Writing a book report
2. Write an introduction.
- Tell whether the book is fiction /literature/ or nonfiction /science/.
- Include something extremely important to identify the main topic and
capture the reader’s interest.
3. Write the body of the report.
- Give a brief description of the plot, setting and characters.
(1.The plot of a story is the series of the events that moves the story along. Most
story plots include 3 stages of events: rising action, the climax and the resolution.
2. The setting of a story is the time and place of the action.
3. The characters in a story are the people who take part in the events. Animals and
even objects can also be characters if the author gives them human traits with their
own personalities.)
- Give a brief summary of the part of the story that presents the main
conflict without telling it all.
- Give details that will bring important characters to life.
4. Write a conclusion to sum up.
- Tell your readers why they should or should not read the book.
- If you do want people to read the book, make them wonder how it ends.
Writing process
Step 1: Prewriting - Make a list of ideas deciding what you will write and brainstorm.- plan* and sort, take notes in your own words on your note cards or use a direct quotation,
- organize, make an outline arranging main topics (I, II..), subtopics (A, B..) and details (1, 2..) in a logical order, choose and explore an idea,
Step 2: Write a first draft – Get all your ides down on paper and write a strong topic sentence stating your opinion clearly in it and support it with details, good reasons and examples. Follow your outline and here you can write a bibliography page in alphabetical order if it is a research report.
Step 3: Revise – Read the first draft and make your changes. (Using details, sense words, clear, exact words or figurative language to describe and plant a vivid image in your reader’s mind.) Step 4: Proofread – Correct mistakes using dictionaries. (Paragraphs, indenting, capitalization, marks and punctuation, spelling, subject-verb agreement)
Step 5: Publish – Copy, add the title, check and share.
Ideas for sharing:
- Make a poster with photographs, drawings or diagrams to illustrate. Or build a model of your story’s main setting using a variety of materials, such as colored paper, clay, foam rubber, and cloth.- Turn your topic into speech and give it to your classmates for discussion using note cards, maps, pictures, models or samples that people can look at. Or tape-record your story.
- Send a copy to someone who would be interested in your topic. Collect and display other materials /letters, articles and editorials/ that support your argument. Submit your topic to the newspapers, journals, blogs and libraries making a cover with used reading materials. Furthermore, you can even sell the movie right to your story.
*The purpose of a research report is to provide information about a topic that you can’t possibly learn about directly. For a research report, your information will almost always come from a library. A library has a variety of reference aids and resource books to help you: the encyclopedia, the atlas, the almanac, the dictionary and readers’ guide to periodical literature. The easiest way to locate information in the library is to use the card catalog which lists every book in the library.
*A news report.
