We can understand that writing a book report essay can strike fear among students. For writing a good book report, you need to write as well as think critically about the book that you’ve read. We believe that this task isn’t as simple as it sounds.it requires a lot of time and effort and students often have to pull all-nighters to get this assignment done. Although book reports can take on different forms and you can also present your opinion regarding different aspects.
Another reason that most students find it a daunting task is because of the analysis of large amounts of information and then putting it in a relatively small space. There are several ways in which you can format the paper. Although there’s flexibility in following the book report, but all of these formats follow the basic guideline that’ll be discussed in this blog. Moreover, you need to plan this assignment before you start writing your essay.
We’ve presented 12 tips that can help you in writing a great book report essay.
1) Before you start writing, read
There isn’t any other alternative for reading the book. Hence, you need to be sure that if you have the freedom of choosing the book, then it has to be of interest. Although this is an obvious step, but most students try to find a shortcut and prefer reading summaries or watching movies. However, you usually miss out on important information and minor details that you’ll only get if you read the whole book.
2) Use an outline of the book report
After you’ve thoroughly read the book report, you’re now ready to start with the writing process. When you start writing the book report, you have to be sure that you’re following the steps for the writing process, which include prewriting, writing the book report essay, revising the draft, editing, and then submitting it. Each step has its importance and can’t be skipped. For successfully doing the first step, you need to develop an outline.
3) Have an objective in mind
This is also an important tip that you should remember when drafting a book report. This includes the main idea that you plan on presenting to your audience. This step can also include the question that you’ve planned on answering through your report.
4) Keep supplies with you when you read
This is an important tip that shouldn’t be overlooked. You need to ensure that before you start reading your book, you have all the supplies with you, which include paper, pens, highlighters, and even sticky-note flags. However, if you’re reading an e-book, you can use the annotation function of your program.
5) Pay attention to minor details
Be sure to keep the focus on small details that you can’t find on the internet or through any other source. You also need to look out for the clues provides by the author in the form of symbolism. These symbols denote crucial points that back up the overall theme.
6) Use sticky notes to highlight important pages
If you note important clues or even interesting passages, be sure to make them by either using a highlighter or sticky-flag notes. In this way, when you start writing your report, you can go through these important pointers rather than going through each page. This can save a lot of your time.
7) Search for themes
As you continue reading your book, you’ll start noticing an emerging theme. You can write down this theme on a notepad about the way through which you determined the theme. This can come in handy when you start with your book report essay.
8) Add a hook statement
You need to add a ‘hook’ sentence at the starting of your essay. This line helps in catching the attention of your readers and also piques their interest. In this way, they’ll continue reading your review. This statement needs to be provocative or compelling. Moreover, it can even be a question.
9) Include important book information
Share general information about the book with your readers that you think is important for them to know. Obvious choices are the author and the title of the book. In addition to this, if the year when it was published is mentioned in the book, then you can add that as well. You need to mention if the book is a part of a series, so your readers know whether it’s important to read other books before this one.
10)Outline basic plot summary
You need to share the synopsis of the plot of the book, so your readers get the gist of what the book is about. A great practice is to leave out the ending or the climax of the book for avoiding to reveal spoilers. In this way, you won’t ruin the story for them. However, if you must include the spoiler, then hide that part so your readers can choose whether they want to read it or not.
11)Don’t forget to add you critique or praise
This is a very important step in your essay and has to be the longest. You can’t simply say that the book was ‘bad’ or ‘good’. You need to explain to your audience why you find them helpful or not. By sharing these details you can help your audience in forming their opinions.
12)Keep it streamlined
Focus on the length of the essay and be sure that you make every word count. You should avoid rambling reviews and giving lengthy arguments as they can confuse your readers and can also be time-confusing. For keeping your audience hooked throughout the essay, you need to get to the point directly.
If these tips didn’t help clear your misconceptions about the book report essay, then you can seek a book review writing help from online writing services. You can hire a professional writer and let them handle the rest. You can now enjoy good grades!