Beyond the Book Report

In homeschooling, there seem to be sporadically-spaced quantum leaps our children take in their journey of learning. I remember one son going from "C-A-T" "kuh / a /tuh" "cat...CAT!" to reading words like euphemism. One day our young child is beginning to learn about silent e and the next he is reading multi-syllabic words containing all sorts of exceptions to phonetic rules. How do they learn all that? I'm trusting that God instructs them in the nightwatches like it says in one of the Psalms.

So it goes with creative writing assignments. I have struggled with my young writers over disjointed sentences, lack of subject-verb agreement, using informal language or colloquialisms.....all in a little writing assignment about "Our cat, Tux." Basically just getting them to jump from the simplistic, third-grade sounding reports to a thoughtful essay on any topic seems daunting.

It took some time, but I think we finally made the quantum leap from the simplistic book report....."This was about a girl who lives in the middle ages….” to writing a nicely organized, albeit simple, literary critique or book review. Out of desperation (dare I call it frustration?) I put together some pretty basic little guidelines to help my sons write a well-framed review of a book they recently read. Since they had previously read The Great Gatsby, I used ideas from another review about that book for examples to illustrate what I was driving at. Well, it worked. Since they successfully used this example, and finally made that "quantum leap" from the elementary-sounding book report to a passable literary critique, I thought posting this may offer help to other homeschool moms in trying to get beyond the dreaded, boring book report.

Book Review Guidelines

Here is a simple pattern to follow when writing a book review. The numbered statements and examples below are the ideas you should discuss in each paragraph of the Review. If the pattern is closely followed, a well-written 8 paragraph essay should be the result. It is possible to combine a couple of the ideas into one paragraph, but it is recommended for best results, and to create a generally well organized critique of any piece of literature to stick to the pattern.

Discussing the "Theme" is generally the most challenging for a young writer. Help them discover that it may be any over-arching idea in the book: courage, betrayal, loyalty, overcoming obstacles, etc.

Analysis or opinion is important and there is no “right” or “wrong.” This is not simply a book report which regurgitates the plot and action of the book, but is rather a Book Review, or critical analysis if you prefer.

Paragraphs

1) State a bold assertion in your thesis about the book.
“The Great Gatsby is probably F. Scott Fitzgerald’s greatest novel; a book that offers condemning and insightful views of the American Nouveau riche in the 1920s.”

2) State the Theme.
“Fitzgerald seems to have a brilliant understanding of lives that are corrupted by greed.”

3) Summarize the setting. This should be very brief introducing the protagonist, identifying the location and the mood.

4) Summarize the conflict. “Long ago, Gatsby fell in love with a young girl, Daisy. Although she has always loved Gatsby, she is currently married to Tom Buchanan.”

5) Summarize the plot.

6) Describe the protagonist: his circumstances, and driving values.

7) Offer your final analysis. “Fitzgerald attacks the shallow social climbing and emotional manipulation—which only causes pain. With a decadent cynicism, the party-goers in The Great Gatsby cannot see anything beyond their own enjoyment. Gatsby’s love is frustrated by the social situation and his death symbolizes the danger of his chosen path.”

8) Closing: restate your thesis. “In all its excitement—pulsating with life and tragedy—The Great Gatsby captures brilliantly the American dream in a time when it had descended into decadence.”

Suggestions for Grading the Book Review
This was adapted from Format Writing by Frode Jensen

Organization:
Check mark each:
___ Thesis statement?
___Supporting statements?
___Purpose clear?
___"Theme" paragraph thesis statement?
___"Theme" supporting sentences?
___"Setting" paragraph thesis statement?
___"Setting supporting sentences?
___"Conflict" paragraph thesis statement?
___"Conflict supporting sentences?
___"Plot" paragraph neatly introduced?
___"Plot" organized supporting sentences?
___"Analysis" paragraph thesis statement?
___"Analysis" supporting sentences?
___Closing paragraph?
___Thesis restated?

___ Total

14-15 checks +3 points
12-13 checks +2 points
10-11 checks +1 point
9 or less 0 points

Mechanical errors: (spelling, punctuation, usage)
0-2 errors + 1 point
3-5 errors 0 points
6+ errors -1 point

Expression, content, readability
Very good +2 points
Average +1 point
poor/needs work 0 points

Grade:
5-6 points = A
4 points = B
3 points = C
1-2 points = D


This worked well for us and may help others who not only struggle with getting beyond the boring book report, but may also assist overwhelmed homeschool moms like me who either simply try to avoid grading writing assignments or desire something more objective than a smiley face or a "Well done" sticker. Happy homeschooling!