Book Reports, Room 114 Style
In Room 114 Book Reports have two parts: A Book Project & a Book Review. Here's a description of each:
Book Projects
This is an artistic/information original creation that demonstrates not only the reading of the book but a creative means to express something from the book. Here are some of the many types of “report” you may do:
You may do only one of each type of presentation over the year. For example, your first report can be a newspaper, but you couldn’t do the newspaper option again in your three next reports. Also, you must include a typed book review that includes Book Title, Author, Date of Publication, Genre a very, very, very, very brief synopsis of plot and extensive analysis of the work, its strong and weak points, comparisons to other works by the same author or others, and a rating or summation of how you feel about the book and why.
Book Reviews
And then there is the book review. This is a 750 word, double-spaced examination of a book that is short on plot recap and long on analysis of the author, the author's craft in writing the book, and the issues raised in the book. Use this format below as the "header" (what you put at the top of your paper) for your review:
Your Name
Book: Name of Book
Author: Author's Name
Published: Year Published
Genre: Genre of Book
To get a better idea of what we're looking for in a review, listen carefully to instructions given in class and read the reviews below. Note how little plot recap is contained in these linked reviews, and how much time the review spends on analysis of the book, author and what it all means.
Here is an example of a high-quality 7th Grade review
And here's an example of a high-quality 8th Grade review
And for one of our best plot summations ever, let us go to a review from 2005 on the book Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult. Keep in mind this was all the plot description she used in a 750-word review.
"Cordelia, or Delia, is on a mission to find the truth of her mother's death, and bring back memories that will help her find the truth of her troubled past. But to do this, she must be willing to ask questions that have painful and sad answers."
Note: The above was written by a 7th Grader. If she can do it, you can, too.