Differences Between a Book Report and Essay Writing
A lot of people incorrectly use the terms essay and book report interchangeably. You can write a book report and an essay on a book that you've read, but the content of an essay will be different than that of a book report. Essays reflect in-depth analysis. Book reports contain general statements and reactions. Both essays and book reports are valid ways to discuss the content of a book, but book reports are generally looked upon as being less sophisticated pieces of writing.
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What Is A Book Report?
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The purpose of a book report is to convey the basic information about a book. Book reports provide the title, author, key moments of the plot, and identify interesting characters. Book reports also include personal reactions from the reader, primarily what you liked and didn't like. If you were writing a book report on Tom Sawyer, you would mention that it was written by Mark Twain, and perhaps whether or not you enjoyed the ending, along with a few other bits of general facts.
What Is An Essay?
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An essay is an in-depth analysis of a particular topic found in a book. A general idea, or thesis, is woven throughout the essay, and argued through examples and references. Essays are meant to analyze or argue a point. The standard format for a school essay is five paragraphs. If you are writing an essay on Tom Sawyer, for example, you might isolate a particular character, such as Tom, and analyze the kind of person he is, making sure to cite specific actions from the book that he takes.
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How Are They Different?
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Book reports and essays have more differences than similarities. Book reports cover the whole book. Essays focus on a particular aspect, be it a theme, tone, character, or scene from the book. Essays reference moments from the book directly, using quotes, to make their arguments. Book reports only give general plot points. Book reports may offer personal opinions, whereas essays usually give facts.
How Are They Similar?
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The information in a book report is usually summarized in the first paragraph of an essay. Both must cover the span of the book. If you are writing an essay, your points should come from moments at the beginning, middle, and end of the book to strengthen your argument. If you are giving a book report, you just need to convey the plot.
When They Are Assigned
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Book reports are generally written at the elementary school level and are rarely seen afterward. When you reach the middle school or high school level, your analysis of a book is expected to be more in depth, thus skewing your work toward essay writing. However, book reports do not go away entirely. A common occurrence at the college level is for a professor to assign a book report. These book reports, however, are different. They require you to not only give the basic information about the book, but also to touch on such points as what is theme, what motifs can be cited, and other aspects of a book that are generally seen in essays. College book reports require the analysis of an essay with the scope of a book report.
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