Lecture-5-Book-Report-英语专业写作-教学课件

Lecture5：BookreportOutline1.Whatisabookreport?2.Whatinformationshouldbeincludedinabookreport?3.Structureofabookreport4.Howtowritethesetting?5.Howtodescribecharacters?6.Howtodescribetheplot?7.Conflict8.Incidents9.Resolution10.Asamplebookreport1.Whatisabookreport?Abookreportpresentsthecontentandstructureofabookasobjectivelyaspossible,withoutcomparison.Itprovidesnotonlyasummaryofcontentbutalsoananalysisofstructure.Thepurposeofthereportistogiveenoughinformationaboutabooktohelpdecidewhetheritwillbeofuseorinteresttothereader.Bookreportscanhelplearnersimprovetheirreadingcomprehensionandenhancetheirabilitytoanalyzethestoryandthecharacters.Reportsareconcernedmainlywiththebookpresented,relyingupononlyafewstandardreferenceworksforbriefandrelevantcommentsontheauthorandonanyspecialcircumstancesaboutthewritingofthebook.Bookreportsarenotresearchpapers.Theresearchpaperisbasedonmaterialfromasmanysourcesasareneededtobackupitstopic.2.Whatinformationshouldbeincludedinabookreport?1)Bibliographicalinformation:Givetheauthor’sname;fulltitleofthebook,includingthesubtitle;editor,ifany;place,publisheranddateofpublication;edition,ifnecessary;andthenumberofpages-alltheseinbibliographicalformunderthetitleofthereport.2)Backgroundinformation:Supplyanyinformationabouttheauthorwhichshowstheircredentialsforwritinginthisfieldorwhichrevealsanyinfluences,whichmayhaveaffectedtheauthor’spointofview.Noteanyinterestingcircumstancesthatledtothewritingofthebook.Whengivingtheinformationaboutthewriter,thelearnerwritershouldincludesomehistoricalandsocialbackgroundtowhichthebookisrelated.Tomakethingsclear,thelearnerwritershouldreadsomereferencematerials,suchasbiographiesofthewriterandhistoriesoftheperiodinwhichthebookwaswritten.3)Classificationonthebasisofthekindofbook:Thebooksisnon-fiction,butclassifyitfurtheraccordingtoitssubjectarea,suchashistory,philosophy,travel,biography,autobiography,psychology,anthropology,etc.Cluesforthisclassificationmaybefoundinthetitle,subtitle,andtableofcontents,reviewers’comments,author’spreface,andintroduction.4)Classificationonthebasisoftheauthor’sintention:Theauthor'sintentionmaybeapparentbythewaytheauthortreatsthesubject.Isthematerialmeantforspecialists,students,orthegeneralpublic?Isitlimitedtoanarrowareaorisitasurveyofthesubject?Severalareasmayprovideclues:appendices(appendix的复数形式),bibliographiesandgeneralindexesusuallyaccompanyscholarlyworks;prefacesandintroductionsoftencontainanauthor'sexplicitstatementofintention;thecontentandstyleofexpressionwillbeagoodindicationoftheintendedaudience.5)Subjectandthesisstatement:Whatisthebookabout?Tellyourreadernotonlythemainconcernofthebookinitsentirety(subject)butalsowhattheauthor'sparticularpointofviewisonthatsubject(thesisstatement).Ifyoucannotfindanadequatestatementintheauthor'sownwordsorifyoufeelthatthestatedthesisstatementisnotthatwhichthebookactuallydevelops(makesureyoucheckforyourself),thenyouwillhavetocomposeathesisstatementthatdoescoverallthematerial.Thisstatementmustbebrief(asentenceoraparagraph),accurateandcomprehensive.6)Analysisofstructure:Thethesisstatementwillclearlyindicatethemajorideaofthebook,butyoumustalsopointouttheorganizationofsubsidiaryideas,andhowtheyrelatetothethesisstatementandtooneanother.Thechapterheadingsandsectionaldivisionswillrevealmostoftheoutlineofthebook;however,onreadingthebook,youmayseeanotherplan,withsomewhatdifferentdivisions.Ifso,makeyourownplan,showingclearlytheorderandrelationoftheparts.Whetheryourownortheauthor's,itshouldincludethethesisstatement,majorparts,theirdivisionintosectionsandthemainpointsinthesesections(summaryofcontent).7)Summaryofcontent:Thesummaryisbasedonyourreadingnotes,followstheauthor'sorder,andisdrastically(彻底地、果断地)reducedtothechiefideaswhichadvancetheauthor'sargument.Itmaybepresentedwiththeanalysisofstructureordiscussedseparately.Abookreportshouldcontainasummaryofthebookunderdiscussion.Thesummaryshouldbeconcise,clearandeasytounderstand.Thelearnerwritershouldmakesurethatthesummarybesubjectiveandcenteronthemajorthemeofthebook.Asforthetenseofthebookreport,itdependsonthesubjectmatterofthebook.Ifitisanoveloraplayorasciencefiction,thepresenttenseismoreappropriatewhilethepasttenseisrequiredfornonfictionsuchashistorybooks.8)Criticalcomments:Althoughthebookreportismainlyconcernedwithcontentandstructure,itmaycontainsomecriticalcommentoryouropinionaboutthebook.Criticalcommentsshouldformthebulk（大部分）ofthebookreview.Statewhetherornotyoufeeltheauthor'streatmentofthesubjectmatterisappropriatefortheintendedaudience.Askyourself:

