Write a report of a book

Video: How to Write a Simple Book Report

Content

To step
Part 1 of 3: Write a report of a book
Part 2 of 3: Let the text work on you
Part 3 of 3: Organizing your thoughts about the text
Tips
Necessities

Reviewing or reporting a text is a good way to process what you have read and develop your understanding of the text. Many teachers assign a review or book report to help students clarify what they have read, substantiate their reflections on and opinions about the text, and organize their thoughts before embarking on a larger assignment.So, to write a report of a book, you have to work with the text as you read it and write down your thoughts about that text in a coherent, thorough way. By practicing in careful reading and writing, you can learn to write a thoughtful reflection that can help in the design of a thesis or extensive essay on a particular text.

To step

Part 1 of 3: Write a report of a book

Summarize the text. The first half of a report should contain a brief summary and analysis of the book and the main points the writer appears to be making. The summary section of your book report should be thorough enough to allow you to write a short treatise on the book.
- Discuss the main thesis of the book. What is the book about and why did the writer write the text?
- Consider any conclusion or comments / arguments the author is working towards. If the book is about something, such as the social and political events of the author's time, what does the author ultimately think about it and how do you know?
- Include one or two important quotes that are representative of the rest of the text.
Respond to the text with your own comment. The second half of a consideration should be your commentary on the text. This part of the consideration is your subjective opinion about the book and the arguments or conclusions that you believe are contained in the text. While the summary focuses on the "what" of the text, your commentary should focus on the "why".
- Don't be afraid to make connections between the book and your own life - if there's a theme or character that appeals to you, write why.
- Discuss and evaluate the author's arguments and conclusions, which should be detailed in the summary section of your report.
- Consider the commentary as supportive or dismissive of (what you consider to be) the author's main points.
- Justify your opinion in the comment. Agreeing or disagreeing is only the first step - for a thorough answer, you need to analyze your own opinion and come to a reason why you considered it.
Develop your ideas over time. The purpose of a reading report is to give yourself a more or less private space to think about the text and develop your thoughts and opinions. You don't have to have everything thought out from the start, but your report should help you figure it out along the way.
- Allow yourself to research a topic from the summary. Think about why you think the author has broached certain topics, and what you think about those topics and the author's depiction of them.
- Analyze your opinion. Don't just write that you thought something was good or bad, or that you agreed or disagreed - dig deeper and find out why.
- Ask yourself: How far can I go with a particular idea, and how can I make it understandable? Think of your report as a place where you can understand both the academic and the personal experience of reading a particular book.
- As your report progresses over the semester or school year, your answers should become longer and more complex.
- You must be able to map the development of your thoughts in each answer and in the report as a whole.
Organize your log. At the very least, the notes in the report should be dated. You may also want to use headings and titles so that you can easily find out a reflection on a particular text. Remember, the purpose of a review is to track your own progress with that book and to better understand your reading experience.
- Include clear and descriptive headings in your report. It will help you find your thoughts and insights more easily if you read through your report later.
- It's okay if the actual report notes stray a bit while exploring the topic - in fact, this can be very helpful. The goal is to organize your report as a whole so that you can understand your notes and track your progress.

Part 2 of 3: Let the text work on you

Read the text critically. Critical analysis of a text may require more than one read. Try to absorb the general ideas during the first reading session, then come back to the specific ideas and concepts as you reread (if you have time for a second read). Critical reading should at the very least involve thinking about what you are reading and digging deeper into the text at each step.
- Try to get a general understanding of what the text is about before reading it. You can do this by reading a summary, going through the chapter or chapters, or by scrolling through a reading guide for a specific text.
- Place the text in a certain context, in terms of its historical, biographical and cultural significance.
- Ask questions about the text. Don't just passively read the book - analyze what is being said and formulate an "objection" in your notes if you disagree with the author.
- Be aware of your personal view of the text. What shaped your views on that topic, and how could your views be similar or different from those of the author (or a reader of his or her time)?
- Identify the main thesis of the text and try to see how it develops over the course of the book.
Annotate the text. Annotating in the margin of a text is called annotating the text. When taking notes, write down your initial thoughts and impressions, your reaction, and any questions you may have after reading the text.
- Annotations don't have to be eloquent. They can be half-formed thoughts and impressions, or even exclamations.
- Some critical readers annotate a text to clarify things that were vague in the text. Annotate other readers to review and evaluate the author's arguments.
- Try to make your annotations as diverse as possible so that your notes approach the subject from multiple angles.
Reread your annotations multiple times. Once you have read and annotated the text, take the time to read your notes. Your notes are essentially a note to yourself. Read through your notes and try to process the thoughts you recorded on the page before attempting to write a comment on the text.
- Try to read your notes within a day of writing, and then a few more times in the weeks that follow.
Evaluate your notes, both in the text and in your report. After critically reading the text, annotating the pages and writing freely or creating a story map / web, you have a lot of information about the text to work with. Some notes will be more useful than others, and evaluating those notes can help you decide what information is vital to the summary and commentary of your review.
- Mark or draw a star next to the 10 or so notes, comments or passages that you consider to be of some importance.
- Underline or put a second star next to the five notes / comments / passages you think most are significant. They can be important to the plot, to your understanding of the plot, or to the argument that you hope to support in your answer.

Part 3 of 3: Organizing your thoughts about the text

Consider creating a story map or web. Story maps and webs can help you identify patterns in the book, clarify relationships between characters, and map the overall plot of the story. Some analytic readers may not need or find this step helpful, while others may find it a valuable resource in writing a review.
- Story webs are usually organized with a central topic or question in the middle, surrounded by boxes or speech bubbles that point to that topic and support, deny, or comment on that topic or question.
- Story maps can be more like a flowchart. They track the main plot points and break down the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the book into a visual format.
Write freely about the text. Free writing can be useful if you are not sure how to start a report or if you are not yet sure what you thought of the book you read. It's unstructured and casual, which makes it a great opportunity to chat on the page. Free writing allows you to explore your thoughts until you know where to start your commentary on the text.
- Do not try to copy your freely written text word for word into your report. Instead, take out some important thoughts and phrases, and then try to expand them to develop your ideas for the report article.
If necessary, make an outline of your consideration of the text. If you're still not sure where to start your report review, writing a draft can help. Writing an outline or sketch involves compiling your answers or reflections on different elements of the book. For example, you could write, "I see in Chapter Two that _______" or "I felt that _________". See making a sketch or outline as a step between free writing and drawing up the actual reflection.
- Free writing can be useful for fleshing out your summary of the text, while sketching can be useful for fleshing out your comments on the text.
- Don't try to limit yourself when making an outline or sketch. Allow yourself to explore the thoughts and opinions you had when you read the text and follow those thoughts to their logical conclusions.

Tips

Do not read large chunks and expect to fully understand the text when you write about it. Instead, read a small portion (a short chapter or half of a long chapter) and then write about it.
Work in a quiet environment without electronic distractions.
Use sticky notes and / or highlighters to mark important passages.
Follow your teacher's instructions regarding specific requirements for the report or review.