Javascript required
Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer

Master of Persuasion 500 Mini Lessons Reviews

OWL logo

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This cloth may not be published, reproduced, circulate, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair utilize.


Writing a Book Review

Summary:

This resource discusses book reviews and how to write them.

Book reviews typically evaluate recently-written works. They offer a brief description of the text'south primal points and often provide a short appraisement of the strengths and weaknesses of the work.

Readers sometimes misfile book reviews with book reports, only the two are not identical. Book reports usually describe what happens in a work; their focus is primarily on giving an account of the major plot, characters, and/or master idea of the work. About often, volume reports are a Chiliad-12 assignment and range from 250 to 500 words. If you are looking to write a book written report, delight see the OWL resource, Writing a Book Report.

Past contrast, book reviews are most often a college assignment, but they likewise appear in many professional works: magazines, newspapers, and academic journals. They typically range from 500-750 words, but may exist longer or shorter. A book review gives readers a sneak peek at what a book is like, whether or not the reviewer enjoyed it, and details on purchasing the book.

Before You lot Read

Before you begin to read, consider the elements you will need to included in your review. The following items may help:

  • Author: Who is the author? What else has s/he written? Has this author won whatsoever awards? What is the writer's typical style?
  • Genre: What type of book is this: fiction, nonfiction, romance, poetry, youth fiction, etc.? Who is the intended audition for this work? What is the purpose of the work?
  • Title: Where does the championship fit in? How is it applied in the work? Does information technology adequately encapsulate the message of the text? Is it interesting? Uninteresting?
  • Preface/Introduction/Table of Contents: Does the writer provide any revealing information about the text in the preface/introduction? Does a "guest author" provide the introduction? What judgments or preconceptions practise the writer and/or "guest author" provide? How is the book arranged: sections, chapters?
  • Book Jacket/Cover/Press: Book jackets are like mini-reviews. Does the book jacket provide any interesting details or spark your involvement in some style? Are there pictures, maps, or graphs? Do the binding, page cut, or typescript contribute or take away from the work?

As You lot Read

As you read, determine how you will structure the summary portion or groundwork structure of your review. Be set up to take notes on the book'southward key points, characters, and/or themes.

  • Characters: Are there characters in the work? Who are the master characters? How do they bear upon the story? Do y'all sympathize with them?
  • Themes/Motifs/Style: What themes or motifs stand out? How do they contribute to the work? Are they constructive or not? How would you describe this writer'south particular style? Is information technology accessible to all readers or just some?
  • Argument: How is the work'southward argument gear up up? What back up does the author give for her/findings? Does the piece of work fulfill its purpose/support its statement?
  • Key Ideas: What is the main thought of the work? What makes information technology good, different, or groundbreaking?
  • Quotes: What quotes stand up out? How can y'all demonstrate the author's talent or the experience of the volume through a quote?

When You Are Ready to Write

Begin with a curt summary or background of the work, merely do non give besides much away. Many reviews limit themselves only to the offset couple of capacity or pb the reader up to the rising activity of the work. Reviewers of nonfiction texts volition provide the basic idea of the book's argument without as well much detailed.

The concluding portion of your review will detail your opinion of the work. When you lot are set to brainstorm your review, consider the following:

  • Found a Groundwork, Remember your Audience: Recall that your audience has not read the work; with this in heed, be sure to innovate characters and principles carefully and deliberately. What kind of summary tin you provide of the main points or main characters that will help your readers gauge their involvement? Does the author's text adequately reach the intended audience? Will some readers be lost or notice the text too like shooting fish in a barrel?
  • Minor principles/characters: Bargain merely with the nearly pressing issues in the book. You will not exist able to comprehend every character or thought. What principles/characters did y'all concur or disagree with? What other things might the author have researched or considered?
  • Organize: The purpose of the review is to critically evaluate the text, non just inform the readers about it. Leave plenty room for your evaluation past ensuring that your summary is cursory. Make up one's mind what kind of rest to strike between your summary data and your evaluation. If you are writing your review for a class, ask your instructor. Oftentimes the ratio is half and half.
  • Your Evaluation: Choose one or a few points to hash out about the book. What worked well for y'all? How does this work compare with others past the aforementioned writer or other books in the same genre? What major themes, motifs, or terms does the volume introduce, and how constructive are they? Did the book appeal to y'all on an emotional or logical mode?
  • Publisher/Price: Nigh book reviews include the publisher and price of the volume at the end of the article. Some reviews also include the year published and ISBN.

Revising

When making the final touches to your review, carefully verify the following:

  • Double-check the spelling of the author proper noun(s), character names, special terms, and publisher.
  • Effort to read from the vantage betoken of your audience. Is in that location too much/enough summary? Does your statement about the text make sense?
  • Should you include direct quotes from the reading? Do they aid support your arguments? Double-check your quotes for accuracy.

jervoisyoundected55.blogspot.com

Source: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/common_writing_assignments/book_reviews.html