Identify literary devices like alliteration, simile, metaphor, imagery, assonance and onomatopoeia as you read through the piece of literature for which you intend to write a response. Essayinfo.com says that you should look for ways that these devices relate to the overall meaning of the work. Pay attention to obvious or underlying themes as these may relate to the author's own life.
Use a graphic organizer like a Venn diagram, a story map, a time-order chart or a character web to jot down your thoughts while you are reading. You can approach the response to literature essay from many different angles and using a graphic organizer will help bring order to your ideas. Greatsource.com identifies three common ways to write this type of essay: a character sketch, a summary of the plot or an overall theme analysis.
Come up with a meaningful thesis that is responsive to the chosen story, book or poem. According to Essayinfo.com, a thesis can take a new approach to an older analysis of a work of literature or can be creative in nature. Incorporate your concise, one-sentence thesis into a brief introduction that summarizes all of the pertinent information in one or two paragraphs. Include the title of the work, the author and the publication that you are writing about in this intro section.
Write the body of your response to literature essay. The purpose of the body is to thoroughly support the thesis and main ideas using specific details and examples. Literacy Education Online points out that each paragraph of the body should contain one idea and each topic sentence should directly support the thesis. Use transitional phrases that guide the reader from the final sentence in each paragraph to the beginning of the next.
Re-state the main points in your paper in the conclusion. Do not include any new information in this portion of the response to literature essay. Sum up your ideas and thoughts and include a comment that clearly reiterates your overall reaction to the author's work.