François Guité
21 septembre 2005

Writing a book report


BookReport.psdShould you choose to write a standard book report, look at the example provided at the end of the page and make sure your paper contains the following parts: ...

Heading:

    • book title (capitalized)
    • author (under the title)

Introduction:

    • mention the title and author
    • tell the type of book (novel, biography, poetry, short stories, etc.)
    • grab the reader’s interest

Body:

    • give a brief summary of the plot (don’t give away the ending)
    • tell about characters and setting
    • tell how the main character has changed

Conclusion:

    • give an opinion (with reasons)
    • make a recommendation about the book


(see The Language Book, p. 215-216)

Here’s an example:


FormalBookReport.jpg



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Commentaires

Thanks François Écrit par Pierre-Olivier Cloutier le 29 septembre 2004

WE should do a book report? Écrit par Véronique le 29 septembre 2004

Do we have to make a short or a long MTI presentation? Écrit par Gabriel Tremblay le 29 septembre 2004

To answer Veronique's question, the students in groups 44, 45 and 46 will also have to produce book reports. There's nothing to worry (s'inquiéter) about at this point in time. All the information will be given to you when I take over from Jessie in mid-November. If you want to get a head start (prendre de l'avance), you can always start reading an English book right away (immédiatement). Écrit par François Guité le 30 septembre 2004

In answer to Gabriel's question : a short MTI presentation will suffice. Écrit par François Guité le 30 septembre 2004

Thank you! Écrit par Véronique le 30 septembre 2004

What is the type of the book we should take for this activity??? Écrit par Alexandre Fortin le 5 octobre 2004

Good question Alexandre. You may choose any type of book that has some literary value: novel, biography, short stories, children's literature, poems, etc. Just find a book that you enjoy reading. There's no minimum number of pages, for I trust you in your learning decisions. Écrit par François Guité le 5 octobre 2004

I would like to know when is the book report deadline. I have started a book and I would like to start to whrit my book report. thanks a lot. Écrit par Marie-Soleil Giguere le 7 octobre 2004

Marie-Soleil: The first of the two book reports will probably be due in sometime in January or early February (that is something I will let the class decide). However, you're always free to hand in your work before the deadline, whenever you feel like it. Écrit par François Guité le 7 octobre 2004

Thank you! Écrit par Alexandre Fortin le 8 octobre 2004

do we have to send you by e-mail before? I've heard we needed to send a picture of the book's cover or something alike... Écrit par D.E. le 13 octobre 2004

And something else... I've forgot the date for the first book report for group 43. Écrit par D.E. (Kelin D.) le 13 octobre 2004

My goodness, Kelin... you've got to start using your day planner ;-) What you had to hand in today was the title and the number of pages of the book you have chosen for the first book report. The picture of the book's cover was only for those who intended to hand in their assignment by e-mail. As for your second question, the deadline for this assignment is January 15 (group 43). Écrit par François Guité le 13 octobre 2004

thank you very much Écrit par marie-soleil le 14 octobre 2004

shall we do a book report like the one at the top, or we can do whatever we want, like a power point presentation, a video...? Écrit par D.E. le 20 octobre 2004

To answer the previous question, you don't have to write a formal book report, as described above. You may be creative and come up with another kind of book report. Your portfolio should contain a list of '25 book report alternatives' that I handed out at the beginning of the year. Écrit par François Guité le 20 octobre 2004

i do my book report on: A series a unfortunate events 1 and 2. Is that ok if it's the continuation of the first book or i must choose another one?? Écrit par Justine le 14 décembre 2004

To Justine: You may use each tome of "A Series of Unfortunate Events" for a separate book report. In other words, you don't have to choose another book. Just make sure you enjoy your reading. And if I may seize the opportunity to contribute to your learning, don't forget to capitalize (mettre une majuscule) all nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs in a title, as well as to capitalize the pronoun 'I' (je). Écrit par François Guité le 14 décembre 2004

Hi François, I would like to know if the book report is a paper that we give you or a public speaking(presentation). Or if we must to present and to give you a paper????? Can you answer me very fast please because I can't to do my book report during the weekend because I have a basket ball's tournament to Victoriaville. Thank you Lauriane Écrit par Lauriane le 5 janvier 2005

Lauriane: If you choose to do a formal book report, like the example above, you only have to submit a paper; there's no need for an oral presentation. The other option is to choose another type of book report from the sheet that I provided at the beginning of the year ("25 Alternatives to a Book Report") and which should be in your portfolio. P.S. Best of luck at the basketball tournament! Écrit par François Guité le 5 janvier 2005

Tank you very much François, But the text must to be approximately 1 page????? How many words??? Thank you Lauriane Écrit par Lauriane le 6 janvier 2005

To answer the above question, Lauriane — and taking for granted that you are referring to a formal book report — your paper should not exceed 1 page. The number of words is not important; what does matter is that you include all the elements mentioned at the top of this post. Écrit par François Guité le 6 janvier 2005

Thank you François! Écrit par Lauriane le 7 janvier 2005

Is it OK if my book report it's the same "grandeur (sorry) then your book report? Écrit par Maxence le 10 janvier 2005

Absolutely, Maxence. That's why I've included a model. Écrit par François Guité le 10 janvier 2005

