1. The Open Response
Format & Sample

2. Introduction & Body Paragraph I
Introduction – One sentence thesis
Body Paragraph I:
Definition &/or Background – Define a key term &/or give background about the reading
Topic Sentence – Main idea of the body paragraph summarized in one sentence
Lead in – Transition into textual evidence from the reading
Textual Evidence – Quote, properly cited, from the reading
Explication – Explain textual evidence from the reading
Wrap up – Summarize your body paragraph by relating your findings back to the thesis

3. Body Paragraph II & Conclusion
Topic Sentence – Main idea of the body paragraph summarized in one sentence
Lead in – Transition into textual evidence from the reading
Textual Evidence – Quote, properly cited, from the reading
Explication – Explain textual evidence from the reading
Wrap up – Summarize your body paragraph by relating your findings back to the thesis
Conclusion – Transition (Unquestionably, all in all, in essence…) and restated thesis

4. Sample Body Paragraph for “Burn 3”
A dystopia is a futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained. In the excerpt from the short story “Burn 3” by Kami Garcia, people live in a dystopic environment where the sun is too hot for people to live under and children are stolen right out from under their families. The setting is clearly a dystopia due to the natural world being banished or distrusted. In the story, citizens live in a “dome [that] is supposed to protect [them] from the holes in the ozone layer—holes that turned two-thirds of the world to ash twenty years ago” (Garcia 4). Unfortunately, the citizens of Burn 3 can no longer go out into the open due to the sun’s damaging rays. Like the myth of the vampire, the sun will turn them into a pile of dust. Clearly, the natural world is banished or distrusted because no one can stay outside during daylight, making the society in “Burn 3” a dystopia.