Non-Fiction or Historical Fiction
BOOK REVIEW - NOT REPORT
Elements of the Book Review:
Essentials: Title, Author, First Copyright, Type of Book, General Subject Matter
Author’s Purpose: Who is the intended audience? Why did they write on this subject? etc., etc...
Theme – Thesis: Subject or topic, author generalization
Method: Descriptive, Narrative, Expository, Argumentative
Evaluation: Interest, accuracy, objectivity, etc., etc., USE DETAIL FROM BOOK
Summary: BRIEF - state general conclusions, USE DETAIL FROM BOOK
_____________________________
Agreed Upon Due Dates:
Theme/Thesis and Essentials - 10/20/2015
Evaluation - 11/23/2015
Summary - 12/16/2015
Final Paper - 1/15/2015
___________
Review the Handouts and Rubrics.
BOOK REVIEW - NOT REPORT
Elements of the Book Review:
Essentials: Title, Author, First Copyright, Type of Book, General Subject Matter
Author’s Purpose: Who is the intended audience? Why did they write on this subject? etc., etc...
Theme – Thesis: Subject or topic, author generalization
Method: Descriptive, Narrative, Expository, Argumentative
Evaluation: Interest, accuracy, objectivity, etc., etc., USE DETAIL FROM BOOK
Summary: BRIEF - state general conclusions, USE DETAIL FROM BOOK
_____________________________
Agreed Upon Due Dates:
Theme/Thesis and Essentials - 10/20/2015
Evaluation - 11/23/2015
Summary - 12/16/2015
Final Paper - 1/15/2015
___________
Review the Handouts and Rubrics.
How to Write a Book Review
A book review is a description, critical analysis, and an evaluation on the quality, meaning, and significance of
a book, not a retelling. It should focus on the book's purpose, content, and authority. A critical book
review is not a book report or a summary. It is a reaction paper in which strengths and weaknesses of the
material are analyzed. It should include a statement of what the author has tried to do, evaluate how well (in the
opinion of the reviewer) the author has succeeded, and presents evidence to support this evaluation.
The following are procedures for writing book reviews; they are suggestions, not a formula that must be used,
refer to the rubric for scoring.
1. Write a statement giving essential information about the book: title, author, first copyright date, type
of book, general subject matter.
2. State the author’s purpose in writing the book. Sometimes authors state their purpose in the preface or
the first chapter or even on the back cover.
When they do not, you may arrive at an understanding of the book’s purpose by asking
yourself these questions:
a. Why did the author write on this subject rather than on some other subject?
b. From what point of view is the work written?
c. Was the author trying to give information, to explain something technical,
d. Who is the intended audience?
3. State the theme and the thesis of the book.
a. Theme: The theme is the subject or topic. It is not necessarily the title, and it is usually not expressed
in a complete sentence. It expresses a specific phase of the general subject matter.
b. Thesis: The thesis is an author’s generalization about the theme, the author’s beliefs about something
important, the book’s philosophical conclusion, or the proposition the author means to prove. Express it
without metaphor or other figurative language, in one declarative sentence.
Title: We Had it Made
General Subject Matter: Religious Intolerance
Theme: The effects of religious intolerance on a small town
Thesis: Religious intolerance, a sickness of individuals, contaminates an entire social group.
4. Explain the method of development-the way the author supports the thesis. Illustrate your remarks with
specific references and quotations. In general, authors tend to use the following methods, exclusively or in
a. Description: The author presents word-pictures of scenes and events by giving specific details that
appeal to the five senses, or to the reader’s imagination. Description presents background and setting. Its
primary purpose is to help the reader realize, through as many sensuous details as possible, the way
things (and people) are, in the episodes being described.
b. Narration: The author tells the story of a series of events, usually presented in chronological order. In
a novel however, chronological order may be violated for the sake of the plot. The emphasis in
narration, in both fiction and non-fiction, is on the events. Narration tells what has happened. Its primary
purpose is to tell a story.
c. Exposition: The author uses explanation and analysis to present a subject or to clarify an idea.
Exposition presents the facts about a subject or an issue as clearly and impartially as possible. Its
primary purpose is to explain.
d. Argument: The author uses the techniques of persuasion to establish the truth of a statement or to
convince the reader of its falsity. The purpose is to persuade the reader to believe something and perhaps
to act on that belief. Argument takes sides on an issue. Its primary purpose is to convince.
5. Evaluate the book for interest, accuracy, objectivity, importance, thoroughness, and usefulness to its
intended audience. Show whether the author's main arguments are true. Respond to the author's opinions.
What do you agree or disagree with? And why? Illustrate whether or not any conclusions drawn are derived
logically from the evidence. Explore issues the book raises. What possibilities does the book suggest? What has
the author omitted or what problems were left unsolved? What specific points are not convincing? Compare it
with other books on similar subjects or other books by the same as well as different authors. Is it only a
reworking of earlier books; a refutation of previous positions? Have newly uncovered sources justified a new
approach by the author? Comment on parts of particular interest, and point out anything that seems to give the
book literary merit. Relate the book to larger issues.
6. Summarize (briefly), analyze, and comment on the book’s content. State your general conclusions. Pay
particular attention to the author's concluding chapter. Is the summary convincing? List the principal topics, and
briefly summarize the author’s ideas about these topics, main points, and conclusions. Use specific references
and quotations to support your statements. If your thesis has been well argued, the conclusion should follow
naturally. It can include a final assessment or simply restate your thesis. Do not introduce new material at this
Some Considerations When Reviewing specific genres: History and other Nonfiction
1.With what particular subject or period does the book deal?
