Writing a Book Report

Three different types of book reports are:

1. Plot Summaries
2. Character Analysis
3. Theme Analysis

*See descriptions at the end

Introductory Paragraph

The first sentence of your book report should give the title of the book (underlined), the author’s name and a general statement. Some examples are…

1. Dear Mr. Henshaw, by Beverly Cleary, was an interesting book to read because it was true-to-life, believable and a story of growth
2. Beverly Clearly’s Dear Mr. Henshaw was an enjoyable book to read because the story was clear and my English grew along with the boy’s
3. I enjoyed reading Wanda Gag’s Missions of Cats because the illustrations were charming and the story was funny.

It should also contain the type of book report you are writing and a brief but detailed description of the setting. As well the introduction should include a brief description or summary of the book’s main ideas or what the story is about (thesis).

Body of the Report

• Why or how did you select this book?
• What did you think was the best part of the book?
• What are your favorite new words from the piece?
• Do you have any quotations you saved?
• What new facts did you learn that you hadn’t known before?
• What was the main idea of the book?
• Would you like to read other books by the same author? Why?
• If you could talk to the author, what would you say? Ask?
• Would you recommend this book to other students? Why? (What would you tell them to interest them in the book?)

Concluding Paragraph

Your book report should end with a personal evaluation of the book. You can identify its strengths and weaknesses here, in your own opinion. Be sure to use examples here to back up your evaluation.

Plot Summary

When you are writing a plot summary for your book report you don’t want to simply retell the story. You need to explain what you opinion is of the story and why you feel the plot is so compelling, or unrealistic, or sappy. It is the way you analyze the plot that will make this a good report. Make sure that you use plenty of examples from the book to support your opinions.

Character Analysis

If you choose to write a character analysis, you can explore the physical and personality traits of different characters and the way their actions affect the plot of the book.

Themes

Exploring the themes in a book can be a great way to write a book report because picking a theme that you care about cam make the report easier to write. Try bringing some of your thoughts and feelings as a reader into the report as a way to show the power of a theme. Before you discuss your own thoughts, however, be sure to establish what the theme is and how it appears in the book.

• Explain exactly what theme you will be exploring in your report
• Use as many examples and quotations from the book as possible to prove that the theme is important to the story.
• Make sure that you talk about each example or quotation you’ve included. Make a direct connection between the theme and the example from the book.
• After you have established the theme and thoroughly examined the way it affects the book, include a few sentences about the impact the theme had upon you and why it make the book more or less enjoyable to read.