper about it that maybe isn't obvious on the surface.

Some quick examples:
Book report -- "The Wizard of Oz" is about a girl named Dorothy from Kansas who gets lost in the magical land of Oz until she finds her way home with the help of her friends. I recommenbd it.

Literary response - In "The Wizard of Oz," Dorothy learns that being grown-up means being responsible for people other than yourself.

EDITED TO ADD: A literary response is usually in essay form. But it doesn't have to be. It can also be -
a performance
a poem
a story (inspired by the book you read, or continuing the story)
a letter to a character
a letter to the author
a journal entry from a character's point-of-view
...and more

If you have been assigned to write one, I suggest you talk to your teacher about what he/she expects.

Literary Response

Response To Literature

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RE:
What's a literary response?
And how does it differ from a book report?

In a book report you usually just summarize the book. To write a literary response, you first need something to which you will be responding. Generally, you might be asked to talk about the characters and how they reacted to events or how they changed over the course of the story. Sometimes you might be asked to discuss the archetypes or literary devices that the author uses and why. It really all depends on what your teacher wants you to discuss.

book report usually icludes like author title summary maybe a little opinion about the book, but not like indepth..
but response is reading the book and givien your OPINION about the characters, things that happen, what it makes you think, more anything it makes you think of...more along those lines ..this one is more indepth about the opinon part and little or no part in the summary section.

writen like an essay, book reports, might not be in essay form..like if a special fill out sheet was given, with author: name: title: summary:..blah blah blah

comparing diffrent situation thap appear in life v. literature

ok a literary response is more about the literature and the way the book is written. a book reports is about the story line.