What are some of the main methods of responding?

Summary

A formal, logical, consistent way of highlighting the main points.  

Purpose： In school, to quickly and accurately describe something you have read; in professional life, to provide a faster-to-read version of the material to other readers; in personal life, to reflect as accurately as possible on people, events, and one's memories of them.

Analysis

A taking apart of something to show its parts or pieces, often using a special system, theory, or set of theories.  

Purpose： In school, to think more about a subject and/or to apply the methods of an academic discipline to a specific text; in professional life, to apply a system or idea to a specific situation so that others understand how to use something; in personal life, to examine one's own thoughts, actions, and motives logically and consistently from a variety of perspectives.

Disagreement

A debate against a text, as if it were your opponent.  

Purpose: In school, to disprove something you have read in a logical, fair fashion; in professional life, to stop something from happening by showing logically and thoroughly why it should not be; in personal life, to be able to hold rational arguments with oneself--to be able to logically oppose one's own thinking to test it for weaknesses, limitations, or faults.

Evaluation

A judgment of the value of a text to society or the quality of the way it is argued or organized.  

Purpose: In school, to show how well or poorly something has been done, or its effects on others beyond its main ideas; in professional life, to help decide who to hire, how well people are doing, and the quality and style of your own work; in personal life, to look not so much at the contents of one's own thinking and acting, but rather at the quality and value of that thinking and acting.

Critical Review

A mixture of summary, analysis/disagreement, and evaluation.  

Purpose: In school, a critical review is a recognized formal way to fully discuss a book, movement, or idea; in professional life, it is a thorough, useful method for presenting your overall judgments to others in your workplace by first summarizing and analyzing, and only after that by evaluating; in personal life, to use a consistent set of problem-solving steps--summary, analysis/disagreement, and evaluation--to solve personal problems.

Conclusion

Writing responses is one of the most important thinking activities you may accomplish while in college.  If you do not learn them in college, you certainly will need to learn most or all of them--in some form or fashion--in your future professional life and your own personal life if you wish to grow, be challenged, and challenge others productively and positively in your life.