How to Write a Book Report

In your academic experience, have you ever been tasked with writing book reports? What is a book report? You should be in a position to know this just so to help you come up with a book report and don't mistake for a book review. If the instructor assigns you with a task to write a book report, what are you required to do? It's common for instructors to give directions on what you're expected to do. A book report is composed of three elements that form the main parts of the text. These are; plot summary, character analysis in the book or theme analysis.

This is done with the main aim of training students on various skills of putting across or bringing out some specific aspects of a book they tasked to read and give reports on. On how to write a book report college level, be keen as to ensure the following is effectively tackled;

  • What type of book report has you been assigned?
  • The title and dates of publication
  • Author's name or in some cases you could write the instructor's details
  • The book's genre; expound to your readers whether it's a fiction, fantasy, autobiography, biography and many more
  • Important information about the book that you feel you should mention
  • A brief overview of the book's summary with essential themes that arise. Be as precise as possible, do not exceed six sentences
  • Key ideas the author has mentioned in the book
  • Highlight the characters and expound on the major themes but don't go too deep. Excess information would mean a book review, and this is not the case
  • Take note of book quotations to support the conclusions you found exciting and did mention. This can be more like supporting evidence from the book to help back your standpoints

However, how to write a book report university level comes with instructions based on the different types of book report you're assigned to write. Follow these instructions keenly and always revisit them should there be a need for clarifications.

How to Write a Book Report

We're going to give you a detailed approach on how to write a book report college level, but before we get to that, let's first appreciate what a book report is.

So, What is a Book Report?

This is an essay, presentation or written text that is tasked to a writer to discuss, summarize or evaluate the contents in a book. They are mostly assigned to students to assess their skills in content analysis. Most schools use this exercise as a principle to tell if the student has best understood the assigned book.

Based on how to write a book report high school, do you know the difference between a book report and a book review? This is a challenge to most students for they end up confusing between the two. You ought to be in a position to distinguish between the two to avoid excesses that are involved with writing a review.

When you're assigned with the exercise of writing a book report, what the instructor expects is for you to write a text that captures the critical information on the book's plot, setting and author's information. The final work should contain information about the author's biography; in which case you'll be writing on their level of education, where they live and other relevant biographical data. This will help the reader with comprehending the perspective of the writer. After which, you'll now go ahead and focus on the book's summary while keeping in mind the following details; the plot, climax, setting, not forgetting the essential characters in the book.

Now switching to a book review, this is more demanding for your required to do a dig deep and come up with a profound analysis of the book. The trouble students' face when it comes to this type of writing is a narration of the whole story again, and by this, you'll be doing the exact opposite of what the writing requires of you. Just be smart enough and give a brief overview of some of the key aspects in the book that one could get if they brush through the book. Book reviews are for you to bring out the author's intent and some of the nitty gritty that contribute greatly to the book's purpose and overall comprehension.

Also, go ahead and touch on some of the book's limitations and its relevance to modern society. With such information, we bet you're now aware that a book review is more comprehensive and in-depth whereas a book report is a brief overview on the author's plot, characters, biography, and perspective. Look out for this, and to best cope, with this, you can read a guideline on how to write a book report on a textbook, and that's where we come in.

Book Report Selection

On how to write a book report on a textbook, this is another part where regretful mistakes are typically made. If it comes down to you as a writer to select the book you want to analyze and write a report on. You ought to thank the instructor for allowing you with an opportunity for freedom. This is a dream for many writers. You need now to proceed with moderation, go on and select a book you find easy to write a report on and that you think might provide you with excellent points to discuss in your text. Going for something you're more connected to gives you a better chance of doing your best leave alone the will to work hard on it.

This can as well save you time that can instead be spent on sharpening more essential aspects of the book report. After selecting the book, you can now choose the title you're so excited about. Titles you find thrilling and interesting are the better option, titles that will bring out the best in you. A good practice is to go for options that are broadly arising in the whole story while at the same time, trending. Trending topics will increase your chances of capturing your reader's attention as you'll be able to relate to the current worldly events easily and most people are most concerned with what's going on. The book can either be fiction or nonfiction, whichever the case, as long as at the end of the day relevance is your guiding principle.

