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Step 1: Read, annotate, and think about your reactions to the reading
Before you write a summary response essay, it is, of course, essential that you understand the ideas from the original text/reading very well. Spend as much time as you need to make sure you understand the reading completely. Get help if there are parts that you don’t understand.
If you can, discuss the reading with your classmates, teacher, and lab tutor. This will help you make sure you understand the ideas, and also help you explore your ideas and opinions related to the reading.
Once you are sure you understand the ideas well, think about your reactions to the ideas in the reading. Which parts of the reading do you connect to? Do you have experience or knowledge that supports or contradicts the ideas in the reading?
Think about which ideas you want to focus on in your response, and decide on your thesis.
Step 2: Write Your Introduction and Summary
Use the guidelines in Writing a Summary to write a summary of the reading as you have before, but this time make it work with your introduction and thesis. There are basically two ways to do this:

You could use the summary as part of your introductory paragraph. In this approach, you use your summary as background information to introduce the topic. You will probably have additional sentences before and after the summary to provide additional background and to cr******e a bridge to your thesis. The last sentence of your introduction should be your thesis statement.
You could use the summary as your first body paragraph. In this case you would have a separate introductory paragraph before your summary that provides background to introduce the topic. Your thesis statement should still be the last sentence of your introduction.
Step 3: Write a Response
Write a two (or more) paragraph response to the reading. In your response, discuss and evaluate one or more of the author’s ideas. You do not need to discuss all of the ideas from the reading. Choose one or two that you felt were especially interesting to focus on. This focus should be reflected in your thesis statement. Your thesis will help you focus your ideas and your body paragraphs for your response. Each of your response paragraphs must have a clear topic sentence. The paragraph development needs to support the topic sentence. You will need to refer to the ideas in the original reading, and you may use a couple of quotes in your response if you want (not required), but this is not just a summary of the ideas from the original reading. Your voice should be the predominant one. However, you also cannot ignore the original reading in your response. Your focus in the response should be on your reaction to the ideas in the original reading.

Here are some questions to help you generate ideas (brainstorm) for your response:

What experiences have you had that help you relate to the text?
What prior knowledge helps you understand the text?
How is the text difficult/easy/confusing?
What is the author’s purpose for writing this text?
Why do you agree or disagree with the author’s idea?
You should also look at the questions you wrote in the margins of the text. After you explore your ideas. Narrow your focus. Develop two topic sentences that focus on something specific about the text that you want to discuss and analyze. Do not try to address the answers to all the questions above. I will be looking at everyone’s topic sentences to make sure they are clear and focus on one idea.

Step 4: Write a Conclusion
Bring your essay to a close. What are your final conclusions based on the ideas that you presented in your response. Think about the final message you want to leave your reader with