Book Report1

1、Summaries and Book Reports/ReviewI.The summaryA summary is a brief restatement of the essential thought of longer composition. It reproduces the theme of the original with as few words as possible. When we write a summary, we should not interpret or comment. All we have to do is to give the gist of

2、the authors exact and essential meaning.1.Uses of summary writing(1) Summary writing is a very good exercise for improving reading comprehension.(2) Summary writing is also helpful to composition writing. It trains one to express ones thought clearly, concisely and effectively. (3) Summary writing h

3、as practical uses. The ability to grasp quickly and accurately what is read, or heard, and to reproduce it in a clear and concise way is of great value to people of many professions. 2.Procedure(1) ReadingA. first read the passage through carefully to get the gist of it. B. give a title to your summ

4、aryTo find a suitable title will help you to define what exactly the subject, or main theme, of the passage is.C. decide what parts of the passage are essential and what parts are comparatively unimportant and can be omitted without much loss.D. jot down in brief notes the main pointsthe subject, th

5、e title, and the important details(2) WritingA. be about one-third to one-fourth as long as the original passage. B. be all in our own words.C. follow the logical order of the original passage, if possible (and desirable). D. be self-contained, i.e. it must convey the message of the original fully a

6、nd clearly, E. In writing a summary, we may:-Omit the details.-Reduce the examples.-Simplify the descriptions.-Eliminate all repetitions.-Compress wordy sentences and change phrases to words.e.g. “His courage in battle might without exaggeration be called lion-like.”He was very brave in battle.-Use

7、general words instead of specific words. She brought home several Chinese and English novels, a few copies of Time and Newsweek, and some textbooks. she intended to read all them during the winter vacation.This may be turned into:She brought home a lot of books and magazines to read during the vacat

8、ion.-Use the shortest possible transitions.-Put the main points of a dialogue in indirect speech.e.g.Kate looked at Paul disapprovingly: “You use much too much salt on your food, Paulits not at all good for you!” Paul put down his knife and frowned: “Why on earth not! If you didnt have salt on your

9、food it would taste awfullike eating cardboard or sandjust imagine bread without salt in it, or potatoes or pasta cooked without salt!”Kate was patient. She didnt want to quarrel with Paul. She wanted to persuade him. She said firmly: “But too much salt is bad for you. It causes high blood pressure

10、and later on, heart-attacks. It also disguises the tastes of food, the real tastes, which are much more subtle than salt, and which we have lost the sensitivity to appreciate any more.”Kate suggested to Paul that he should eat less salt. She thought that eating too much salt would do harm to Pauls h

11、ealth and that it could reduce the real tastes of food. But Paul disagreed. He said that food without salt would be tasteless.(3) RevisionRevise your draft. Compare it carefully with the original to see that you have included all the important points. If it is too long, further compress it by omitti

12、ng unnecessary words and phrases or by remodeling sentences. Correct all mistakes in spelling, grammar and idiom, and see that it is properly punctuated. Make the language simple and direct.For the summary of a novel or a play an outline of the plot is sufficient. The summary may be only one-hundred

13、th or even one-thousandth of the length of the original book. Usually, it is written in the present tense. II. The Book ReportWriting book reports helps students to improve their reading comprehension and their ability to analyse and evaluate books. Generally speaking, a book report consists of the

14、following three main parts: information about the author and his times, a summary of the book, and comments on it.A brief account of the authors life should be given together with a description of his times. The latter should include the circumstances that led to the writing of the book under discus

15、sion and the historical and social background related to the content of the book. To make these things clear, the writer perhaps needs to read some reference material, such as biographies of the author and histories of the period described in the book.A summary should be self-contained, clear, and e

16、asy to understand. Above all, it should be objective.Comments on and evaluation of the book form the third and most important part of a book report. In this part we expresses our own views on the book, names its merits and demerits, and discusses its relevance to the present time. The discussion sho

17、uld center on the content of the book, but the authors style and techniques of presentation, if interesting, can also be touched upon.EvaluatingWriting an evaluation involves making and justifying judgments. Here are some suggestions for writing an evaluation:-Determine the appropriate criteria for

18、the evaluation.-Base our evaluation on clear and sufficient evidence.-Let readers see how we arrive at our judgment.-Arrange our arguments in logical orderperhaps in order of increasing importance.The Book ReportBook reports can help learners improve their reading comprehension and enhance their abi

19、lity to analyze the story and the characters. Generally speaking, a book report is usually composed of three major parts. They are: 1.information about the writer (his name, the books he has published, the years of his birth and death, the publisher of the book) 2.a summary of the book (the story an

20、d main characters) 3.some comments on the book (personal interpretation of the meaning of the book) When giving the information about the writer, the learner writer should include some historical and social background to which the book is related. To make things clear, the learner writer should read

21、 some reference materials, such as biographies of the writer and histories of the period in which the book was written.A book report should contain a summary of the book under discussion. The summary should be concise, clear and easy to understand. The learner writer should make sure that the summar

22、y be subjective and center on the major theme of the book.As for the tense of the book report, it depends on the subject matter of the book. If it is a novel or a play or a science fiction, the present tense is more appropriate while the past tense is required for nonfiction such as history books.Th

23、e third part and also the most important part of a book report is the comment. In this part, the learner writers job is to evaluate the book according to his or her own personal interpretation and discuss the merits (优点) and demerits (缺点) of the book, the social and/or historical significance of the

24、 book. If the learner writer is competent enough to discuss the writing style of the author, he or she should feel free to do so. The Book Report - A SampleSons and Lovers is a novel written by David Herbert Lawrence and it was first published in 1913 in London by Wyman & Sons.D. H. Lawrence was

25、 born at Eastwood, Notts, on September 11, 1885, the fourth child of a miner who had been employed at Brinsley Colliery since he was 7 years old. In 1911, his first novel The White Peacock was published.Sons and Lovers is divided into two parts and is composed of 15 chapters altogether. the story, s

26、et in England, can be interpreted as an autobiographical novel of LawrenceThe hero of the book, Paul Morel, is the second son of a miners family. His mother, Mrs. Morel, is a daughter of a mid-class family. Because of the differences in family background and education, a shadow is soon cast upon the

27、 married life of Mrs. Morel. And this shadow is darkened by Mr. Morels laziness and alcoholism. By misfortune or bad luck, Mr. Morel has an accident and becomes a cripple, which changes him into a man of bad temper. As a result, the couple shares less and less the things in common and is driven farther and farther apart from each other. Little by little, Mrs. Morel transports her attention and love to her