《紐約時報》今年的夏季讀寫競賽即將開始啦！如下可見，今年的夏季讀寫競賽將從6月9日開始，到8月18日結束！各位小作家們，你們準備好了嗎？
自2010年以來，《紐約時報》每年夏天都為世界各地的初高中學生舉辦夏季讀寫比賽，邀請學生選擇《紐約時報》中引發他們興趣的內容，完成一篇回應性文章。
對於很多同學們來說，回應性寫作與在課堂上可能需要用到的學術寫作有所不同，挑戰難度是不小的。今天，我們為同學們帶來了《紐約時報》回應性寫作官方指南，該指南提出了4大回應性寫作要點，希望可以幫助同學們了解和學習這一類型的寫作，在競賽中脫穎而出!
寫作前：選擇令你感興趣的作品
寫作開始前，你需要做的是盡可能多地瀏覽《紐約時報》的官網。
無論是從主頁開始，還是搜索你感興趣的關鍵詞，又或是查看《紐約時報》推薦的青少年瀏覽指南。在這一階段，你需要做的就是閱讀和尋找，選擇至少 1-2 件作品來作為你想要回應的話題備選。
我們建議同學們不要給自己太多的限制。實際上，打動比賽評委的一大要點就是你選擇話題的廣泛程度！並且，只要你感興趣，不管是什麼樣的話題，你都會很有動力去打磨出一篇好的回應性寫作。
寫作要點1：建立個人聯繫
我們需要明確，夏季讀寫競賽是希望同學們來講述你與你選擇的作品之間的聯繫，你需要意識到，“你”是如何影響你選擇閱讀的內容和閱讀方式的。
同學們可以思考以下問題，來尋找和建立你和選擇回應的作品之間的個人聯繫：
你為什麼選擇這篇作品？它是如何引起你的注意的？
它與你的生活和你的個人經歷有什麼聯繫？
在閱讀這篇文章前，你對這個主題有什麼了解或想法？
當你閱讀時，你意識到了哪些背景知識或聯想？
大賽評委表示，優等的回應寫作就是那能夠與選擇作品建立個人聯繫的文章，這些文章中，作者往往討論了選擇的主題是如何與自己的生活相交，文字感染力極強，寫作風格流暢自然。
對於如何在回應文章中建立和展現個人聯繫，《紐約時報》給予的建議是，從文章結構上，首先，你可以在文章中展開你的故事或者提供一些關於你的生活經歷和個人背景，來解釋為什麼你會選擇某件作品。然後，在這個背景下討論這個作品對你的影響。
以下是《紐約時報》優秀作品案例，供大家參考：
2018年冠軍文章選擇了“Everyone Has an Accent”這篇作品，進行回應：
“My mother came to the U.S. not only with the desire to give me a better future but also with a heavy Indian accent. It’s the accent that made me who I am today, the accent that helped me with my math homework and comforted me when I cried. For me, it’s perfect.
As I grew up, though, I noticed smirks and giggles following my mother’s speech. I remember seeing an online ad that offered courses to ‘Get rid of your Indian accent today! Feel like a better American!’ Knowing that there were courses designed to help people ‘get rid of’ their accents suddenly made my mom’s pronunciation seem embarrassing.
The hierarchy for accents became apparent at school too. Dull English sentences were transformed into something hilarious when said in a nonnative accent. As students burst out laughing, I’d wear my unaccented English like a shield and say, ‘Oh I don’t talk like that, so I’m not offended!’ I lie, though; even if I don’t talk like that, my family does.
This article not only put into words what has been a daily struggle for me but also gave me the strength to fight it. As the author puts it, ‘no one speaks without an accent,’ so I shouldn’t be embarrassed of the one that raised me. The Indian accent will always be a part of my family identity, and I wouldn’t change that for anything, not even if it would make me feel like a better American.”