2.How thorough is the treatment?
3.What were the sources used?
4.Is the account given in broad outline or in detail?
5.Is the style that of reportorial writing, or is there an effort at interpretive writing?
6.What is the point of view or thesis of the author?
7.Is the treatment superficial or profound?
8.For what group is the book intended (textbook, popular, scholarly, etc.)?
9.What part does biographical writing play in the book?
10.Is social history or political history emphasized?
11.Are dates used extensively, and if so, are they used intelligently?
KEY: Use Specifics, Quotes, Detail, directly from the source.
“How to Write a Book Review”. Los Angeles Valley College Library. Feb 2009. http://www.lavc.edu/library/bookreview.htm. Accessed May 29, 2014.
A book review is a description, critical analysis, and an evaluation on the quality, meaning, and significance of
a book, not a retelling. It should focus on the book's purpose, content, and authority. A critical book
review is not a book report or a summary. It is a reaction paper in which strengths and weaknesses of the
material are analyzed. It should include a statement of what the author has tried to do, evaluate how well (in the
opinion of the reviewer) the author has succeeded, and presents evidence to support this evaluation.
The following are procedures for writing book reviews; they are suggestions, not a formula that must be used,
refer to the rubric for scoring.
1. Write a statement giving essential information about the book: title, author, first copyright date, type
of book, general subject matter.
2. State the author’s purpose in writing the book. Sometimes authors state their purpose in the preface or
the first chapter or even on the back cover.
When they do not, you may arrive at an understanding of the book’s purpose by asking
yourself these questions:
a. Why did the author write on this subject rather than on some other subject?
b. From what point of view is the work written?
c. Was the author trying to give information, to explain something technical,
d. Who is the intended audience?
3. State the theme and the thesis of the book.
a. Theme: The theme is the subject or topic. It is not necessarily the title, and it is usually not expressed
in a complete sentence. It expresses a specific phase of the general subject matter.
b. Thesis: The thesis is an author’s generalization about the theme, the author’s beliefs about something
important, the book’s philosophical conclusion, or the proposition the author means to prove. Express it
without metaphor or other figurative language, in one declarative sentence.
Title: We Had it Made
General Subject Matter: Religious Intolerance
Theme: The effects of religious intolerance on a small town
Thesis: Religious intolerance, a sickness of individuals, contaminates an entire social group.
4. Explain the method of development-the way the author supports the thesis. Illustrate your remarks with
specific references and quotations. In general, authors tend to use the following methods, exclusively or in
a. Description: The author presents word-pictures of scenes and events by giving specific details that
appeal to the five senses, or to the reader’s imagination. Description presents background and setting. Its
primary purpose is to help the reader realize, through as many sensuous details as possible, the way
things (and people) are, in the episodes being described.
b. Narration: The author tells the story of a series of events, usually presented in chronological order. In
a novel however, chronological order may be violated for the sake of the plot. The emphasis in
narration, in both fiction and non-fiction, is on the events. Narration tells what has happened. Its primary
purpose is to tell a story.
c. Exposition: The author uses explanation and analysis to present a subject or to clarify an idea.
Exposition presents the facts about a subject or an issue as clearly and impartially as possible. Its
primary purpose is to explain.
d. Argument: The author uses the techniques of persuasion to establish the truth of a statement or to
convince the reader of its falsity. The purpose is to persuade the reader to believe something and perhaps
to act on that belief. Argument takes sides on an issue. Its primary purpose is to convince.
5. Evaluate the book for interest, accuracy, objectivity, importance, thoroughness, and usefulness to its
intended audience. Show whether the author's main arguments are true. Respond to the author's opinions.
What do you agree or disagree with? And why? Illustrate whether or not any conclusions drawn are derived
logically from the evidence. Explore issues the book raises. What possibilities does the book suggest? What has
the author omitted or what problems were left unsolved? What specific points are not convincing? Compare it
with other books on similar subjects or other books by the same as well as different authors. Is it only a
reworking of earlier books; a refutation of previous positions? Have newly uncovered sources justified a new
approach by the author? Comment on parts of particular interest, and point out anything that seems to give the
book literary merit. Relate the book to larger issues.
6. Summarize (briefly), analyze, and comment on the book’s content. State your general conclusions. Pay
particular attention to the author's concluding chapter. Is the summary convincing? List the principal topics, and
briefly summarize the author’s ideas about these topics, main points, and conclusions. Use specific references
and quotations to support your statements. If your thesis has been well argued, the conclusion should follow
naturally. It can include a final assessment or simply restate your thesis. Do not introduce new material at this
Some Considerations When Reviewing specific genres: History and other Nonfiction
1.With what particular subject or period does the book deal?
2.How thorough is the treatment?
3.What were the sources used?
4.Is the account given in broad outline or in detail?
5.Is the style that of reportorial writing, or is there an effort at interpretive writing?
6.What is the point of view or thesis of the author?
7.Is the treatment superficial or profound?
8.For what group is the book intended (textbook, popular, scholarly, etc.)?
9.What part does biographical writing play in the book?
10.Is social history or political history emphasized?
11.Are dates used extensively, and if so, are they used intelligently?
KEY: Use Specifics, Quotes, Detail, directly from the source.
“How to Write a Book Review”. Los Angeles Valley College Library. Feb 2009. http://www.lavc.edu/library/bookreview.htm. Accessed May 29, 2014.