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How to write a book report. Book report samples. Sample I. Sample II. The Green Mile
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HOW TO WRITE A BOOK REPORT
1. What is the theme of the book? What message is the author trying to send you? Is the theme clearly expressed and successfully proved? Or does the author present several conflicting themes without proving any of them?
2. Does the plot make sense? Do the incidents follow each other logically and realistically?
3. Do the characters seem like real people to you? Are they beautiful and good? Or do they show their weaknesses and their bad points? Can you believe that each character would really behave as the author shows him behaving? Or does the author move his characters around as though they are puppets and strings?
4. Does the dialogue sound real? Does it tell you about the people who are speaking? Does it reveal their personalities? Do the conversations help to move the story forward and keep it moving? Or does the talk go on and on getting nowhere?
5. Does the setting – the time and place – of the story come to life to you? Can you picture the scenes in your mind? Are the descriptions clear and vivid? Or are they long-winded and dull enough to make you want to skim them to get on with the story? Does the author give enough colorful details to make this other place come to life?
6. Does the style suit the plot and the theme? Is it clear and simple? Light and amusing? Serious but straightforward? Heavy and wordy? Full of effective figures of speech?
BOOK REPORT SAMPLES
Sample I
AN EXPERIMENT IN LOVE
By H. Mantel
An experiment in love is the story of one girl’s passage into womanhood. Carmel’s move from her home to university seems to be an escape for a better life in a lot of ways, but the freedom she was given, her worries about friendships, relationships, money, and health begin to drag her down. As the main character gains more knowledge and more experience, she grows no happier, but rather sadder, more torn in a world of tensions. Living far away from mothers for the first time, Carmel and her friends try to solve their problems concerning boyfriends, religion, fashion, food alone.
It is also one of those stories that begins full of optimism and hope, but as the narrative progresses, the atmosphere of melancholia and even tragedy appears. Carmel’s life reflects the generation of girls desiring the power of men, but fearful of abandoning what is expected and proper.
The plot itself is quite simple, and the author focuses mostly on revealing the essence of the characters, their back stories. H. Mantel’s descriptions are meticulously thought out, her metaphors and similes glint sharply and brightly. She uncovers the truth of human nature and draws characters from firm reality. It just drags readers into the cores of her characters’ hearts and keeps there feeling all their sufferings, hopes, and confusions, as they move through their lives.
Sample II
THE GREEN MILE
By Stephen King
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Set in the 1930s at the Cold Mountain Penitentiary's death-row facility, The Green Mile is the riveting and tragic story of John Coffey, a giant, preternaturally gentle inmate condemned to death for the rape and murder of twin nine-year-old girls. It is a story narrated years later by Paul Edgecomb, the ward superintendent compelled to help every prisoner spend his last days peacefully and every man walk the green mile to execution with his humanity intact.
Edgecomb has sent seventy-eight inmates to their date with " old sparky, " but he's never encountered one like Coffey - a man who wants to die, yet has the power to heal. And in this place of ultimate retribution, Edgecomb discovers the terrible truth about Coffey's gift, a truth that challenges his most cherished beliefs and ours.
Originally published in 1996 in six self-contained monthly installments, The Green Mile is an astonishingly rich and complex novel that delivers over and over again. Each individual volume became a huge success when first published, and all six were on the New York Times bestseller list simultaneously. But then all six parts are available in one book at about 450 pages. The story uncovers many dimensions of the people in the world. The good and the bad, righteous and hypocrites, guilty and innocent, almost all shades of humanity are covered in the book.
King does amazing job making you feel for the characters that you are not supposed to feel for. They are well built with complex, but not too complex, personalities and experiences that caused them to be on the Death Row. The main plot is heart moving and thought provoking. It made me think about humanity and the way we are so keen to judge others. I shed so many tears so it is a definitely a book worth reading. It made me feel things and made me think about life as it is.
The Green Mile is a rather quiet book compared to what we usually see from Kings hands, but it’s also a lot tighter than usual. It’s like the format has forced him to control his usual ramblings and keep the story tight and more evenly paced than he normally does. It’s an enjoyable story. The book is populated by some very believable characters but you wouldn’t expect anything less from S. King. His words bring the characters to life and allow the reader get to know them almost as friends so, if they should die at the turn of the page, it is all too easy to grieve their loss.
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