寫作要點2：批判性閱讀，展現你的思考
《紐約時報》希望參賽選手們能夠在閱讀過程中，密切關注個人想法，在回應文章中展現批判性思維。僅僅做一個淺顯的、停留於表面的回應是不夠的，你需要深入去挖掘和發展。
同學們可以通過思考以下問題來進行批判性閱讀：
這篇文章對你有什麼影響？它是否教會了你什麼？它是否挑戰了你？它激起了你的什麼情緒，為什麼？
在你閱讀時發生了什麼？你腦子裡在想什麼？哪些具體的句子、引語、詞語或細節吸引了你的注意力？為什麼？
它引發你思考了什麼問題？是否讓你想了解更多的東西？
你能在這個作品或主題與你自己的信息儲備之間建立什麼聯繫？為什麼？例如，它是否讓你想起你讀過、看過或聽過的其他東西，或者你在學校學習過的東西？
你對這部作品的總體看法是什麼？它的優勢和劣勢是什麼？
對於這一點，《紐約時報》給予的建議是，在回應寫作中，通過描述你注意到細節和思想靈感，帶領讀者進入你的思考過程。
然後，說明你選擇的這篇作品是如何改變了你的想法或擴大了你對某一問題的理解，展開你的閱讀思路和角度。
以下是《紐約時報》優秀作品案例，供大家參考：
2017年冠軍文章選擇了“To Beyoncé or Not to Beyoncé: The Challenges of Confirming the Birth of Her Twins”這篇作品，進行回應：
“As long as you’re not living under a rock, you know Beyoncé recently had twins. That’s not news. But what was news to me was that The New York Times took great precaution when publishing the story. I mean, it’s Beyoncé! We want all the news we can get regarding her pregnancy. We don’t care if it’s just rumors! Right? Wrong.
In ‘To Beyoncé or Not to Beyoncé: The Challenges of Confirming the Birth of Her Twins,’ Maya Salam explains her process of confirming details. When the rumors first leaked, all the gossip mags and many news sources jumped to publish something about the twins. Facts couldn’t be confirmed since neither Beyoncé or Jay-Z were talking, but that didn’t stop publications. Salam contacted many sources she had deemed reliable but she came back empty-handed from most. Nevertheless, she persisted and eventually found solid information.
This made me realize that The New York Times actually cares about all its facts, even in the most trivial aspects of life. Beyoncé is famous, so gossip mags and fans don’t really pay attention to the fact that even though Queen B is sometimes seen as a goddess, she is, in fact, human. So it’s important to keep the facts about her twins straight. In this era of fake news, it’s important to stay vigilant about what we hear and read, especially on the news. And if news sources have to work hard to get the facts straight on something as lighthearted as Beyoncé, then they must work even harder to maintain the veracity of harder topics.”
寫作要點3：重視作品中的細節或引文
《紐約時報》認為，如果一篇回應性文章能夠以選擇作品的具體內容為基礎，就會立刻變得更加有力。一篇回應性文章如果只是一閃而過地提到了原作，在文中評審們無法找到證據證明學生真的讀了這篇文章並從中獲得了什麼，這就不是一個有效的讀者回應。
因此，當同學們開始寫作時，可以問問自己以下問題：
這篇作品中哪些句子、詞語、細節、圖像、引語或段落是突出的？
它提供了哪些對你來說是新的信息、想法或觀點？
你最想記住的是什麼？
哪些細節或引文最能支持你想說的這篇作品？
對於這一點，《紐約時報》給予的建議是，首先，由於文章篇幅長度限制，你需要專注於所選作品中令你印象最深刻的細節或見解，並不斷從該方向發展、挖掘。
其次，將文章中的一些小而突出的細節散佈在你的整篇文章中，這樣就可以使評審看出你是如何仔細閱讀的。
以下是《紐約時報》優秀作品案例，供大家參考：
2018年冠軍文章選擇了 “The Rich Are Planning to Leave This Wretched Planet” 這篇作品，進行回應：
“What could possibly motivate someone to wear a 180-pound suit with diapers and drink tubes, rotate senselessly in a centrifuge, induce claustrophobia and risk death, all while coughing up 55 million dollars in the process? The answer is right above us: space.
