How to Write a High School Book Report Or Book ReviewHow to Write Education-Related Copy Kids in high school should be mature enough writers to produce book reviews instead of filling out book reports. I think of a book report as a form grade school kids fill out. Teachers use book reports to verify that the child has indeed read the book. Book reviews, on the other hand, can be useful in helping you determine if you should read a book or not. So, here's how to write a book review. Don't bury the lead Firstly, I'm a big believer in not burying the lead. What that means is that you should have the gist of your review right there in the first paragraph. Instead of putting the recommendation at the bottom of a book report form, incorporate your recommendation into your thesis. If you do that, your outline is practically written. Here are some form recommendation thesis statements. Remember, these are basic and boilerplate. Students should work a bit to get some creativity into their own statements. After all, this is the main idea and the whole point of doing the book review. The thesis Book X by Joe Blow is a fine read for people who like Y and enjoy Z. Don't waste your time with Joe Blow's book X unless you really like X. Remember I said that putting your thesis in your recommendation practically writes your outline for you? Here's how with the traditional 5 paragraph school essay. Introductory paragraph I was looking for a book to X. The premise of Book X is this and that. Book X by Joe Blow is a fine read for people who like Y and enjoy Z. Supporting paragraphs 1. Something to support your thesis. What is one thing about the book that makes it awesome to read or something bad about the book that makes it bad to read? If this book is fiction, you can describe the setting and if it was effective or not. 2. Add another supporting paragraph. If the book is fiction, this could also be a fine place to describe the characters and if they seemed like real people you could identify with or not. 3. Add another supporting paragraph. Remember, don't give away too much information. What if your teacher is a science fiction buff and you're writing a book review on a science fiction novel. Further suppose that your teacher hasn't read this particular novel yet, but it is in her queue to read. Do you think teacher will be happy if you give away the ending? 4. Any more supporting ideas you think should be included Conclusion or summary Reiterate, but not in the same words, your thesis. Write your review Write your thesis, and then write your outline. Write your review. Sit your review aside for a day, and then go back to it. Check it for spelling errors and homonyms. (Spelling checkers don't pick up their for they're.) Verify that your grammar is correct. Get someone else to read your report. My dad loved red penning my papers as a kid. Hopefully there is someone in your family that will red pen yours. (If you're desperate, you can email me and see if I have the time to red pen your review. Click on one of the links below and you can find my email address under Contact in the navigation bar.) Gwen Nicodemus has two children that she's been homeschooling all their lives. Gwen also teaches science and math classes in a local homeschooling cooperative. As a temporarily retired engineer, Gwen keeps her brain active by writing unit studies and little books for her kids whenever someone gets interested in a new topic. ©2010, Gwen Nicodemus Have a Great Tip, Photo or Comment About This Topic?Do you have a great tip or photo about this? Something that you believe we should read or see? Contribute and share it today! |