How to Write a Book Report: Helpful Tips and Tricks

If your professor gave you a task to prepare a book report, do not rush to start writing. You should take your time and deal with terms first. If you wish to learn how to write a book report, you need to understand what a book report is. Only in this case, you can cope with the assignment. A book report is a piece of writing that provides a detailed, objective discussion of a specific piece of writing. This assignment should not be confused with the book review. The two tasks are similar, a book report focuses on describing and summarizing the text instead of evaluating and analyzing it. In this case, the plot, main ideas, and characters are in the spotlight.

A book report is a writing work that summarizes a piece of fiction or popular science literature. 

Reports are popular academic assignments that allow professors to ensure that students have read a certain piece of literature.

Book Report Writing Plan

You have read a book, understand what a report is, and now are ready to start writing, are not you? Again, take it slow. Now, it will be sound to prepare a short outline of your future paper. It will not take you much time but will allow you to arrange your thought in a logical way and ensure that no details have been lost. Finally, it will help you organize your work step-by-step. 

• Title: Copy and paste the title of the work under consideration.
• Author/s: Provide names of all authors of the work.
• Year of Publication: State when it was published (the year).
• Genre: Define the literary genre of the piece.
• Topic: Determine the main idea or topic that the text covers.
• Plot: Retell the events briefly.
• Characters: Name the main and supporting characters and analyze their personality traits and roles.
• The context: Describe the historical and social environment of the period, in which the events take place.
• The style: Analyze the storyteller’s manner of writing (complex or simple, linear or not, etc.).
• Judgment: Share your thoughts about the work. Explain what you like and what you believe could be improved. Was there a character that impressed you much? Was there anything that disappointed you? 

How to Make a Perfect Book Report

Now, you have a plan and can start your paper. Address every aspect of the lineup carefully providing enough details but not going too far. You should mention only the major information about the writer and the issues that influenced the writing of this particular work. For the plot, retell the events but be careful not to reveal the ending! For characters, describe their behavior, thoughts, and feelings. Then, it is crucial to include the story in the social context to help the readers see the bigger picture. Now, you should analyze the writing style of the author. Finally, you should share your personal opinion. You have to try to be critical and avoid bias and clichés. You should ensure each idea is well-motivated and is supported with examples and evidence. The last step will be to reread the whole paper, correct mistakes, and improve transitions. You should also ensure that the writing flows well.

What Is the Difference between Report and Review?

A book report and a book review are different types of assignments. The two use unique approaches to the book report writing. If your professor asks you to summarize a literary work, you need to prepare a book report. If you are asked to analyze a piece, you have to write a book review. 

Broadly speaking, reviews are more complicated than reports. They go into much detail to analyze a piece of writing from a variety of perspectives. In the report, you have to provide relevant information about the text. In a review, you have to dive deep and evaluate this information critically and objectively. Take into account a book report retells, and a book review evaluates.

When You Are Ready to Write

When working on your paper, stick to the simple writing formula: general-specific-personal (G-S-P). G: Introduce the piece and its author/authors. S: retell the plot and describe characters. P: explain what you liked about the literary work and what disappointed or irritated you. Consider that most of the paper should be devoted to the description of the literary work (G+S). Finally, when describing your personal opinion, you should pay attention to the following elements:

• • Events/characters: what events, plot twists impressed you the most? What did you love or hate about the characters? How did these elements help you understand the main idea or message of the literary work?
  • Evidence: make sure that your opinion is supported with enough evidence and you use them objectively and without bias.
  • Ratings: do not try to describe every single event or character. Choose those that had the biggest influence on you. Prepare your list of the top issues to discuss. You should explain what made you like or dislike the whole literary work. How did each element define your opinion? You should be sincere and logical in your writing. 

• Recommendations: You have to think carefully about whether you will recommend this piece to other readers or not. Explain why. What do you want them to know before they read the literary work? What can you tell them after they finish?

Preparing the Final Copy

Before submitting your book report, reread it a few times:

• Ensure that the name of the author, book, publisher and characters are spelled as needed.
• Fix any grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes.
• Make sure that the description of the book is detailed enough. Your reader (a teacher, instructor, fellow student, etc.) should see that you have read the book attentively.
• Consider adding quotes from the text.

Conclusion

In this article, you have learned how to write a book report. Just to sum up, students should prepare custom book reports to demonstrate their knowledge of a literary piece. In this assignment, you should focus on the description of the story, events, characters, and concepts.

In this paper, you have to show your understanding of a literary work in its historical context. At times, you may be also asked to relate the piece to course materials. If you follow instructions and consider all elements, you will achieve success and get a good grade.