You will write a book review about your book.   You will write a variety of non-stop writings that will help you complete the task.  Use the information below to put the review together. On top of that you will prepare a presentation to convince others in the class to read your book.

After you have finished reading the novel, you will be asked to write four separate non-stop writings (ten minutes each) about the it to prepare you for the book review. These are

bullet a summary (10 points) -- revise this to meet academic standards
bullet what worked well (10 points)
bullet what could have been better (10 points) 
bullet your recommendation (10 points)   

There is no late work on these --on their respective due dates, either they are completed the day they are due, or they receive no points.  Sorry, it's too late in the quarter to play "catch up."

All of these together will create a book review that adheres to the following format.

Audience Awareness: Elements of the Book Review

bullet A thesis is a must in a successful book review. As you know the thesis expresses the main idea; it contains a fact and your opinion about that fact. The thesis is very specific. In the case of the book review, the thesis tells the book's moral or theme. Thus, for Raisin in the Sun, we could use this thesis:

    "Being part of the family often means putting aside one's own desires."

bullet An introduction to contain the thesis is also needed; also remember to include the author and title in the introduction.  The thesis should be the last sentence in your introduction.
bullet Once the thesis is established, it's time to add development and support. In the case of the book review, you will have at least four body paragraphs:
bullet a summary
bullet what could have been better
bullet what worked well
bullet your recommendation

You will now take the ten minute non-stop writings and turn them into body paragraphs.   You should then go back and add at least one specific quotation from the novel  in each body paragraph to support your ideas.

bullet A successful report ends well. Be sure to tell us whether you recommend your book or not in your recommendation.

If you learn this basic format, you will have an excellent model form for any book review you have to do in college, whether you are in Ecology 101 or History 560.  Also, by breaking down such a large project into smaller tasks, you save much time and energy.

Read book reviews by other students.

 

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Last revised: November 19, 2009 by Jan Strever -- jstrever@scc.spokane.edu
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