Writing a book report can be a huge bore. Even if you enjoyed reading a book, it can be difficult to write a successful essay or report about it. However, acing your next report can be a snap. Here’s how:
If You Haven’t Read The Book Yet
If you’re just starting to read the book, you have an advantage. You have the ability to attack the reading process with the eventual task of writing about the book already in mind. If your teacher or professor has assigned a prompt for you to write about, get it out. Read it. Know exactly what kind of information you’re going to be looking for. If you don’t have an assigned prompt, you can develop one yourself as you get into the book. It’s not as hard as it sounds–just pick out something that jumps out at you while you’re reading, whether it’s why a character acts a certain way, what the importance of an event is, a recurring symbol, etc.
Now that you know what you’re looking for, start reading. However, don’t do this empty-handed. Find some way to mark passages that might be helpful in your essay. You can do this with post-it notes, a highlighter, by dog-earing pages, or taking notes in a notebook. The method doesn’t really matter, so long as you’re keeping track of examples that will provide support for your essay later.
If You’ve Already Read The Book
If you’ve already read the book you need to write about, that’s okay too. Once again, you’ll need to either get out the assigned prompt or develop one for yourself. Then, think back about what you read. Do you remember any passages that might relate to the topic? Go back into your book and mark these passages, just as I explained earlier. Gather as many examples and pieces of information as you can now; it will make assembling your report easier.
Compiling Your Evidence
Now that you have ample information, it’s time to decide how you’ll put it together. The difference between an "okay" essay and a good essay is not just the content, but also how the content is arranged. Figure out which pieces of information are strongest and which are weakest. Then, outline the essay. Line up all the information you want to use in your essay, just like a skeleton you’re going to flesh out later. Place a strong argument at the beginning to draw in the reader. Weaker arguments can go in between. Another strong piece of information should be last, leaving a strong impression. People tend to remember the first and last things they’ve heard or read best, so this will create an overall strong impression.
Writing
Now that you’ve read, taken notes, and arranged your information, writing the essay itself isn’t nearly as daunting. Take the points you’ve already outlined and string them together into paragraphs. Use transition words to connect your ideas together and make the paper flow. "I went to the store. I went to the bank." sounds a whole lot less sophisticated than, "I went to the store. Later, I went to the bank." Just one little word keeps it from being so choppy. Make sure to vary your sentence structure and vocabulary as well. Instead of "I went to the store. Later, I went to the bank. After that, I went to the doctor’s office.", try "I went to the store. Later, I ventured to the bank. A trip to the doctor’s office rounded out the day."
Make sure to include an introduction and conclusion in your paper. The introduction should have a "hook" that convinces readers that your paper is worth finishing, and the conclusion should neatly summarize the paper.
Finally, check check check your work. After all, you just put a lot of effort into this paper, and you’d hate to ruin the effect by turning in a paper littered with spelling errors, typos, or other avoidable mistakes. Read your paper out loud, and ask someone else to read it. He or she might notice something that you didn’t.
Congratulations! You’re all done with your paper, and you’ve taken great care to make it the best one possible. Turn it in with pride!
