Writing Topics: The Call and Response Paper

This is a course designed for students at the undergraduate and graduate levels of study. It focuses on developing both critical and creative writing skills by presenting students with a ‘call’ from any given text, to which the students write a subsequent ‘response’. The call may take the form of a phrase, a question, an image, a melody, or a sound. The student then produces a response paper that interprets said phrase, image, sound, and/or answers the question with intensive critical engagement. The purpose of the call and response paper is for students to collaborate directly with their instructors in producing inventive, collective writing in a timed setting. This method improves the students’ critical thinking and creative writing skills while providing rigorous discipline to their writing process.