Writing a killer book report is not an easy task. It takes people years to learn the art of writing a book report. However, with the right guidelines, you can learn to craft such reports in just a few weeks.
So to help you out with that, here are five tips for writing a killer book report.
#1 Reading the Whole Book is Always a Good Option
As long as you have the time, try reading the whole book first before you jump into the report. That will give you the chance to discover key plot points and minor details. Plus, you can take notes while reading, which can help you write the report.
#2 Go Through Summaries and Existing Book Reports or Reviews
Going through existing summaries and reports of the book you are writing on helps you get a clearer idea of the message it is trying to convey. Reading reviews of the book is also beneficial for the same reasons. These existing works should not create conflict in you regarding your opinion about the book. Rather they should expose you to a wider range of perspectives on the same book but from different people and angles.
For existing summaries, you can check out SweetStudy’s literature section. SweetStudy is a homework assistance platform that helps students with their homework and assignments. You can take help on any subject you want from this website. They can also provide writing help if you need it.
These homework assistance platforms host plagiarism-free and quality book reports on English classics like The Alchemist, The Giver, Moby Dick, and many more. The reports contain chapter-wise summaries and in-depth analyses of the books. You will learn a lot about structuring and diving into a book report by going through the literature section of websites that provide homework help.
#3 Take Notes While Reading the Book and Reports
Taking notes will help you remember the main plot points and details you find while reading the book. Use bullet points for taking notes. They will be enough to help you remember the details while writing.
#4 Ask Yourself Questions About the Book
Asking yourself questions about the book, its author, and its intention is a great way to learn more about the book in depth. These questions can be personal as well as technical.
Some of the questions you should be asking include –
- What lesson did you take away from the book?
- Did any of the characters appeal to you, and could you relate to any of them?
- What role did the main character/s play in driving the story forward?
- What makes the book difficult or easy to read or understand?
- Can you find any other book or story that has a similar appeal to this book?
- What was the inspiration behind the book?
- What makes the book stand out in its genre or writing style?
Note that these questions work mostly for fiction. Non-fiction books are mostly based on information rather than an exciting plot progression and amazing characters. However, you can still question yourself about these books by analyzing the way the book presents the information to its readers. You can also get into the details of what the book leaves out, and what it includes that other books, talking about the same thing, do not.
#5 Write the Report in Chunks
You are likely to procrastinate while writing the book report. So to avoid falling into that black hole, write the report in chunks.
First, break down the essay or assignment into a few parts. Ideally, you should have three sections. The first two are the introduction and conclusion respectively. The middle portion of your report needs to cover everything else.
Then you decide on how you want to approach the report. It would be best if you can finish the introduction in one go. Then you start working on the main points by breaking down the book into chapters.
You can check out the literature section on homework assistance websites and see how they broke the book into chapters before summarizing them. Do that with your report too, but keep the chapter-wise reports short. You should also include the questions we had talked about earlier. Try to give as much info as needed, but do not make it overwhelming.
Finally, add the conclusion to your report, and you are done. Following all these steps will ensure a killer book report that is sure to get you a good grade.