For me, space is so alluring because it turns fears into works of art. Despite my thalassophobia, I still find myself attracted to the vast nothingness, the impossible emptiness of the skies. When I’m playing football at sunset on a cloudless night and look up at the infinite sky, I don’t feel distress or panic, even though I realize that I’m just a trivial speck of dust in the galaxy.
Philippe Starck, designer of a project aimed to launch millionaires into space, describes it as “a first approach to infinity.” Spending a split nanosecond in the blackness will result in instant death, and yet there’s just something so cozy about drifting in a spaceship with dangers all around but not within, the same coziness one feels snuggling under a blanket while a thunderstorm wages war on the world.
All of this is why the article ‘The Rich Are Planning to Leave This Wretched Planet’ attracted me so much. Reading about how my seemingly impossible fantasies could come true was surprisingly relaxing and satisfying. I just have a small problem with the title; space travel shouldn’t be about escaping a miserable world, it should be about discovering and rejoicing in a new one.”
寫作要點4：展現你的寫作風格
雖然讀者回應文章與論文寫作有一些共同的特點，例如，你可能會提出一個主張並支持它，但你要寫的內容卻更加非正式一些。 《紐約時報》希望可以看到參賽選手們的真實聲音和獨特個性。
對於寫作新手來說，展現你的寫作風格並不是一件容易的事情，但也沒有你想像的那麼難，你可以問問自己：
你會如何向朋友介紹這篇作品？你真正的聲音有哪些元素可以在你的寫作中體現出來？
你怎樣才能放鬆下來？這部作品中是否有一些方面可以啟發你自己的寫作和風格？如何啟發？
這個主題把你的想像力帶到哪裡？這些想法可以成為你回應的一部分嗎？
對於這一點，《紐約時報》給予的建議是，放輕鬆心態，以輕鬆嘗試的思維去跟你選擇的作品產生思維火花。不要擔心打破你認為的正式寫作的 “規則”，允許你的想像力帶領你進行創作。
以下是《紐約時報》優秀作品案例，供大家參考：
2019年冠軍文章選擇了 “The Em Dash Divides”這篇作品，進行回應：
“The glorious em dash — the king of all punctuation marks! The em dash is bold, daring, and versatile. What other punctuation mark can be a semicolon, colon, comma, and parentheses?
Semicolons are by the book foot soldiers; they do a good job linking two would-be sentences. The em dash, on the other hand, is a colorful punctuation mark — it can be used to make a strong point! The comma is great for describing, listing, and linking clauses, but it is easy for commas to flood a sentence. The em dash comes to the rescue when the commas take over a sentence — saving it from sinking in a sea of commas. Parentheses describe details about a sentence (usually making the details seem less important). An em dash makes the details seem like part of the sentence — an important part of the sentence. Em dashes can still be overused — they can distract the reader from the point of the sentence — in many cases ruining the point — and in others just making the sentence hard to read — also ruining the point. A good sentence should have lots of kinds of punctuation marks — not just one — and keep the punctuation as subtle as possible; the punctuation should allow the sentence to be helped by the punctuation, not dominated by it, as the article suggests.
For all the good an em dash can do, it’s not on your keyboard. Just like other good things, you have to know where to find it. The em dash — the Swiss Army knife of punctuation — can greatly improve your writing — just don’t overdo it!”
以上就是紐約時報給出的回應性寫作官方指南，希望能夠為同學們帶來思想上的啟發！上述信息和圖片來源於《紐約時報》官網，如有出入請以官網為準。
參考資料鏈接如下，供大家參考：
The New York Times: Our 14th Annual Summer Reading Contest
The New York Times: Writing Rich Reading Responses: Participating in Our Summer Contest
