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English 10-1

English 10-1 · Worksheets

The personal response

Ten questions of mixed difficulty, covering Personal response. Print it, or work through it on screen — the answer key starts on its own page.

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The personal response

English 10-1 · maddyhelps.com

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Circle the best answer for each question. Show your work in the space provided.

  1. The first step in a personal response is

    1. a) choosing a form
    2. b) deciding the length
    3. c) working out precisely what idea the prompt asks about
    4. d) picking an opening quotation

  2. Writing a personal response as a narrative works well when

    1. a) you cannot think of examples
    2. b) you want to avoid a position
    3. c) the idea is best revealed through something happening
    4. d) you have nothing to say

  3. Unity in a personal response means

    1. a) it uses one tense
    2. b) it has a happy ending
    3. c) it is one paragraph
    4. d) everything in it serves the controlling idea

  4. When a prompt supplies a short text, that text is best used as

    1. a) the main subject of analysis
    2. b) something to summarise
    3. c) evidence to quote repeatedly
    4. d) a starting point for the idea, not a subject to analyse

  5. A personal anecdote works best when it is

    1. a) long and detailed
    2. b) invented
    3. c) dramatic
    4. d) specific and clearly connected to the idea

  6. Choosing an unfamiliar form is risky because

    1. a) unusual forms are banned
    2. b) it takes longer to write
    3. c) markers prefer essays
    4. d) a form you cannot control obscures the idea

  7. Choosing the form before the idea usually produces

    1. a) a stronger response
    2. b) a shorter response
    3. c) a better mark for creativity
    4. d) a competent piece that does not answer anything

  8. A personal response asks you to

    1. a) explore an idea from the prompt, drawing on your own experience and reading
    2. b) analyse a studied novel
    3. c) write a research essay
    4. d) summarise the provided text

  9. An acceptable form for a personal response is

    1. a) only a narrative
    2. b) only a formal essay
    3. c) only a poem
    4. d) an essay, a story, a letter, a monologue or a poem

  10. Voice in a personal response comes from

    1. a) genuine engagement and precise detail
    2. b) frequent exclamation marks
    3. c) long sentences
    4. d) a large vocabulary

Answer key · The personal response

English 10-1 · maddyhelps.com

  1. c) working out precisely what idea the prompt asks about — Everything else depends on it. A beautifully written response to the wrong idea cannot score well, and misreading the prompt is the commonest way to lose marks.
  2. c) the idea is best revealed through something happening — A story can carry an idea powerfully, but the idea still has to be discernible. A narrative chosen to dodge having a position produces a pleasant piece that says nothing.
  3. d) everything in it serves the controlling idea — A vivid anecdote that does not advance the idea weakens the response. Unity is what holds an unusual form together and what a marker notices first when it is missing.
  4. d) a starting point for the idea, not a subject to analyse — The personal response is not a close reading of the provided text. Analysing it in detail is the classic way to turn a personal response into the wrong assignment.
  5. d) specific and clearly connected to the idea — One precise memory tied closely to the idea does more than three loosely relevant ones. The connection has to be made on the page, not left for the marker to construct.
  6. d) a form you cannot control obscures the idea — Markers reward the idea and its development, not the novelty of the container. The best form is the one you can execute under time pressure while still thinking clearly.
  7. d) a competent piece that does not answer anything — The order matters. Deciding the container first is how a personal response ends up being a good short story with nothing to say.
  8. a) explore an idea from the prompt, drawing on your own experience and reading — The prompt supplies the idea; you supply the thinking and the material. It is the one assignment where your own experience and observation are legitimate evidence.
  9. d) an essay, a story, a letter, a monologue or a poem — The form is your choice, which is exactly why it has to be a deliberate one. Ask which form lets you develop the idea best, not which looks most impressive.
  10. a) genuine engagement and precise detail — Inflated vocabulary and borrowed profundity read as the absence of voice. Particular detail, honest engagement and controlled syntax read as its presence.