Writing requirements
Write an essay of approximately 500 words in which you respond to the reading “Technology and Health Care Costs” by Krishna Kumar. This essay should contain a clear, organizing idea that is (or has the potential to become) a manageable and logical thesis statement.
Description of response writing
In response writing, you identify and probe the features in a text by inserting your own ideas into the text’s conversation. You in essence, speak back to the text. To do this, you show evidence of critical thinking by generating and asserting your own responses to the text. View the text as a voice in a conversation – one perspective on an issue.
In your response essay, you explain how the ideas of the original author are similar to or conflict with your own. You speak back to the text by drawing on your own experience, background, reading, and thoughtful wrestling with the writer’s ideas. You may incorporate your own personal experiences, beliefs, and values into your response to the text.
You may engage in a “with-the-grain” reading of the text in which you support all or some of the writer’s ideas while providing additional evidence or extending the conversation, ideally applying it in a new context.
On the other hand, you may engage in an “against-the-grain” reading in which you challenge the writer’s ideas, point out flaws and gaps in the writer’s thinking, and provide counterexamples and rebuttals. You may agree with some ideas and disagree with others.
Questions to consider as you craft your response to Kumar’s essay:
Drawing on your own critical thinking, personal experiences, and research, to what extent do you agree or disagree with the writer’s position?
Where do I agree with the author?
What new insights has this text provided me with?
Where do I disagree with Kumar?
What ideas has he overlooked?
What new questions or problems has the text raised?
What are the limitations or consequences of Kumar’s perspective?