Hasthepurposeofthebookbeenachieved?Whatcontributiondoesthebookmaketothefield?Isthetreatmentofthesubjectmatterobjective?Aretherefactsandevidencethathavebeenomitted?Whatkindsofdata,ifany,areusedtosupporttheauthor'sthesisstatement?Canthesamedatabeinterpretedtoalternateends?Isthewritingstyleclearandeffective?Doesthebookraiseissuesortopicsfordiscussion?Supportyourevaluationwithevidencefromthetext.Inconclusion,youmaywanttostatewhetheryoulikeordislikethebook.3.Structureofabookreport1)Introduction2)Body:Summaryofcontent3)TheConclusion1)Introduction:★Givethenameofthebookyouhaveread,theauthor,andthepublishingdetails.★Tellthereaderhowthebookisorganized.★Tellthereaderthemainthesisorargumentofthebook.2)Body:Summaryofcontent:★Takeeachsectionofthebookandsummarizetheimportantpointsinthatsection,andhowitrelatestotheoverallstructureandcontent.★Giveeachsectionproportionalweightinyoursummary.Forexample,ifthebookisdividedintofoursectionsofapproximatelyequallength,youshoulddevotethesameamountofspaceinyoursummaryforeachsection.If,however,sectiononeistwiceaslongastheotherthreesections,youshoulddevotemorespacetoadiscussionofthissectionthantotheotherthree.Forfictionorothercreativewriting:1)Providebriefdescriptionsofthesetting,thepointofview(whotellsthestory),theprotagonist,andothermajorcharacters.Ifthereisadistinctmoodortone,discussthataswell.

2)Giveaconciseplotsummary.Alongwiththesequenceofmajorevents,youmaywanttodiscussthebook’sclimaxandresolution,and/orliterarydevicessuchasforeshadowing（预示、暗示）.But,ifyouarewritingareview,becarefulnottogiveawayimportantplotdetailsortheending.Thefollowingitemsarethebasicelementsofanovel:1.setting:whenandwherethestorytookplace.2.characters:thepeopleinthestory.Atleastonecharacterwillhaveaproblemthatneedstobesolved.3.plot:whathappened.4.conflict:themainproblemofthestory.5.incident:aneventthataffectedtheconflictresolutionoftheconflict:howtheconflictisresolved.Fornon-fiction:1)Provideageneraloverviewoftheauthor'stopic,mainpoints,andargument.Whatisthethesis?Whataretheimportantconclusions?2)Don'ttrytosummarizeeachchapteroreveryangle.Choosetheonesthataremostsignificantandinterestingtoyou.3)TheConclusion:Inthispart,thelearnerwriter’sjobistoevaluatethebookaccordingtohisorherownpersonalinterpretationanddiscussthemeritsanddemeritsofthebook,thesocialand/orhistoricalsignificanceofthebook.Ifthelearnerwriteriscompetentenoughtodiscussthewritingstyleoftheauthor,heorsheshouldfeelfreetodoso.4.Howtowritethesetting?Whenyoureportonthesettingofanovel,youmustdescribewhenandwherethestorytookplace.Theseelementsareimportantbecausetheyaffecthowthestoryistold.Forexample,imagineastoryaboutabankrobberysetintheWestin1850.NowimagineabankrobberystorysetinmodernNewYorkCity.Theywouldprobablybeverydifferentstories.Sometimes,anauthorwilltellyouexactlywhenandwherethestorytookplace.Somewhereinearlypages,heorshemightmention,forexample,thecityofTombstone,Arizona,andtheyear1890.Then,itiseasytodescribethesettinginyourreport.However,sometimes,youmaynotbeabletogivetheplaceaspecificname.

