Before beginning to write about or in response to a text, use critical reading strategies to deepen comprehension and understanding.

Step 1 - First identify unfamiliar vocabulary, list the words, and make your best guess as to the words meaning using the context (surrounding information). Mentally replace a synonym in to the slot the other word occupies to see if the guessed at meaning makes sense. Don’t worry about making errors; this is skill that develops through trial and error.

Unfamiliar vocabulary: Possible meaning - synonyms

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Step 2 – Identify the main ideas: REREAD the entire text “The War Prayer” and highlight what statements signify or represent the most profound, controversial, touching, or otherwise significant concepts. Copy five of them into the spaces below. These may become your concrete details later.

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Step 3 – Select one quotation and draft a paragraph (a thought exercise) about it.

1. Topic Sentence (What is the subject and what point or points will you make about it?)

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2. Concrete Detail (what supports or exemplifies your topic sentence? Introduce your quotation with author and text.)

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3. Commentary 1 (What perspective can you offer about this idea? Use the “Elements of Understanding” to target your commentary)

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4. Commentary 2 (What else can you say? Contrast, follow-up, or lead in to concluding sentence)

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5. Concluding Sentence (Why does it matter? Answer the “so what?” question)

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Rewrite your draft as a finished five-sentence paragraph on a separate piece of paper.