On the other hand, the freedom to choose can as well be held back by the instructor. Instead, the instructors come with assignments with a specific book and topic to focus on. Here, it's a good idea to stay liberal and be open to the instructor will choose to issue as an assignment. Most students find it hard when it comes to this, but once they start working on the assignment, they end up finding the book even more interesting. Staying liberal has always helped with writing and you ought to embrace the same to be a good writer.

Go Through the Book

For you to write a book report, you ought to have spent lots of time going through the book, after all, what is the report all about! Skimming, although being a shortcut to finish your work early to focus on something else, is a practice for lazy students. It doesn't always cut. Our team strongly advises you to keep off such poor habits of writing. There are reports written on the same book that is available online, you just ought to click, and you have it all with you.

This is misleading information, despite being accurate and spot on, having been written by professional and scholars in literary fields. They send the wrong message of "I'm that writer” Are you? Don't be fooled by such, be a student of integrity you've always been and follow the right procedures of writing a book report. The online access to information is there to help you understand and get a better understanding on the dos and don'ts on how to write a book report high school with clues on some of the crucial areas of conflict you could shed some light on. Such information should act as a compass to guide you instead of copying the exact information on your book report for this will be plagiarism on your paper leave lone the consequences that come about with such actions.

Take your time, read the book thoroughly and understand the gist of the author, his perspective, objectives, tone, use of character, styles and all that you'll lay your eyes on. You need a quiet and suitable environment for your reading; we recommend libraries, chill parks or your bedroom. Ingenuity is a key aspect of how to write a book report university level.

The Book Report Structure

Academic writings have a pattern of structure they usually follow. It's a standard format of introduction, body, and conclusion;

i. Introduction

This is the starting part of the book report with information on what the writer is going to base their focus on. Here, you ought to know what you need to tackle and mention it to your reader. Make the reader comfortable with your writing. Here you're required to use attention magnets to capture your reader's attention and get them hooked into wanting to read more and more of your analysis. You could use wise sayings, quotes from renowned people and bold statements that show clearly that you know what you're doing.

ii. Body Text

The body paragraphs contain the crux of the story while mentioning some of the exciting clues you came across while reading and analyzing the book. Also, you're required to have supportive evidence from the book; this can be done through the use of examples and direct quotes from the author. What do you think of the author's persuasive approach? How effective was it in the process? What is the author's perspective? What are the objectives of the themes in the story? You should tell your readers why you think the author did or did not achieve their goals of writing.

iii. Conclusion

Generally, conclusions are a summary of the whole book report. On how to write a book report analysis conclusion, start by mentioning your view on the book and some of the conclusions you settle for. Make some recommendations on the book to help someone who hasn't yet read the book. Based on your reflection and the research you did, how did you feel the author should have concluded his/her works? Okay, you enjoyed the book, didn't you! What aspects of the author did he/she deploy that made the book that much interesting. Such an approach on how to write a book report analysis will win you good marks.

Book Report APA Style

While writing book reports which format style do you use? This can either be APA or MLA, depending on the instructions and the type of paper. Well, do you know how to write a book report APA style? You're expected to do your paper on standard sized paper (font 10-12), Times New Roman. The margins on all the sides ought to be 1 inch long, 1.5 spacing. To learn more on how to write a book report APA style, you could scour the web for more information.

Polish Your Work!

Once you're done with drafting your book report, it's quite sensible that you ought to seek for a second opinion. This can help with correcting some of the missed mistakes that you might have done while working on your paper. You can as well check for grammar and spelling mistakes in some of the online grammar checking sites. The good thing is, this is the draft and not the paper to be submitted. Take these corrections positively, make the identified changes and proofread your work again until you're satisfied to submit. Look out for; spacing, font, format style, structure, punctuation and all that is to be corrected.

Conclusion

Whichever the type of book report you're assigned to write, ensure that your paper is logical, sensible and remember to include examples from the book to back your claims. What key thing have you learned today? We'd like to hear from you, let us know in the comments.