Insuchcases,youmustlookforclues,whichareusuallyeasytofind,forexample,fromthewaypeopledressthemselves,thewaytheytalkandsoon.Evenifyoumaynotbeabletogivetheplaceaspecificname,youshouldbeabletosaysomethingtoidentifytheplace:asmallAmericantown,abigcityintheEast,atropicalisland,andsoon.Likewise,youshouldbeabletoidentifythetime,evenifyoucannotgiveaspecificdate:moderntimes,longago,thedaysofthecolonialdays,andsoon.5.HowtodescribecharactersItisbettertogiveacleardescriptionofonemaincharacterinastoryornovelthantomerelylistallofthecharacters.Chooseamaincharacterthatyoureallyespeciallylikeordislikeandthenwriteaparagraphortwodescribingthatcharacter.Rememberthefollowingtipsandquestionswhendescribingamaincharacter:1.Describethecharacter’sphysicalappearance.2.Describethecharacter’spersonality.3.Tellaboutonethingthecharacterdidthatmadeyoulikeordislikehimorher.4.Tellaboutanydifficultiesorhardshipsthemaincharacterovercomes.5.Tellaboutanychangesinthemaincharacter.6.Describetheproblemorconflictthemaincharacterfaced.6.Howtodescribetheplot?Whenstudentsstartdescribingtheplotofastoryornovel,theyoftenrunintotrouble.Theyfindthemselvestellingmanylittledetailsandsoondiscovertheycannotincludeeverything.Theirdiscussioncanbecomeconfusing.Itisbesttobeginbylookingattheseparateelementsthatmakeuptheplot.Thenyoucanbrieflydescribehowtheywerehandledinthebook.7.ConflictEverystorymusthaveaconflict.Theconflictmakesastory.Itiswhatmakespeoplewanttoreadtotheend.Theywanttofindouthowtheconflictisresolved.Theconflictissimplyaproblem.Willthedetectivefindthepersonwhomurderedherpartner?Willthefamilybeabletoexplainthecreaturefromanotherplanetlivingintheirhouse?Astorycouldbewrittenaroundeachofthoseconflicts.8.IncidentsStoriesaremadeupofmanyincidentsthatworktowardaresolutionoftheconflict.Incertainstories,theincidentsmayleadtothesolutionoftheproblem.Inotherstories,theincidentsmaymakemattersworse,increasetheproblemandheightenthesuspense.Theincidentdescribedinthebookreporttakestheconflictonestepclosertoaresolution.Itisverydifficulttodescribeeverythingthathappensinastoryornovel.Itisbettertodescribethemajorelementsveryclearly.9.ResolutionForeveryconflict,thereisaresolution.Theeventsofastorytakethereaderstowardthatresolution.Theplotofastoryisbuiltaroundthatconflictanditsresolution.YourbookreportshouldanswerthequestionHowistheconflictresolved?

Afteryouhavefinishedabookreport,youcanaskyourselfthefollowingquestionstoseewhetheryouhavecoveredallthenecessaryparts.HaveIincludedalltheimportantpublicationdetailsofthebookinmyreport?HaveIorganizedmysummaryinawaythatiseasytofollowandreflectstheorganizationofthebook?HaveIusedheadingstoindicatemajordivisionswithinthebookandwithinmysummary?HaveIaccuratelyrepresentedthepointofviewoftheauthorofthebook?HaveIaccuratelyrepresentedthestructureoftheargumentpresentedinthebook?HaveIavoidedinsertingmyopinionofthesubjectmatterdealtwithinthebook?HaveIindicatedattheendofthereportwhetherornotIlikedthebookandwhy?10.AsamplebookreportSonsandLoversisanovelwrittenbyDavidHerbertLawrenceanditwasfirstpublishedin1913inLondonbyWyman&Sons.D.H.LawrencewasbornatEastwood,Notts,onSeptember11,1885,thefourthchildofaminerwhohadbeenemployedatBrinsleyCollierysincehewas7yearsold.In1911,hisfirstnovelTheWhitePeacockwaspublished.SonsandLoversisdividedintotwopartsandiscomposedof15chaptersaltogether.Thestory,setinEngland,canbeinterpretedasanautobiographicalnovelofLawrence.Theheroofthebook,PaulMore