If I choose Chicken Soup what do I do for the main character and the plot?Do I choose one story? Écrit par Alexandra le 10 janvier 2005

In answer to Alexandra's question: if your book is non-fictional (not a story), replace the contents of the body with topic (subject) and important elements pertaining to the topic. As you have suggested, it may be a good idea to focus on a specific part of the book. Écrit par François Guité le 10 janvier 2005

We are supposed to have how many words and our book report? :) Écrit par Anne Catherine le 17 janvier 2005

Sorry... I just read the message that you write to Lauriane, January 6th and you answer my question. do you think it'S OK if I write 270 words? Écrit par Anne Catherine le 17 janvier 2005

270 words is more than enough, Anne Catherine. Just make sure that all the elements at the top of this page are included (if you're doing a typical book report). Écrit par François Guité le 17 janvier 2005

Can we do 2 formal book reports? Écrit par Hélène le 23 avril 2005

Sure, Hélène... go ahead and write 2 formal book reports if you wish. Écrit par François Guité le 23 avril 2005

thank you..! Écrit par Hélène le 23 avril 2005

How many words the book report must contains????? Écrit par Lau le 10 mai 2005

Lauriane : you'll find the answer to your question in my reply to your very same question above (January 6); have you already forgotten? ;-) Écrit par François Guité le 10 mai 2005

what is the minimum of words accepted?(aproximatively) Écrit par julien le 10 novembre 2005

Can I tak a cooking book to do a book report?(I am serious) Écrit par julien le 10 novembre 2005

Well, Julien, that is an unusual request. Since you’re in the Language Arts programme, I am tempted to answer that you cannot do a book report on a cooking book. However, if you’re able to go beyond the superficiality of recipes and dwell on deeper elements, such as the passions involved in cooking or looking at cooking through the areas of interaction, that is another matter. In that case, it would be very acceptable. As for the number of words, you’ll find some answers in the comments above. Should you want to do an alternative book report, the general answer is as many words as is necessary to make it interesting. But it shouldn’t exceed one page (remember conciseness?). Écrit par François Guité le 12 novembre 2005

sorry for disturbing, thank you François Écrit par julien le 16 novembre 2005

what is the minumum of page that we need to read Écrit par Jérôme Rioux le 6 décembre 2005

As was stated in class, Jérôme, there is no lower limit as to the number of pages for the book that you choose to read. What’s important is that you enjoy your reading. You should be old enough to determine what constitutes a learning opportunity when you choose a book. Should you decide to go the easy route and read a silly book, you’re only cheating yourself. And you will have wasted a great reading opportunity ;-) Écrit par François Guité le 6 décembre 2005

can we read a book in english if the same book are already exist in french? Écrit par loic le 15 janvier 2006

Absolutely, Loic, on the condition that you really do read the English version. Cheating on your learning would be disastrous for your future. There is so much to learn from reading, language wise. Just think of how much faster the others are learning by putting the time and effort into their reading, as well as the joy they get out of it. Écrit par François Guité le 15 janvier 2006

A book for kids, is it okay? If it's like 100 pages ? Écrit par Anaïs M. le 13 février 2006

Yes, Anaïs, as long as you enjoy it ! Écrit par François Guité le 13 février 2006

Can we send our book reports to you by E-mail? Thank you Écrit par Julien F. le 25 février 2006

Sure you can, Julien. Please send it to my school address: francois.guite[at]csdecou.qc.ca Écrit par François Guité le 25 février 2006

Do we have to write reading strategies at the end of a book report? Thank you Écrit par Estelle le 25 février 2006

Reading strategies are not required as part of a book report, Estelle. Again, let me stress the point that reading a book should be as pleasant as possible. Écrit par François Guité le 25 février 2006

I would like to know if we can read a book in french anduse it for the book report because one of my friend did that and I want to know if i can do same. Écrit par Pascale R. le 20 avril 2006

Absolutely not, Pascale. The reading is actually a lot more important than the book report. You gain a tremendous amount of knowledge from reading. Reading a French book would be cheating yourself. For more on this, see my comment above, dated January 15, 2006. Écrit par François Guité le 21 avril 2006

François, there is a mistake. in paragraph 2 line 3 last word. It says sat instead of sad. Écrit par Nicholas L. le 29 mai 2006

it's in the example. I'm sorry I forgot to clarify. Écrit par Nicholas L. le 29 mai 2006

Thank you Nicholas. That's very observant of you. I'll correct it as soon as I have a minute. Écrit par Francois Guité le 29 mai 2006

This is great! The book report example, Julie of the wolves, is very inspiring and the book report plan is very well done, too. This will be very helpful! Thanks :P! Écrit par Name_here le 11 octobre 2007

If we want to do a book report on a big book (well big in the sense that's it's hard to resume), say like "The DaVinci code" or "Harry Potter". Then should we just take a part of the story (like a few chapters) or write a few lines per main chapters? Also, does a one-page book report count towards a writing - Text, proccess or other? (If one line is 10 words, and it would be about 200-250 words to fill in a page, heading and title excluded.) Écrit par K.He le 15 octobre 2007

this is fucking stupid Écrit par le 3 juin 2008


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