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English 20-1

English 20-1 · 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 20-1 · 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 to write in
    2. b) deciding how long it will be
    3. c) working out precisely what idea the prompt is asking about
    4. d) selecting a quotation to open with

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

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

  3. In a personal response, unity means that

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

  4. A response that is beautifully written but drifts from the prompt will

    1. a) score well because the writing is strong
    2. b) be given no mark at all
    3. c) be marked only on Presentation
    4. d) lose marks in Ideas and Impressions, because the idea is not developed

  5. Using a personal anecdote in a response works best when

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

  6. Choosing an unfamiliar form for a personal response is risky because

    1. a) unusual forms are not permitted
    2. b) it takes more words
    3. c) markers prefer essays
    4. d) a form you cannot control will obscure the idea you are developing

  7. Voice in a personal response refers to

    1. a) the loudness of the language
    2. b) the use of first person
    3. c) the number of adjectives used
    4. d) the distinctive sense of a real person thinking on the page

  8. A personal response to texts asks you to

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

  9. Of these, 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) a short story, an essay, a letter, a monologue or a poem

  10. The two scoring categories of the personal response are

    1. a) Ideas and Impressions, and Presentation
    2. b) Structure and Vocabulary
    3. c) Content and Grammar
    4. d) Thought and Support, and Matters of Correctness

Answer key · The personal response

English 20-1 · maddyhelps.com

  1. c) working out precisely what idea the prompt is asking about — Everything else depends on this. A beautifully written response to the wrong idea cannot score well, and misreading the prompt is the single most common way to lose marks.
  2. c) the idea is best revealed through something happening to someone — 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 the piece 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) lose marks in Ideas and Impressions, because the idea is not developed — Presentation might still score respectably, but Ideas and Impressions is where drifting costs you. Writing well about the wrong thing is one of the most expensive habits on this assignment.
  5. d) it is specific and clearly connected to the idea being explored — One precise memory, closely tied 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 will obscure the idea you are developing — 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) the distinctive sense of a real person thinking on the page — It comes from genuine engagement with the idea, particular detail and controlled syntax. Inflated vocabulary and borrowed profundity read as the absence of voice, not its presence.
  8. a) explore an idea from the prompt, drawing on your own experience and observation — The prompt supplies the idea; you supply the thinking and the material. It is the one assignment where your own experience, observation and reading are all legitimate evidence.
  9. d) a short story, an essay, a letter, a monologue or a poem — The form is your choice, which is exactly why it has to be a deliberate one. The question to ask is which form lets you develop the idea best, not which looks most impressive.
  10. a) Ideas and Impressions, and Presentation — Ideas and Impressions covers what you say and how well you develop it; Presentation covers voice, structure and stylistic choices. Both are marked holistically rather than by a checklist.