How to Write a
“RACES” Paragraph
English, Oh My!
Example Short Response Question
After reading the fairy tale, “Little Red Riding Hood,” what does the fairy tale teach about danger towards women?
R
English, Oh My!
Restate the question as a statement.
This becomes your TOPIC SENTENCE!
Step # 1, get rid of the question stem-should, could, would, how, why, etc.
Step # 2, cross out the question mark.
After reading the fairy tale, “Little Red Riding Hood,” danger is warned as inevitable against women.
A
Sentence #1
After reading the fairy tale, “Little Red Riding Hood,” danger is warned as inevitable against women because women need men to stay safe.
Answer the question with a “because”.
A
Sentence #2
After reading the fairy tale, “Little Red Riding Hood,” danger is warned as inevitable against women because women must remain innocent in order to maintain their place in society.
Answer the question with a “because”.
C
English, Oh My!
Cite evidence to support your claim.
Cite text-based evidence.
Use the proper and formal way in citing evidence:
The author states, /says, /explains, “ Word-for-word text ” (Smith 5) .
#2: In “Little Red Riding Hood,” the mother states, “ word-for-word text .”
#1: Smith explains, “ word-for-word text ” (“Natural Disasters” 5) .
C
Introduce your quote and BLEND
Use the proper and formal way in blending & citing evidence:
Remember ways to blend the quote
E
AVOID USING THE WORD “THIS”
3 sentences of elaboration shows your understanding.
Why is the quote important? What does it prove?
Elaborate on the citation.
Sentence # 1
Starters
To explain,
In other words,
The author means...
Sentence # 2
Starters
“Evidence” shows
____ expresses…
____ suggests...
Sentence # 3 Starters
The effect of ___ is…
The result of ____ is…
A consequence of ___ is…
____ may make someone feel…
S
English, Oh My!
Sum up the paragraph and conclude.
Restate the topic sentence from sentence # 1.
Change the verb/s or adjective/s used to give variety.
EXAMPLE:
Overall, women must follow society’s rules and rely on men to be safe and deemed acceptable in their feminine roles.
Things about Writing:
Directions:
Notice I did not use the word “THIS” in the Elaboration section.
Exemplar Response #1
In the story, “Little Red Riding Hood,” danger is warned as inevitable against women because women need men to stay safe. The plot shows Red Riding Hood being attacked by the Wolf before “some sportsman...was a dead shot” and killed the Wolf. Society expects women to be defenseless; therefore, women must rely on men to stay safe. Without the “sportsman” saving her, Red Riding Hood would have died. Thus, women are always going to be saved by a man because women are meant to be weak and defenseless as their place in society demands.
Notice I did not use the word “THIS” in the Elaboration section.
Exemplar Response #2
According to “Little Red Riding Hood,” the biggest danger to a woman is the loss of her virginity and good reputation because without either of these elements a woman is deemed as inferior and useless. In the fairy tale, the mother tells her daughter to “not run off the path” or “break the wine pot.” The mother’s statement is a metaphor for keeping Red’s innocence and virginity intact. By losing her purity, a woman would gain a bad reputation and be deemed as unworthy to marry just as Red is punished in the end of the story: “she returned home alone.” Therefore, it is important to stay innocent in order to have a good life and be safe. Overall, women must follow society’s rules of innocence and purity in order to be deemed acceptable in their feminine roles of wife and mother.
�Little �Red Riding Hood �By the BROTHERS GRIMM
A LONG time ago, in a house near a wood,
As most pretty histories go,
A nice little girl lived, called Red Riding Hood,
As some of us already know.
One day said her mother, “Get ready, my dear,
“And take to your granny some cakes,
And a bottle of wine to soothe her
And ask after her pains and aches.
Set out before it gets hot
And when you are on your journey,
Walk nicely and quietly, not off like a shot.
Do not run off the path along the way,
Or you may end up falling and break the wine pot.”
Out set Riding Hood, so obliging and sweet,
And she met a great Wolf in the wood,
Who begun most politely the maiden to greet.
In as tender a voice as he could
He asked in what house she was going and why;
Red Riding Hood answered him all:
He said, “Give my love to your Gran; I will try
At my earliest leisure to call.”
Off he ran, and Red Riding Hood went on her way,
But often she lingered and played,
And made as she went quite a pretty nosegay
With the wild flowers that grew in the glade.
So as she ran from the path (against which she had been warned)
Looking for flowers farther than she should.
With each one, she saw a still prettier one for which she yearned
And so got deeper and deeper into the wood.
But in the meanwhile the Wolf went, with a grin,
At the Grandmother’s cottage to call;
He knocked at the door, and was told to come in,
Then he ate her up—sad cannibal!
Then the Wolf shut the door, and got into bed,
And waited for Red Riding Hood;
When he heard her soft tap at the front door, he said,
Speaking softly as ever he could:
“Who is there?”
“It is I, your dear grandchild; I’ve brought
Some wine and nice little cakes.”
“Pull the bobbin1, my child, and come in as you ought;
I’m in bed very bad with my aches.”
When she entered the room, the old Wolf hid himself
Very carefully (such was his plan):
“Put your basket and things, little dear on the shelf,
And come into bed to your Gran,”
1device consisting of a short bar and a length of string,
used to control a wooden door latch
The obedient child laid herself down by the side
Of her Grandmother dear (as she thought):
But all at once, “Granny!” Red Riding Hood cried,
“What, very long arms you have got!”
He answered, “The better to hug you, my child.”
“But, Granny, what very large ears!”
“The better to hear you,” the voice was still mild,
But the little girl hid her fears.
“Grandmother, you have very large eyes!”
“The better to see you, I trow2.”
“What great teeth you have got!” and the wicked Wolf cries,
“The better to eat you up now!”
2 (verb) to think, believe, or trust
Red Riding Hood shrieked, and—bang! off went a gun
And shot the old Wolf through the head:
One howl and one moan, one kick and one groan,
And the wicked old rascal was dead.
Some sportsman (he certainly was a dead shot)
Had aimed at the Wolf when she cried;
So Red Riding Hood got safe home—did she not?
And lived happily there till she died.