"The Reaction Paper: A Measured Response to the World"- Marikit Tara Alto Uychoco

1. The world can be a chaotic place. Often, there seems to be no ryhme or reason in the events that
happen to us. Oftentimes, people despair, and the modern alienation articulated by Henry Thoreau may
be true for many----"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."

2. In order to make sense of the world, people write. In order to create a semblance of order and
understanding of one's experiences people write. Often enough, they write a measured response to
what has happened to them. This takes on various forms, but for the purpose of this textbook, the
forms, but for the purpose of this textbook, the forms we will explore are the review and the reaction
paper.

3. Of course, some may consider a diary entry to be a reaction paper to the world.However, diary entries
are personal in their significance, while the reaction paper's significance os societal. The reaction paper
is written for the enlightenment pf one's fellow human beings; a diary entry is written for the
enlightenment of the self. Both have their significance, however, only the reaction paper is considered
significantly valuable for the academe.

4. There is also a difference in form: the reaction paper is more formal, more descriptive, and often uses
the rhetorical devices of description and narration in order to prove a point; while the diary entry is less
formal, less descriptive, and does not endeavor to persuade or to make another person understand;
hence, there is no real effort in using rhetorical devices. Oftentimes, the diary entry is a way to rage
against petty insults and grievances.

5. When one reads a reaction paper, one expects to be informed and amused. Reaction papers help us
in our everyday decisions: from what movie we should watch, to the clothing that we should wear, and
the causes that we should believe in. It tells us that we are not alone in experiencing the world, and that
there are others before us who care to tell us what to watch out for, and how to best experience what
we are about to go through.

6. Modern interations of the reaction paper are the movie, review, gadget review, trip advisor post, and
other travel reviews, restaurant reviews , and essays that discuss a social phenomenon or a common
experience. Many editorials can be considered reaction papers, if not, position papers. Many of them
are written in newspapers, magazines, and weblogs.

7. Although the modern world can be a lonely and alienating place, the reaction paper can reach put and
tell us that we are not alone. It helps to know that the other person is going through the same
experience as well, and that this person has something to tell you about how to survive, what to avoid,
and where to seek pleasure. A reaction paper, when done right, can help us process our own
experience, and help us see things that we weren't able to see on on our own.

8. Im today's multimedia world, this stretches across countries and over territorial borders, where a
housewife from Manila can tell a tourist from Tokyo how to best survive Manila's hot summer. We reach
out to one another, in order to make the world a better place, by mapping the world for others, and
letting them know where beauty and darkness reside.