This book report is different than others – it is to be written from the viewpoint of telling a friend or family member what you discovered in this book about yourself, and then convincing them of why they should read it.
For full credit, follow this format EXACTLY:
- Begin the report with a brief (three to four sentence paragraph) introduction about why you chose to report on this particular book and a sentence or two about the author. (I plan on getting married one day, and I want a marriage that will work. I have heard this book on ‘Why Marriages Succeed or Fail’ has a lot of proactive suggestions, and I was eager to learn what I can do to make my future marriage as successful as possible.)
3. Write a series of summaries (at least one per page) reporting on what you learned or “discovered” about yourself – perhaps why you seemed to have struggles communicating with your parents in high school (Pipher), or why you now realize that you need to modify your behavior when confronted with conflict (Carnegie). (Be sure to cite evidence – you must use actual quotes from the book showing the author’s perspective, and give appropriate APA credit in the text.) Failure to cite sources is plagiarism so cite every page number for every time you use a quote, and cite the book every time you use an idea.
The first part of each page is a summary of what you learned about yourself in the book, including a quote complete with quotations and page number. (The quote should not be more than a sentence or two.) The rest of each page (about 2/3) should describe how this discovery will help you become more effective in relationships in the future. (i.e. I learned that the reason I have not been very effective at getting people to volunteer for projects is that I was telling them how much I needed it done or how it would benefit others, rather than how it would benefit them.)
- Conclude the book report with (no more than) a one half page explanation to a friend or family member about why they should read and apply this book themselves. (Remember, when trying to persuade, you need to demonstrate the benefits.) (“Dad and mom, I found this book to be so helpful in understanding myself going through junior high, and now that my little sister is approaching that age, I think it would help all of us if you read this book.)
The primary components upon which you will be graded are as follows:
- Conformation to APA format. (See apa.orgLinks to an external site. or Purdue OWL for complete details.
- Evidence that you have read the whole book and understood what you read. (Will the reader see convincing evidence that you are pulling together material from across the book, or only a chapter by chapter quick attempt at meeting the minimum requirement?
- Application to your own life. How has it affected, or will it affect, your life and your relationships? For example, have you come to some new understanding about how to improve your relationship with your spouse, or learned how to better communicate with the “opposite” sex or your boss or roommate?
- Appropriate usage, citation, and amount of quotations (1-2 single sentence quotes per page).
- Proper English usage, evidence of proofreading, effective sentence construction, and usage of a formal writing style. (i.e. No contractions, slang, or swearing.)
- It must have a title page in APA format which includes YOUR name and the date it is submitted. The report itself should consist of at least five full pages of summarizing and applying discoveries from the book you read. (This is a very minimal assignment, so 5 pages means 5 (five) full pages of text, with at least a few lines spilling over on to page 6.
- The title and reference pages are in addition to these five. In other words, your references page should be on at least page 8.
- The reference page should be APA appropriate, and again, does not count as part of the total number of pages.