Book Report

Directions:  Choose a book, the topic or setting of which is European history.  Write a book report using the following criteria. 

The assignment has four parts.  All parts are expected on the due date.  The report will be typed in 12-point font and double spaced in New Times Roman or similar.  Each paragraph is to be indented.  There is to be no space between paragraphs.  Margins are to be 1 inch from the top and bottom, and 1.25 inches on the sides.

I.  Research  Research the historic era that is the setting for your book.  [4+ pages]

 II.  Summary  Summarize major characters and events.  [2 pages]

III.  Evaluation  Evaluate how well your book portrayed the historic era.  Give examples (e.g. describe scenes in the book) which demonstrate how well or poorly the author did.  Also give your opinion of the book and who you may recommend it to.          [2 pages]

 IV.  Creative Piece  Choose an activity from the list on the “Book Report Creative Ideas” page.

	4	3	2	1
Summary	Clear, concise, reader has demonstrated an excellent understanding of plot, major, and supporting characters, quotes and examples from the book demonstrate understanding	Reader demonstrates some understanding of plot and major characters, could use further evidence from the novel	Reader demonstrates little understanding of what book is about or what major characters are like, lacks evidence from the novel	Reader demonstrates no understanding of what book is about or what major characters are like, lacks evidence from the novel
Research	Research is extensive and obvious; student demonstrates extensive knowledge of the people and times that is the setting for the novel Perfect MLA format	Research is obvious; student has a good idea of chronology and events of the time period presented in the book Some mistakes in MLA format	Research is not obvious; report does not indicate extensive knowledge of setting Many mistakes in MLA format	Research is not obvious; report does not indicate extensive knowledge of setting MLA citations missing
Evaluation	Clear position backed up with evidence cited from the book and research	Clear position backed up with some evidence cited from the book and research	Clear position with  little evidence cited from the book and research	Unclear position, no evidence cited from book or research
Application	Tremendous effort is obvious; piece or performance demonstrates deep understanding of book and historical era	Effort is obvious; piece or performance enhances understanding of book and era, more connections would be beneficial	Little effort obvious; piece or performance does little to enhance understanding, makes little effort to tie into novel or historical era	Little effort obvious; piece or performance does not enhance understanding, makes no effort to tie into novel or historical era
Grammar/Spelling	No mistakes, paragraphs are indented, no extra space between paragraphs, margins are perfect	Some mistakes	Many mistakes	Many mistakes

                                                                       

PLAGIARISM:  The practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own; a piece of written work or an idea that somebody has copied and claimed as his or her own. Plagiarized work will earn a zero.

                                                                                                         

Book Report Application Ideas

¨      Act out a scene from the book. Write the script and put on a show using easy          costumes or signs around the neck to identify characters.

¨      Do a monologue. Pretend to be a character from the book. Tell the story. You         can do this aloud or on paper. If you pick someone other than the main   character, you may find the story looks different from your eyes than it does to       the main character. After all, the bad guy might not see himself as being so        bad!

¨      Write a new ending for the story, or add an extra chapter. This is especially            good if you hated the ending. Remember, you have to use a similar style and     the ending has to make sense with the rest of the story.

¨      If the story involves travel, map out the journey with illustrations of what   happened there.

¨      If the story takes place in another country, learn about that country. Prepare a      meal the characters might have eaten or demonstrate some traditions.

¨      Write a series of newspaper articles or television news stories on the book. This is especially good for non-fiction books. You can even videotape the   reports.

¨      Write a child's version of a book you like. What elements of the story will you          leave out? How will you simplify the story? Be sure to decide in advance what      age you are writing for.

¨      Create a board game based on characters, events, and places in your book

¨      Think of five things going on in your world-pollution, racism and so on, and             decide how the characters in your book would react to them. This is a way of  doing a character analysis. Remember that you have to really understand the  character to be sure this is how they would really react. Think about the way      the main characters are the same and different. They won't all have the same       reaction.

¨      Pretend you work for the tourism bureau of that place. Create ads and commercials to get people to come to that place. Look at some web sites put   together by places to get ideas. How would you create a campaign for your  own city?

¨      Interview a character from your book. Write at least ten questions that will            give the character the opportunity to discuss his/her thoughts and feelings about his/her role in the story. However you choose to present your interview is up to you.

¨      Write a scene that has been lost from the book.